Would a Work—free World Be So Bad？ 如果世界上没有了工作

By+Ilana+E.+Strauss

People have speculated for centuries about a future without work， and today is no different， with academics， writers， and activists once again warning that technology is replacing human workers. Some imagine that the coming work-free world will be defined by inequality： A few wealthy people will own all the capital， and the masses will struggle in an impoverished wasteland.

A different， less paranoid1）， and not mutually exclusive prediction holds that the future will be a wasteland of a different sort， one characterized by purposelessness： Without jobs to give their lives meaning， people will simply become lazy and depressed. Indeed， todays unemployed dont seem to be having a great time.

But it doesnt necessarily follow2） from findings like these that a world without work would be filled with malaise3）. Such visions are based on the downsides of being unemployed in a society built on the concept of employment. In the absence of work， a society designed with other ends in mind could yield strikingly different circumstances for the future of labor and leisure. Today， the virtue of work may be a bit overblown. “Many jobs are boring， degrading， unhealthy， and a squandering4） of human potential，” says John Danaher， a lecturer at the National University of Ireland in Galway. “Global surveys find that the vast majority of people are unhappy at work.”

These days， because leisure time is relatively scarce for most workers， people use their free time to counterbalance the intellectual and emotional demands of their jobs. “When I come home from a hard days work， I often feel tired，” Danaher says， adding， “In a world in which I dont have to work， I might feel rather different”—perhaps different enough to throw himself into a hobby or a passion project with the intensity usually reserved for professional matters.

Having a job can provide a measure of financial stability， but in addition to stressing over how to cover lifes necessities， todays jobless are frequently made to feel like social outcasts. “People who avoid work are viewed as parasites5） and leeches6），” Danaher says. Perhaps as a result of this cultural attitude， for most people， self-esteem and identity are tied up intricately with their job， or lack of job.

Plus， in many modern-day societies， unemployment can also be downright boring. In many countries， towns and cities arent really built for lots of free time. The roots of this boredom may run even deeper. Peter Gray， a professor of psychology at Boston College， thinks that if work disappeared tomorrow， people might be at a loss for things to do， growing bored and depressed because they have forgotten how to play. “We teach children a distinction between play and work，” Gray explains. “Work is something that you dont want to do but you have to do.” He says this training， which starts in school， eventually “drills the play” out of many children， who grow up to be adults who are aimless when presented with free time.

“Sometimes people retire from their work， and they dont know what to do，” Gray says. “Theyve lost the ability to create their own activities.” Its a problem that never seems to plague young children. “There are no three-year-olds that are going to be lazy and depressed because they dont have a structured activity，” he says.

But need it be this way？ Work-free societies are more than just a thought experiment—theyve existed throughout human history. Consider hunter-gatherers7）， who have no bosses， paychecks， or eight-hour workdays. Ten thousand years ago， all humans were hunter-gatherers， and some still are. Daniel Everett， an anthropologist at Bentley University， in Massachusetts， studied a group of hunter-gathers in the Amazon called the Pirah? for years. According to Everett， while some might consider hunting and gathering work， hunter-gatherers dont. “They think of it as fun，” he says. “They dont have a concept of work the way we do.”

“Its a pretty laid-back8） life most of the time，” Everett says. He described a typical day for the Pirah?： A man might get up， spend a few hours canoeing and fishing， have a barbecue， go for a swim， bring fish back to his family， and play until the evening.

Does this leisurely life lead to the depression and purposelessness seen among so many of todays unemployed？ “Ive never seen anything remotely like depression there， except people who are physically ill，” Everett says. “They have a blast9）. They play all the time.” While many may consider work a staple of human life， work as it exists today is a relatively new invention in the course of thousands of years of human culture. “We think its bad to just sit around with nothing to do，” says Everett. “For the Pirah?， its quite a desirable state.”

