In 1930, in a speech titled “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren,” the economist John Maynard Keynes made a famous prediction: Within a century, thanks to the growth of wealth and the advance of technology, no one would have to work more than about fifteen hours a week. The challenge would be how to fill all our newfound leisure time witho

He noted that the ancient Greek translation for “work” was literally “not‑at‑leisure.” In Aristotle’s own words, “we are not‑at‑leisure in order to be‑at‑leisure.” Now, this is flipped. We work to earn time off and see leisure as a break from work. Pieper pointed out that people “mistake leisure for idleness, and work for creativity.”

Keynes believed one of the most pressing questions of the twenty-first century would be how we’d occupy our leisure.