We have created an industrial order geared to automatism, where feeble-mindedness, native or acquired, is necessary for docile productivity in the factory; and where a pervasive neurosis is the final gift of the meaningless life that issues forth at the other end.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The industrial system requires dull minds for factory work, leaving workers with a neurotic sense of meaninglessness.
- In plain terms
- Factories need unthinking workers, which leaves people feeling empty and anxious.
- What can you take from it?
- Industrial efficiency often comes at the cost of human meaning.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is work becoming meaningless?
- How do we find meaning in labor?
Another view
Some automation is necessary for economic progress.
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