When I thought of my life as following simple rules like “get a job” and “retire in forty years,” I began to ask the simple questions: Why should I work eight hours a day, forty hours a week, doing the same thing for the rest of my life?

Philosophical Engineering

Having studied science in college, I was under the impression that most everything has some sort of scientific proof behind it. That is, we do something for a particular reason–there’s an explanation for every “why”.

So why eight hours and forty hours? What’s the science for eight hours a day and forty hours a week? This life-long work schedule was the result of Henry Ford, a great pioneer in the Industrial age, who realized the turmoil brewing in his workers due to their long working days. There was no real science beyond pragmatics; he established this working tradition to bring balance between people’s work and family lives. The result was happier workers, better work efficiency, and greater profits for the company.

And yet science tells us that the efficiency span of a human being is about ninety minutes. Ninety minute work days seem unreasonable, but the real “why” to consider is the way we think about a monotonous working life.