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Work

A Deep History, from the Stone Age to the Age of Robots

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Work

Written by: James Suzman
Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
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About this listen

 "This book is a tour de force." -- Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Give and Take

A revolutionary new history of humankind through the prism of work by leading anthropologist James Suzman

Work defines who we are. It determines our status, and dictates how, where, and with whom we spend most of our time. It mediates our self-worth and molds our values. But are we hard-wired to work as hard as we do? Did our Stone Age ancestors also live to work and work to live? And what might a world where work plays a far less important role look like?

To answer these questions, James Suzman charts a grand history of "work" from the origins of life on Earth to our ever more automated present, challenging some of our deepest assumptions about who we are. Drawing insights from anthropology, archaeology, evolutionary biology, zoology, physics, and economics, he shows that while we have evolved to find joy meaning and purpose in work, for most of human history our ancestors worked far less and thought very differently about work than we do now. He demonstrates how our contemporary culture of work has its roots in the agricultural revolution ten thousand years ago. Our sense of what it is to be human was transformed by the transition from foraging to food production, and, later, our migration to cities. Since then, our relationships with one another and with our environments, and even our sense of the passage of time, have not been the same.

Arguing that we are in the midst of a similarly transformative point in history, Suzman shows how automation might revolutionize our relationship with work and in doing so usher in a more sustainable and equitable future for our world and ourselves. Anthropology World Socialism
All stars
Most Relevant
Good beginning, great end. The middle was a float with anthropology nuance, needing personal experience grounding. very important book nonetheless.

All is well that ends well

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really a great experience with this book. it is similar to Sapiens, in that it reviews much of human and pre human history and uses this as the basis to challenge our concepts about work. really shows that most of our current ideas about identity, work culture and social groups are not permanent and we should be able to challenge these ideas and open to new concepts about what role work should play in our societies and what value we should give it.

great book!

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This book hints at critical truth that our desire for more and endless consumer culture will not lead to a peaceful world but a world filled with more stress and anxiety.

I would like to add that this book reminds me that wealth will not be generated by over consumption but by having discipline to be “minimal” and need very little. Then by having all your needs met you can use any surplus resources to build real value that will leaded to more wealth and freedom.

Work and income is important but so is freedom from over consumption.

Important and well Written

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Really thought provoking and excellent narrative and narration. Will continue to reflect on the ideas raised by this author in the days and months ahead.

Amazing reflection on the meaning of work and scarcity

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