I remember as a small child in the 1960s reading that in future machines will do all the work and people will have lots of leisure time. The picture it painted was a very positive and uplifting one, especially against a background of lots of heavy manual labour and repetitive factory jobs.
Later on, before I'd embarked on any sort of career path, I found myself participating in that life of leisure. The picture was far less rosy, some parts of society working 70-hours per week and mass unemployment in others. During my working life I saw working hours get longer and holidays (vacation) reduced. There was something very bizarre about it all.
There are though some slight moves, some companies are trying to move from a five-day working week to a 4-day one. In some countries there are experiments with a universal salary paid to everyone, not as compensation for being unemployed but simply as an ordinary part of life. Those things are interesting, not because they are solutions but because they are examining the problem and trying out ideas.
As for the primary topic of this thread, existential despair and loneliness. I wouldn't necessarily place those ideas in proximity. It is possible to go through existential despair collectively, even among a group and having friends. People are different, we all find our way through this world in our own way and some of the answers I found came from trusting my own intuitions and receiving ideas in dreams. But it was only when out of necessity I tried prayer, even though somewhere between atheist and agnostic at the time, that I found some response.
I guess that does tie in with the idea of loneliness, having received a response through prayer, I don't think I've ever felt alone since then. Human company is good and welcome but I also appreciate quiet times by myself, perhaps because it is then that I can commune with something greater, whether one calls it 'nature' or 'the universe' or any other name doesn't matter to me, I'm not fussy about words.
Later on, before I'd embarked on any sort of career path, I found myself participating in that life of leisure. The picture was far less rosy, some parts of society working 70-hours per week and mass unemployment in others. During my working life I saw working hours get longer and holidays (vacation) reduced. There was something very bizarre about it all.
There are though some slight moves, some companies are trying to move from a five-day working week to a 4-day one. In some countries there are experiments with a universal salary paid to everyone, not as compensation for being unemployed but simply as an ordinary part of life. Those things are interesting, not because they are solutions but because they are examining the problem and trying out ideas.
As for the primary topic of this thread, existential despair and loneliness. I wouldn't necessarily place those ideas in proximity. It is possible to go through existential despair collectively, even among a group and having friends. People are different, we all find our way through this world in our own way and some of the answers I found came from trusting my own intuitions and receiving ideas in dreams. But it was only when out of necessity I tried prayer, even though somewhere between atheist and agnostic at the time, that I found some response.
I guess that does tie in with the idea of loneliness, having received a response through prayer, I don't think I've ever felt alone since then. Human company is good and welcome but I also appreciate quiet times by myself, perhaps because it is then that I can commune with something greater, whether one calls it 'nature' or 'the universe' or any other name doesn't matter to me, I'm not fussy about words.
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