Bertrand Russell's argument for idleness is more relevant than ever

Re:Bertrand Russell's argument for idleness is more relevant... by silveroriole on Wednesday August 12, 2020 @06:19PM (#24137698)

Thank goodness we can get aerobic exercise in while gardening. If ‘twere not so, gardening might be - horror - unproductive! “The modern man thinks that everything ought to be done for the sake of something else, and never for its own sake.”

I know “nobody reads the article” is an HN joke, but surely asking whether Russell uses the word idleness in his essay titled “In Praise of Idleness” is taking the mick...

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Re:Bertrand Russell's argument for idleness is more relevant... by brushfoot on Wednesday August 12, 2020 @07:09PM (#24138154)

Edited -- I'd forgotten they cited the essay in the article. :-)

I know what you're saying and for the most part, I agree. I don't want to give the impression that I'm disparaging what isn't immediately materially, visibly useful to me. I don't believe in "inutile beauty" from a philosophical perspective, but not in the sense that I want to do away with it...just that I don't believe it exists. I think everything has some effect.

So that's one thing I like about gardening -- I find (for me) there's a bigger cluster of positive effects around gardening than jogging. The produce makes my family and friends happy and there are little goals to keep me distracted from the exertion. I still get the cognitive effects of a hard aerobic workout, but there are other benefits too.

I'm curious, what would you consider an unproductive activity?

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