«Any social organization does well enough if it isn’t rigid. The framework doesn’t matter as long as there is enough looseness to permit that one man in a multitude to display his genius. Most so-called social scientists seem to think that organization is everything. It is almost nothing — except when it is a straitjacket. It is the incidence of heroes that counts, not the pattern of zeros.» He added, «Your country has a system free enough to let its heroes work at their trade. It should last a long time — unless its looseness is destroyed from inside.» «Glory Road» by Robert A. Heinlein Recently, a few developments occurred that might threaten future creativity. By themselves, they are not a problem. There might even be beneficial consequences. But taken together, and brought to their logical conclusion, well, they might turn out to be bad, extremely bad. The overall theme of these issues is paternalism, in particular, the increasing attempts to enforce a work-life balance, by not only regulating, but closely surveilling and interfering in the work (the kind of work, the work hours). Related issues of that theme are: New regulation to require time keeping on the job. And [...]
↧