The Importance of Doing Nothing
In a world that is obsessed with activity, with being occupied, the idea of doing nothing is absolutely terrifying. That is a tragic misconception, according to Aaron Schuster in Metropolis M no. 1 – 2012. Leisure brings us life at its best.
In ancient Greece leisure was seen as the highest form of human achievement. In modernity ‘doing nothing’ falls out of the economy and for that reason it is strictly worthless.
In his plea, Schuster takes you to the counter-figures of modern times: the washed-up aristocrat and idler Oblomov and Melville’s ‘I would prefer not to’-Bartleby.
He recommends books on laziness, for instance, Bonjour Paresse (Hello Laziness), with the subtitle ‘The Art and the Importance of Doing the Least Possible in the Workplace’, by the somewhat cynical psychoanalyst Corinne Maier.
Schusters plea offers not only an intriguing critique on today’s society, but also on activism and with that the Occupy movement.
Read the full article in the new issue of Metropolis M.
Metropolis M