Gray likens these aspects of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle to the carefree adventures of many children in developed countries， who at some point in life are expected to put away childish things. But that hasnt always been the case. According to Gary Crosss book A Social History of Leisure Since 1600， free time in the U.S. looked quite different before the 18th and 19th centuries. Farmers mixed work and play in their daily lives. There were no managers or overseers， so they would switch fluidly between working， taking breaks， joining in neighborhood games， playing pranks， and spending time with family and friends. Not to mention festivals and other gatherings： France， for instance， had 84 holidays a year in 1700.

This all changed， writes Cross， during the Industrial Revolution， which replaced farms with factories and farmers with employees. Factory owners created a more rigidly scheduled environment that clearly divided work from play. Meanwhile， clocks began to give life a quicker pace， and religious leaders， who traditionally endorsed most festivities， started associating leisure with sin and tried to replace rowdy festivals with sermons.

As workers started moving into cities， families no longer spent their days together on the farm. Instead， men worked in factories， women stayed home or worked in factories， and children went to school， stayed home， or worked in factories too. During the workday， families became physically separated， which affected the way people entertained themselves： Adults stopped playing “childish” games and sports， and the streets were mostly wiped clean of fun.

With workers old outlets for play having disappeared in a haze of factory smoke， many of them turned to new， more urban ones. Bars became a refuge where tired workers drank and watched live shows with singing and dancing. If free time means beer and TV to a lot of Americans， this might be why.

At times， developed societies have， for a privileged few， produced lifestyles that were nearly as play-filled as hunter-gatherers. Throughout history， aristocrats who earned their income simply by owning land spent only a tiny portion of their time minding financial exigencies. According to Randolph Trumbach， a professor of history at Baruch College， 18th-century English aristocrats spent their days visiting friends， eating elaborate meals， hosting salons and hunting.

Its unlikely that a world without work would be abundant enough to provide everyone with such lavish lifestyles. But Gray insists that injecting any amount of additional play into peoples lives would be a good thing， because， contrary to that 17th-century aristocrat， play is about more than pleasure. Through play， Gray says， children learn how to strategize， express their creativity， cooperate， overcome narcissism， and get along with other people. While most of todays adults may have forgotten how to play， Gray doesnt believe its an unrecoverable skill.

When people ponder the nature of a world without work， they often transpose present-day assumptions about labor and leisure onto a future where they might no longer apply； if automation does end up rendering a good portion of human labor unnecessary， such a society might exist on completely different terms than societies do today.

So what might a work-free world look like？ Gray has some ideas. School， for one thing， would be very different. “I think our system of schooling would completely fall by the wayside，” says Gray. “The primary purpose of the educational system is to teach people to work. I dont think anybody would want to put our kids through what we put our kids through now.” Instead， Gray suggests that teachers could build lessons around what students are most curious about.

Social life might look a lot different too. Since the Industrial Revolution， mothers， fathers， and children have spent most of their waking hours apart. In a work-free world， people of different ages might come together again. “We would become much less isolated from each other，” Gray imagines， perhaps a little optimistically.

In general， without work， Gray thinks people would be more likely to pursue their passions， get involved in the arts， and visit friends. Perhaps leisure would cease to be about unwinding after a period of hard work， and would instead become a more colorful， varied thing. “We wouldnt have to be as self-oriented as we think we have to be now，” he says. “I believe we would become more human.”

. New Oriental English

工作

没有工作的未来会怎么样？人们就此问题已经臆测了数世纪，现在还在继续，因为学者、作家、激进分子纷纷再次警醒人们，科学技术正在代替人类工作者。有些人猜测，那个即将到来、没有工作的未来的主要特点将是不平等：少数富人拥有所有资本，而大众将在贫瘠的废墟中挣扎。

有一个预测与眾不同，少些偏执且不相互矛盾。它认为未来将会变成另类的废墟，以漫无目的为特征：没有了赋予生活意义的工作，人们就会变得懒惰和消沉。今天的失业人群确实没什么好日子过。

