The meaning of life in a world without work

Summary

In his article “The meaning of life in a world without work”, published in The Guardian,

Yuval Noah Harari talks about people’s lives without the concept of work. His article starts with

introducing the idea that with technology increasing and becoming more futuristic day by day,

there will come a day when a new class of people will emerge that is simply unemployable.

Harari takes a philosophical yet evolutionary take on people’s psychology by exploring

their ability and understanding ‘meaning’ - in this case, meaning that stimulates one’s life that

replaces work to keep oneself busy. The main idea conveyed through this article is that humans

are very well able to sustain life without work by simply finding meaning in virtual reality.

Harari concludes that work doesn’t equal meaning – that life without work doesn’t cease to have

meaning. The idea behind the theme of this article is that meaning is essentially something that is

induced by the human brain, and whatever we put meaning to is enough to sustain a life that is

devoid of boredom. Harari states that religion is one such means of virtual reality that humans

have kept themselves busy with. He gives an example of different examples to conclude that as

long as people have the basic amenities met, they can very well occupy themselves with ‘deep

play’ as Harari puts it. Towards the end, Harari questions the bigger picture of how feasible is it

for us to live in a reality detached from reality, as we have been doing for the past thousands of

years.
Critical Analysis

This is a critical analysis of Harari’s article “The meaning of life in a world without

work”. This analysis will discuss the author’s argument effectiveness, and take a critical look at

his use of language and style, as well as patterns of essay development. The above three

mentioned aspects of writing are crucial in understanding and dissecting an author’s account.

This analysis will take a look at how Harari uses these very aspects to convey his argument and

positively appeal to his audience.

Harari uses credible examples to support his narrative. Almost all of the evidence used in

sociological studies and observations that he then uses to explain human nature to the readers.

The examples of the Balinese culture and deep play sentiment around cock-fighting – how the

political, social and economic spheres of all people involved in this activity are influenced

directly by it; how a teenager exhibits the idea of not having a void in their life when engaged in

the virtual world of gaming as long as they have everything they need to survive in their rooms;

how ultra-orthodox Jewish men are content with life without ever working at any point in their

lives, by again, being sustained by their families and their governments – all these examples are

used by the author to bring attention to the core idea of his argument I.e., people will always find

meaning in something or the other despite having spent all their lives working on any kind of a

job.

The second idea that Harari supports using these pieces of evidence is that people can

find meaning in everything as long as they are provided with the basic needs of life. People work
to earn economic independence in order to live life. Money is important, therefore so is work.

However, this isn’t the angle Harari explores in his article. He talks about having meaning in life

despite the lack of work. And using the examples of gaming teenagers and ultra-orthodox Jewish

men, Harari argues that once people are provided with the basic amenities that work/money

ensures in life, they will always find meaning in a reality that is different from the one where

work/money is primary. Considering these points, Harari’s argument is sound and quite effective

in getting his point across.

He does so by using two patterns of essay development. The pattern Harari primarily uses

in his article is an exemplification, while also using comparison-contrast to make connections

within his argument. Harari uses four main examples with a few more to draw connections from

the ideas, observations and results of these examples to his argument. The strength of Harari’s

essay lies in his ability to reason and make his audience understand his perspective and take on

human behaviour and psychology. He gradually introduces ideas by providing the readers with

logical evidence, appealing to the logos appeal of the rhetorical triangle.

Seeing how he also uses these examples to point out similarities between themselves in

order to convey the main argument of an article – people can find meaning in anything and

everything other than work – he does a successful and effective job of informing and describing

his argument to the audience.

To do so, Harari takes a not-so-formal style of writing to convey his idea. Similarly, the

tone of the article also leans toward casual while maintaining a hint of a formal tone. Thus, the

overall tone and style of the article do cater to the successful delivery of Harari’s argument.
 Since Harari relies on exemplification to make his point, the formal tone of his writing

provides the readers with a sense of trust in his account and examples, and the casual style holds

the audience’s attention throughout the article. His overall language and style effectively make

use of ethos, pathos and logos in his argument. Tone and style are theoretically crucial for the

effective use of rhetorical appeals (Browning, n.d.). And Harari’s writing does a good job doing

so.

Harari’s article effectively makes its argument by making use of credible sources and

pieces of evidence to support his account. Additionally, the use of exemplification as the primary

pattern of essay development works in his favour as he successfully makes the use of the logos

and pathos appeal to explain to the audience his idea. And in doing so, his neutral yet casual

writing style adds to the effective delivery of his argument.

Reference

BROWNING, E. Rhetorical Analysis. Let's Get Writing!, 21.