Exhaustion: A History
July 29, 2016 2:22 PM Subscribe
How Exhaustion Became a Status Symbol. "From sloth to burnout, each age remakes exhaustion in its own image."
Anna Katharina Schaffner: Why exhaustion is not unique to our overstimulated age
The Book Brigade speaks to literary critic Anna Katharina Schaffner, Ph.D.
BBC Future: The reasons why exhaustion and burnout are so common
Anna Katharina Schaffner: Why exhaustion is not unique to our overstimulated age
The Book Brigade speaks to literary critic Anna Katharina Schaffner, Ph.D.
BBC Future: The reasons why exhaustion and burnout are so common
Came for the "TT;DR" comment, left satisfied.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:53 PM on July 29, 2016 [14 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:53 PM on July 29, 2016 [14 favorites]
Sounds like something to read now that I have finally, after seven years, finished reading Andrew Solomon's The Noonday Demon.
posted by subdee at 2:58 PM on July 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by subdee at 2:58 PM on July 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
Can't wait for the hot-takes discussing how millenials are lucky to be burned out from working 60-hour weeks so they can pay their rent and maybe eat at Chipotle twice a month (and so unappreciative!)
also, kudos for posting this at 5:30 on a Friday
posted by schmod at 3:05 PM on July 29, 2016 [7 favorites]
also, kudos for posting this at 5:30 on a Friday
posted by schmod at 3:05 PM on July 29, 2016 [7 favorites]
I have mono and let me tell you a thing or two about being tired.
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 3:07 PM on July 29, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 3:07 PM on July 29, 2016 [8 favorites]
which makes it all the more regrettable that for so many centuries, our exhausted ancestors remained silent.
One of the first signs seen visibly by an exhausted person, be in their facial expression - no smile...the possibility for their closed lips of never sharing their thoughts on the matter.
A real smile may help.
posted by thomcatspike at 3:23 PM on July 29, 2016
One of the first signs seen visibly by an exhausted person, be in their facial expression - no smile...the possibility for their closed lips of never sharing their thoughts on the matter.
A real smile may help.
posted by thomcatspike at 3:23 PM on July 29, 2016
Can't wait for the hot-takes discussing how millenials are lucky to be burned out from working 60-hour weeks so they can pay their rent and maybe eat at Chipotle twice a month (and so unappreciative!)
It's Never Been Harder to Be Young - "We've integrated all the pressures of the commercial realm into our personal lives, applying the same extremely competitive expectations to love, friendship, family, and even our internal state of mind."
Rationality, anxiety, and meaninglessness - "Our economic policy, driven by this rationalism, has morphed into a national version of the Hunger Games, pitting every worker against each other."
posted by kliuless at 4:37 PM on July 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
It's Never Been Harder to Be Young - "We've integrated all the pressures of the commercial realm into our personal lives, applying the same extremely competitive expectations to love, friendship, family, and even our internal state of mind."
Rationality, anxiety, and meaninglessness - "Our economic policy, driven by this rationalism, has morphed into a national version of the Hunger Games, pitting every worker against each other."
posted by kliuless at 4:37 PM on July 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
White Collar unions.
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:47 PM on July 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:47 PM on July 29, 2016 [4 favorites]
I would read this but it is now past time for my afternoon nap.
posted by bukvich at 4:50 PM on July 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by bukvich at 4:50 PM on July 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
Hell, I'd settle for unions in general, or even one big union.
posted by mwhybark at 4:52 PM on July 29, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by mwhybark at 4:52 PM on July 29, 2016 [8 favorites]
mwhybark: definitely — it's not so much unions themselves as changing the mindset many middle and up-class people have about unions, labor protection laws, etc. We're seeing some progress on e.g. the minimum wage but you can definitely see the contempt / disappointment with which too many people view anyone who needs the help. Even something as simple as unpaid overtime triggers a lot of reflexive “free market” reactions until someone is pressed to think about whether they've ever left a job for that versus just taking a worse deal.
posted by adamsc at 5:22 PM on July 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by adamsc at 5:22 PM on July 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
Can't wait for the hot-takes discussing how millenials are lucky to be burned out from working 60-hour weeks so they can pay their rent and maybe eat at Chipotle twice a month (and so unappreciative!)
