What does work look like if it is meaningful for people?
For fun people will choose to push themselves to finish a marathon, for work - we're forced to sit still, stare at a screen and move things around with a mouse.
Machines are already taking work away from people...sure.
But much of this contested 'work' was probably always better suited to machines than it was to people. Much of what's still done as work today is a spillover from the industrial revolution.
Boring, repetitive, soulless work is the perfect fodder for automation, not for a human being with an enquiring, creative brain.
This then begs the question...'what does work look like if it were purposefully designed to have meaning for people?'
Well it would probably look like what we choose to do for fun; stuff that's challenging, complex, nuanced and bristling with problem-solving potential.
Work that is fit for human purpose is work that welcomes the full expression of the human condition within it.
Doing things that are hard...this is the work that's perfect for people.
Why do people choose to do hard things?
Because achieving hard things is what makes being human worthwhile - going beyond what we previously thought of as possible just to prove to ourselves that we can overcome seemingly ridiculous obstacles.
For fun people will choose to push themselves to finish a marathon, for work - we're forced to sit still, stare at a screen and move things around with a mouse. Both are a form of work, but which expression of it do we treasure more?