不过，由诸如此类的发现未必就能得出结论说，没有工作的未来将充斥着不满。这样的展望是以失业的消极面为基础的，而这样的消极面只存在于建立在就业观念上的社会中。没有了工作，社会追求的目标就会有所不同，在这样的社会里，劳动和休闲将会别有一番境况。如今，我们或许过度渲染了工作的优点。“很多工作无聊、不体面、不健康，是对人类潜能的一种浪费，”戈尔韦市爱尔兰国立大学的讲师约翰·达纳赫说道，“环球调查发现，绝大部分人工作时都不开心。”

现如今，因为大多数劳动者都相对缺少休闲时间，所以人们就利用自己的闲暇时间去平衡在工作中的智力和情感付出。“结束一天的辛苦工作回到家时，我经常感到疲惫。”达纳赫说。他又补充道，“在一个不需要工作的世界里，我的感受或许会有所不同”——不同到足以使他投身一项业余爱好或一个有激情的项目，用通常只在处理工作时才会有的热情投入其中。

拥有一份工作，就有了保持经济稳定的手段，但在今天，没有工作的人除了要承受解决基本生存所需带来的压力，还经常被弄得感觉自己是被社会遗弃的人。“逃避工作的人被看成寄生虫。”达纳赫说道。也许正是因为这种文化态度，对大部分人来说，自尊和身份就与是否有工作错综复杂地联系在一起。

而且，在大部分的现代社会中，失业状态也会是极其无聊的。在许多国家，城镇真的不是为大量休闲时间而建的。这份无聊的根源也许比我们想的更深。波士顿学院心理学教授彼得·格雷认为，如果明天工作就消失，人们也许会觉得无所事事，变得百无聊赖、消沉不已，因为他们已经忘记如何玩乐。“我们教孩子，玩和工作有区别，”格雷解释道，“工作就是你不想去做但必须要做的事情。”他说，这个从上学就开始的训练最终把孩子们“训练得不知道该怎么玩了”，他们长大后一闲下来就失去方向。

“有时，人们退休后就感觉无事可做，”格雷说，“因为他们失去了自己找乐子的能力。”但孩子们似乎从未为这个问题苦恼过。“没有哪个三岁孩子会因为缺乏有组织的活动而感到倦怠或消沉。”他说道。

但是非得如此么？无工作社会不只是一个思维实验——纵观人类历史，无工作社会是存在过的。细想一下采猎人，他们没有老板，没有工资，没有八小时工作日。一万年前，所有的人类都是采猎人，现在还有一些这样的人。马萨诸塞州本特利大学的人类学家丹尼尔·埃弗雷特研究亚马孙一群名叫Pirah?的采猎人多年。有些人可能认为采集和狩猎也是工作，但根据埃弗雷特的观点，采猎人不这么认为。“他们把采集狩猎看成一种乐趣，他们没有我们这样的工作观念。”他说道。

“大多时候，那种生活是非常自在的。” 埃弗雷特说。他描述了Pirah?人典型的一天：一个男人起床，花几小时划船和捕鱼，烧烤，游泳，带着鱼回家，然后玩到天黑。

这样悠闲的生活会带来我们在当今失业者身上看到的忧郁和无所适从吗？“在那里我从来没有看到一丁点和忧郁沾上边的东西，除非是他们身体上出了问题，”埃弗雷特说，“他们一直玩耍，玩得很开心。”尽管很多人认为工作是人类生活的重要部分，但当今的工作在人类文明几千年的历史进程中只是个相对较新的发明。“我们认为无所事事地坐着不好，但对于Pirah?来说，这是非常理想的状态。”

格雷把采猎者生活的这些方面比作发达国家的很多孩子会参加的无忧无虑的冒险活动，而等这些孩子到了人生的某个阶段，人们就期望他们把孩子气的玩耍抛诸脑后。但情况并非总是如此。根据加里·克罗斯的著作《17世纪之后的休闲社会史》，就美国而言，在18和19世纪之前，闲暇时光与现在有很大不同。当时，农民在日常生活中把工作和玩乐混在一起。因为没有管理者和监督者，他们可以在以下活动中自由切换：工作、休息、加入邻居玩的游戏、开玩笑、陪家人和朋友。节日或其他集会就更不用说了：比如，1700年，法国一年就有84个节日。

