A new work ethic
When I was young, an adage that I often heard was "Eat to live, don't live to eat." While the statement had obviously meaning on my growing waistline, in my mind, it also said something about why we work.
I often enjoy asking students "Why do you want to work?" The answers are interesting and they range from "For basic necessities of life" to "I want to earn the pride and respect of my family and friends" or to "I enjoy pitting myself against challenges and over coming them", some people tell me that they want luxuries in life which can only be got if you work hard.
Abraham Maslow, in his theory of motivation and personality, wrote about two kinds of needs that we have the d-needs and the b-needs. D-needs (a.k.a. Defficiency Needs)are the result of some LACK a person feels. Like hunger, thirst, or even a feeling of being unloved. One tries to make up for the deficiencies by acquiring things.
He also talked about other B-needs (a.k.a Being Needs) like the need to be creative, the need to grow. The relationship to work is easy to understand. Do you go to work because the companies gives YOU something? Or do you go because you have something to give to the company? Which way do you want to live?
But throughout my courses, in my classrooms, I only hear from people who want to perform more and more.. in the interest of the organization. Personal lives, families vacations, hobbies and yes, even learning itself is all given up for the new presiding diety of our times, the firm. Despite Alvin Toffler's argument that the business organizations of the industrial age are anachronisms today. The matrix told us of robots that "Farm" human beings like cabbages. What if business organizations could "Farm" human beings? Genetically engineer them to work harder, take less breaks, and perhaps ask fewer questions..... sounds futuristic? Well wake up, the future is here. Read this article from wired.com .
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,64550,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_3
I often enjoy asking students "Why do you want to work?" The answers are interesting and they range from "For basic necessities of life" to "I want to earn the pride and respect of my family and friends" or to "I enjoy pitting myself against challenges and over coming them", some people tell me that they want luxuries in life which can only be got if you work hard.
Abraham Maslow, in his theory of motivation and personality, wrote about two kinds of needs that we have the d-needs and the b-needs. D-needs (a.k.a. Defficiency Needs)are the result of some LACK a person feels. Like hunger, thirst, or even a feeling of being unloved. One tries to make up for the deficiencies by acquiring things.
He also talked about other B-needs (a.k.a Being Needs) like the need to be creative, the need to grow. The relationship to work is easy to understand. Do you go to work because the companies gives YOU something? Or do you go because you have something to give to the company? Which way do you want to live?
But throughout my courses, in my classrooms, I only hear from people who want to perform more and more.. in the interest of the organization. Personal lives, families vacations, hobbies and yes, even learning itself is all given up for the new presiding diety of our times, the firm. Despite Alvin Toffler's argument that the business organizations of the industrial age are anachronisms today. The matrix told us of robots that "Farm" human beings like cabbages. What if business organizations could "Farm" human beings? Genetically engineer them to work harder, take less breaks, and perhaps ask fewer questions..... sounds futuristic? Well wake up, the future is here. Read this article from wired.com .
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,64550,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_3
posted by mathai at 7:36 PM
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