https://harpers.org/archive/2022/01/routine-maintenance-embracing-habit-in-an-automated-world-meghan-ogieblyn/

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January 2022 Issue [Essay]

Routine Maintenance

by Meghan O'Gieblyn,
Embracing habit in an automated world
[Harpers_0122_25_02]

Illustrations by Miriam Martincic

[Essay]

Routine Maintenance

by Meghan O'Gieblyn,
Embracing habit in an automated world
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Of all the attempts to pinpoint the origin of modernity--an exercise
of which modernity never tires--my favorite begins with medieval
monks. According to this account, it was the Benedictines who came up
with the idea that it was possible to do the same thing, at the same
time, every day. Although time was still widely regarded as fluid and
coterminous with eternity, the monastery was governed by the rhythms
of that most modern instrument: the clock. The monks rose together,
ate together, and prayed together, starting and stopping each task at
the appointed canonical hour. In time, their obsession...

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Meghan O'Gieblyn

's most recent essay for Harper's Magazine, "Exiled," appeared in the
May 2018 issue.


Tags

Aristotle Artificial intelligence Automation Digital communications 
Digital media Felix Ravaisson Flexible work arrangements Gig economy 
Groundhog Day Habit (Philosophy) Instinct (Philosophy) Lewis Mumford 
Liberty Mechanism (Philosophy) Repetition (Philosophy) Sam Altman 
Simone Weil Spontaneity (Philosophy) Views on habit

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