Idle idol

In the 17th Century, Dutch sailors came across something strange on the island of BorneoThe third-largest island in the world, known for its biodiversity. : a huge red ape that looked and behaved just like a person. Locals told them the "forest man", or "orang-utan", was able to speak. However, he chose not to, because he knew that if he did, they would make him work.¹

Human beings have not been as sensible as orangutans. Today we are all working so hard that 42% of workers report burnout.²

However, the Dutch might now be here to save us with another discovery. They call it niksen: the art of doing absolutely nothing. Niksen is spreading around the world - one gym chain has even started a class for its members advising them on how to switch off.

The idea of niksen is to stop thinking about the outcomes of what you do. It means doing nothing with no clear purpose, simply for its own sake.

Do we really need niksen? We tend to think we are working a bit less than we used to because we compare ourselves with the Industrial RevolutionA period of sudden, rapid industrialisation that transforms a country from an agricultural to an industrial economy., when people were working as much as 70 hours a week for 50 weeks a year.³

But this is still a historic high. In the Middle AgesThe Middle Ages was the period in European history that came between ancient and modern times. It lasted from about 500 to about 1500., even peasantsA historical term often used to describe poorer people who worked in farming. had around 60 days off every year. Historians think many chose to take more time off than that even if it meant being poorer.⁴

And long before that we worked even less. Hunter-gatherersHumans who lived an ancient way of life in which they foraged for food and occasionally hunted, but did not farm. probably worked no more than 15 hours a week, before the invention of agricultureThe practice of farming and growing food from the land. meant humans had to spend long and back-breaking hours tilling the soil.⁵

Humanity has always had a complicated relationship with work. In the Old TestamentThe first part of the Christian Bible, and is mainly based on the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)., the need to labour is presented as a curse that God has placed on humanity in retribution for Adam and Eve's sin.

Yet in the New Testament, Jesus tells his followers not to worry too much about working: "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toilWork very hard. not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even SolomonIn the Old Testament, the monarch of ancient Israel and the son of King David. in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."⁶

Other philosophers have taken a more nuanced view of work. Karl MarxA 19th-Century German economist and philosopher who argued that capitalism was doomed to collapse. argued that it is in our nature to produce things for our own pleasure and use. However, he thought industrial work, by forcing us to make things for other people, made us deeply unhappy.

He thought the only solution was to move to a socialist society where people would produce things for everyone to use.

Is absolute idleness a good idea?

Yes: The human brain did not evolve to have hundreds of things to think about all the time. Our workaholism is putting it under too much pressure. It is time to ease off and enjoy downtime.

No: Humans are made to work. Without it we become bored and listless. We should not aim to be idle, but to find ways of working that do not distract us and stress us out.

Or... The problem is not the amount of work but the working mindset. We treat our hobbies like work and that means we cannot really enjoy them. We need a clearer separation between work and leisure.