Well, normally when anyone feels they are overworked they ask "What are we? Men or machines?". I've often wondered if that is even a meaningful comparison. Can we measure men using machines? Just because a person is stressed out, can he be compared to a machine? Don't machines get tired too? True, machines cannot protest. They cannot think for themselves and demand less laborious work. But can we use a computer continuously for 24 hours without turning it off at all? Yes, we can. But what happens then? Won't the performance reduce? Won't we feel "Oh! I need to turn this off or it'll never work as good as before!"?
Machines wear out. Human beings get tired. Machines don't get lazy. Human beings do. So on what basis can we set men against machines? Human beings get tired easily when they are lazy. It's Parkinson's law all over - "work expands to fill the time available". When the time is more than sufficient, lethargy settles in comfortably. It finds a cozy place inside our heads and tucks in gladly. It's basically the same everywhere. Rabindranath Tagore applies this to objects - "When material is in profusion, the mind gets lazy".
This is the exact reason why we let many things slip. Life is a one time opportunity. Once lost, it cannot be regained. It must be enjoyed and must prove to be fruitful. There is only one way to achieve this - do what your mind says, not what others say. As it is mentioned in "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho, there is a universal soul, that is linked to every individual by the Gossamer thread. A person who doesn't know the language another person speaks, will be able to understand at least the outlook when the other person is speaking. Some people are real close - their understanding of each other surpasses everything else. Just a look at the other person and their soulmate can say what exactly is going on within them. No words are needed for communication between them. Their souls speak. When a person stops in his track to listen to the views of ten billion people around him, well will he be just confused? Or abashed? What must happen to us can only be decided by us. The moment we stop listening to that small yet sweet voice within ourselves, we stop living at all. We kill that voice inside us. We lose all the material connection to this universe and only a feeble physical link keeps us down here.
So coming back to our original topic - men or machines, well I'd like to say that we don't compare ourselves with anyone or anything and continue working along our path for our excellence. Whatever happens, that sweet littile voice in your head will stand by you.
