It seems that the first quote is still in the middle of the industrial revolution.
That is a period were human activity has been dramatically changed in a way that has not happened before. I remember reading that the 40 hours is only good compared to that period, we have always worked less than that earlier in history (1). The changes in that period were so dramatic that we even forgot how we slept before it.
Seems that both the article and xkcd make the mistake of comparing the same period in history which is also only a very short 200 year period to lightly suggest that things never change. Well, that's like observing that soccer fan are as anxious about the score 30 min in the match than they were after 15 min. It gives some idea of how the match is going, but not really anything concrete.
Not saying it is not interesting or informative, but there is limited wisdom to extract from it.
"we have always worked less than that earlier in history (1)."
I'm not so sure about that.
Most people lived on farms, and if you know about farms, you know it's almost 12 hours, 7 days a week. Or rather, it's an 'all consuming' type of business.
That said, this is North American farming wherein farmers owned their land.
That is a period were human activity has been dramatically changed in a way that has not happened before. I remember reading that the 40 hours is only good compared to that period, we have always worked less than that earlier in history (1). The changes in that period were so dramatic that we even forgot how we slept before it.
Seems that both the article and xkcd make the mistake of comparing the same period in history which is also only a very short 200 year period to lightly suggest that things never change. Well, that's like observing that soccer fan are as anxious about the score 30 min in the match than they were after 15 min. It gives some idea of how the match is going, but not really anything concrete.
Not saying it is not interesting or informative, but there is limited wisdom to extract from it.
(1) http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rauch/worktime/hours_w...