I was down, musing on the downside of life in Egypt when my wife and kids came back from a basketball game my daughter had been playing in, a game they had slunk off silently at an early a.m. leaving me musing over a mug of tea…but now they were back and instantly I was brimming with energy, fun upbeat energy all derived form this game they had watched and played in. Something had happened that they had been a part of. I thought if they had all stayed home, and watched TV or whatever, none of this energy would have happened. It would have never existed. So humans Not Doing Stuff deprives the world of energy. Watching TV and playing computer games drains the world, deprives it of life.
Think about machines allowing one man to do the job of several. Again very little energy is generated compared to a group effort. The pinnacle of this idea is the Amish way of barn raising- do it in one day with the whole town participating and then have a party. I used to have an allotment but trudging down there alone to dig a few silent trenches on a cold morning was a drag. I now know I should have had a dig for victory party where everyone brings a spade and digs for half an hour or so all together. There are few things more fun than reasonably easy manual labour going on for not long with a bunch of people you really like. I keep being amazed it’s that simple.