Via the world-famous Molly Young, a “[p]assage in 1984 that could also describe most start-up workplace environments in 2017″:
In principle a Party member had no spare time, and was never alone except in bed. It was assumed that when he was not working, eating, or sleeping, he would be taking part in some kind of communal recreations; to do anything that suggested a taste for solitude, even to go for a walk by yourself, was always slightly dangerous. There was a word for it in Newspeak: ownlife, it was called, meaning individualism and eccentricity.
Is it true? It certainly feels that way. It doesn’t seem to matter whether you are designing interfaces for a smart-home hardware venture, building the backend of a new online casino, or managing growth for an automated payroll platform. The industry’s endless array of mandatory happy hours and weekend team-building retreats leaves very little room for ownlife.
[link] [Unrelated photos also by Molly Young]