这些都随着工业革命改变了，农场变成了工厂，农民变成了雇员，格罗斯写道。工厂主创造了一种更加严格地遵照时间表工作的环境，彻底地把工作与玩乐区分开。与此同时，钟表开始加快生活的节奏，一直以来支持大多数节日的宗教领袖也开始把休闲和罪恶联系在一起，并且尝试用布道代替吵闹的节日。

在劳动者搬进城市的同时，家人们不再待在农场里一起度日。取而代之的是，男人在工厂里工作，女人待在家里或到工厂工作，孩子去学校、待在家里或也到工厂工作。工作日里，家人们是分开的，这影响了人们的娱乐方式：大人们不再玩“孩子气”的游戏和运动，大街上的趣味活动也几乎被清除得干干净净。

随着劳动者玩乐的老方法消失在工厂的烟雾中，他们中的许多人转向新的、更城市化的玩法。酒吧变成提供慰藉之所，疲倦的工人们在那里喝酒并观看现场歌舞表演。如果说闲暇时光对许多美国人来说就是啤酒和电视，这大概就是原因。

有时，发达社会为少数享有特权的人创造出几乎和采猎者一样的充满玩乐的生活方式。纵观历史，仅靠拥有土地赚取收入的贵族们只花极少的时间关心自己的经济危机。根据巴鲁克学院历史学教授伦道夫·特鲁姆巴赫的说法，18世纪的英国贵族整天访友，享受盛宴，举办沙龙和打猎。

没有工作的世界不大可能会富足到可以给每个人提供这样奢华的生活方式。但是格雷坚持认为，把额外的玩乐注入人们的生活中，不管多少，都是一件好事，因为与17世纪的贵族不同，玩乐带来的不止愉悦。格雷说，通过玩乐，孩子学会如何制定策略，如何表现自己的创造力，如何与别人合作，如何克服自恋，如何和他人友好相处。今天大部分成年人或许已经忘记如何玩乐，但是格雷相信，这并非不可恢复的技能。

当人们思考无工作世界的本质时，他们经常把当下有关劳动和休闲的设想嫁接到未来，而这些设想在未来也许并不适用。如果自动化最后的确导致大部分的人类劳动变得没有必要，那么那个社会和当今社会的存在基础或许是完全不同的。

所以，無工作的世界将会是怎样的呢？格雷有一些看法。首先，学校会有所不同。“我认为我们的学校教育系统会被完全抛在一边，”他说，“现在，教育系统的主要目的是教人们如何工作。我认为任何人都不会愿意让孩子遭受现在我们让孩子遭受的一切。”相反，格雷认为老师们会围绕孩子们最好奇的内容设置课程。

社交生活可能也会和现在大相径庭。从工业革命开始，在大部分醒着的时间，妈妈、爸爸和孩子都是分开的。在无工作的世界，各个年龄段的人或许会重新待在一起。“我们彼此之间隔绝的状态会大大减少。”格雷想象着，或许有些过于乐观。

在格雷看来，总体来说，没有了工作，人们更可能去追求激情，沉浸于艺术，拜访朋友。或许休闲不再是一段时间辛苦劳动后的放松，而是成为一件更加丰富多彩的事情。“我们不必再像我们现在认为自己必须做的那样，进行自我定位，”他说，“我相信我们会变得更加人性。”

人工智能技术的飞速发展让很多人开始恐慌：如果机器代替人类，人类没有了工作，整天无所事事，那世界会糟糕成啥样？不过，有些研究者觉得他们有些杞人忧天。因为人类没有工作可做的情况自古有之，那时人们自给自足，过得轻松快乐。想一想，不用上班，没有工作束缚，只做自己喜欢的事，这种生活方式是不是更人性化？也许，没有工作的世界，并没有那么可怕。