The Burnout Society

The modern man thinks that everything ought to be done for the sake of something else, and never for its own sake.

This is rather good. In the second half of the video, Henderson gets into the topic of idleness — the quote above comes from Bertrand Russell’s In Praise of Idleness — but he relates it all back to the relentlessness of 21st-centurt bullshit jobs and digital screenburn.

Burnout? See also: rustout.

Incidentally, I was hanging out with Bertrand only this week:

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New Escapologist Issue 18 is shipping now. Go get ’em, tiger.

13 Nov 2025 No Comments

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Robert Wringham is the editor of New Escapologist. He also writes books and articles. Read more at wringham.co.uk

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