The Real Reason Behind the Great Resignation

Work is only worth doing if it’s fulfilling in multiple dimensions

During the current “The Great Resignation”, where the r/antiwork thread on Reddit is popular (“Unemployment for all, not just the rich!”), the nature and meaning of work has been on my mind a lot.

What is work, exactly? Is it a punishment for sin? A sign of righteousness? Just something we do (reluctantly) to pay the bills and get on with real living? Is it an activity that allows a human being to give self-expression to their gifts and talents? Is it a form of status-seeking and identity formation? Is it about Adding Value™ in the world?

It may be one or more of these things, but none of them capture what is uniquely human about work. We share 98.8% of our DNA with the chimpanzee, but a chimp has never worked a day in his life. We do.

So here is a basic anthropological truth that I’d like to propose: true work is a spiritual activity that is uniquely human.

The Human Difference

I’m not thinking here about the ‘work’ that a horse or a police dog does, as noble as it is, or even the ‘work’ of hunting that any predator must do. Those are indeed forms of work in the sense that the animal is trying to accomplish some…