And yet, this itself is a hot take about speculative hot takes that supposedly are going to come up at some point. It would be a ridiculous thing for someone to say here, of course, but fortunately, that didn't happen.
The assumption that it's a 'millennial' issue in itself is begging the question raised in the articles. I don't think there's anyone alive today who hasn't had those kind of things said to and about them when they were young adults. That itself isn't just a generational thing. It's also an age thing. Young people always kind of resent their parents and misunderstand their experiences, and their parents always kind of resent their kids, and misunderstand their experiences. Younger people DO have to work harder and for less pay than their older peers, and as long as I've been aware of it, there have been stories about how the current generation is going to be worse off than previous ones. And I've been aware of it for several generations now.
Are some things a lot worse now than they have been in a long time? Oh, hell yes. There are a lot of scary things going on right now. And young adults are always having to enter an adult world they didn't create. But it's worthwhile to put it into context and ask how much of what you're experiencing is new and unique, and how much is a perpetual part of the human condition.
posted by ernielundquist at 6:45 PM on July 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
And yet, this itself is a hot take about speculative hot takes that supposedly are going to come up at some point. It would be a ridiculous thing for someone to say here, of course, but fortunately, that didn't happen.
The assumption that it's a 'millennial' issue in itself is begging the question raised in the articles. I don't think there's anyone alive today who hasn't had those kind of things said to and about them when they were young adults. That itself isn't just a generational thing. It's also an age thing. Young people always kind of resent their parents and misunderstand their experiences, and their parents always kind of resent their kids, and misunderstand their experiences. Younger people DO have to work harder and for less pay than their older peers, and as long as I've been aware of it, there have been stories about how the current generation is going to be worse off than previous ones. And I've been aware of it for several generations now.
Are some things a lot worse now than they have been in a long time? Oh, hell yes. There are a lot of scary things going on right now. And young adults are always having to enter an adult world they didn't create. But it's worthwhile to put it into context and ask how much of what you're experiencing is new and unique, and how much is a perpetual part of the human condition.
posted by ernielundquist at 6:45 PM on July 29, 2016 [3 favorites]
"Acedia" reminded me of the Carnival of Lost Emotions, video.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 9:46 PM on July 29, 2016
posted by TheophileEscargot at 9:46 PM on July 29, 2016
Came for the "TT;DR" comment, left satisfied.
It's no wonder you're tired all the time.
posted by mhoye at 10:31 PM on July 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
It's no wonder you're tired all the time.
posted by mhoye at 10:31 PM on July 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
Hey now, keeping up with Metafilter comments is damn hard work!
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:03 AM on July 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:03 AM on July 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
I would have commented on this thread earlier but I came home last night and passed out around seven and slept for nine hours. Feel much better now.
posted by octothorpe at 2:19 AM on July 30, 2016
posted by octothorpe at 2:19 AM on July 30, 2016
Shoot, everything looks the same from the god's eye view of history. That's infinity for ya.
Here's a mental game for you. Where is the US American empire in it's life cycle? Are we post Rubicon, or post Constatine, or somewhere else? History is a great reminder that there are discontinuities. That there are points of great change.
Sure, there's the continuum of the boiling water getting hotter. So when it actually starts boiling, is that different enough to count as different? Is it ok to demand more than incremental change then?
posted by Strange_Robinson at 11:10 PM on July 30, 2016
Here's a mental game for you. Where is the US American empire in it's life cycle? Are we post Rubicon, or post Constatine, or somewhere else? History is a great reminder that there are discontinuities. That there are points of great change.
Sure, there's the continuum of the boiling water getting hotter. So when it actually starts boiling, is that different enough to count as different? Is it ok to demand more than incremental change then?
posted by Strange_Robinson at 11:10 PM on July 30, 2016
-The Privilege of Longer Working Hours
-How 'Competitiveness' Became One of the Great Unquestioned Virtues of Contemporary Culture
posted by kliuless at 10:27 AM on August 1, 2016
-How 'Competitiveness' Became One of the Great Unquestioned Virtues of Contemporary Culture
posted by kliuless at 10:27 AM on August 1, 2016
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posted by djeo at 2:36 PM on July 29, 2016 [3 favorites]