You're right about kids: they spend much of their free time exploring and playing like they're hard wired to do it.

I think our 19th-century-style schools are the problem: we drum information and behaviours into kids until they forget how to be independent. All this time wasted sitting at a desk in a classroom means they might miss out on the chance to develop a passion for something, something that they would fill their free time with later in life. And then we're surprised that people just want to watch netflix.

Ken Robinson expounds upon this thesis in a classic TED Talk:

https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_cre...

Rather they "beat" the independence out of children intentionally as the trait does make them a nuisance. It is much easier to have a room full of trained animals.

Yeah, just think what a nice ornate roof we could build if we skipped foundations and spent all the time saved on the roof…

That misses the point, which is that rote memorization and the recitation of facts does not lay any kind of intellectual foundation, but rather attempts to turn children into diligent factory workers.

You think that memorizing facts in school is useful for factory workers?

It's the behavioral compliance of memorizing facts that you're not particularly interested in on demand that is a useful trait for factory/office workers

you're describing building an A frame - one of the most efficient ways to build a house

This is an important distinction, I obsessively avoid the overwork culture but I'm far from someone who just idles in my free time. I freelance and optimize my schedule to make a comfortable amount of money but not the most money I can possibly make. Then I spend much of the time I'm not working for a client on creative projects. So even though I may only properly book 3-4 days a week of client work, I'm working because I'm writing or filming or editing, or a client has a need that stretched outside of our booked hours that I'm taking care of or I'm just relaxing going to a museum or watching a movie. But the important thing is that I can choose what I do with most of my time. It's free as in "I have options" not free as in "I'm doing nothing."

Hey man, don't knock getting high and watching TV. I'm sure there are plenty of successful HN readers that enjoy doing just that with some of their free time. :)

I believe being really unproductive is fine in small doses. Sometimes you need to just really relax. The problem is when that's how you spend ALL your free time. I mean, have you ever watched tv all day and really felt good about yourself at the end?

Yes and an all nighter to follow! Watched a couple of seasons of Six Feet Under with a buddy of mine years ago, it was fantastic.

No amount of time spent with friends is "really unproductive", it literally keeps us alive. I didn't see a note about it in this article, but I suspect that the no-income people that are happier with their lives are doing low cost entertainment activities with friends.

I like marathon running documentaries. It makes me feel better at the end of them.

It really depends on the quality of what I'm watching. :) Breaking Bad? House of Cards? Been there, done that, didn't regret it at all.

I second that. Also, we don't all have perfect lives. Sometimes an escape (TV, getting high, whatever) is the best use of our time to stay somewhat sane.

Great post. It seems that often in these discussions people don't acknowledge this fundamental underlying aspect, which I find frustrating.

The implication of the statement "Humans absolutely need jobs in order to lead happy, beneficial lives" is that humans are, by their very nature, to stupid to figure out how to do it by themselves.

I very strongly believe it's a cultural problem, not a human problem.