July 16, 2004

The Work Ethic The Play Ethic. Pat Kane in conversation with R.U. Sirius. (Via die puny humans (the filthy monkey, it plans...))
posted by homunculus 20 years ago
  • Up with state o' the art thinkin'! Away with your glooms, And inglorious dooms, And on with the reelin' and jinkin'.
  • I tend to see ideas like this "play ethic" as the domain of materially gratified solipsists who don't understand that the philosophy and lifestyle they espouse simply isn't realistic for the world at large; and that they are practically spitting in the face of large swaths of people who can't even dream of having "work" be so easy, much less "play". We've heard plenty of hype about the information economy and prognostications that leisure time will increase due to increased productivity and an enlarged "ownership" class who are able to live off what they own (as opposed to what they do). If I am reading this article correctly, this "play ethic" largely caters to the whims of a fortunate group of information-age warriors, who will limit their economic contribution to only those activities that happen to be "fun":
    PK: I think the two constituencies of explicit players that you mention (enterprise and business types, and the digital counter-culture) are fellow travelers on the new plains of productivity and creativity that technology