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Show Scientific Achievements May Be Relied On to Reduce Hours of Labor By PROF. F. W. BURSTALL, Birmingham (Eng.) University. A CONSIDERABLE section of the community appears to be under un-der the belief that mankind is Dot quite so good as it was in other words, not so fond of labor. I am very glad to think that that is so. Laziness is the reason for all the mechanical developments. The human frame is quite incapable of any serious labor. Humanity has been struggling to provide other means of doing the work which it wants to do, and that is the bottom -of the idea of the robot, or mechanical worker. The human is not really a working agent at all, it is a directing mechanism. The domestic service and servants, such as I was brought up to look to, are going to be nonexistent in the future and I am very glad to think that this slavery is going to be a thing of the past. I look forwaid to seeing a comparatively simple form of dwelling, warmed and lighted as they are today, provided probably with clean, purified air, and with such simplicity that it will be only a matter of a few minutes to remove the dirt and other substances which we bring in during the day. Science is going to cut down the hours of labor. I venture to think that within a generation labor, such as the attendance on furnaces and work which by nature is hot and difficult, will be reduced to six hours per day, and perhaps five. This is sure to come. Science is going to put into our hands the possibility of a heaven upon earth. There are no limits to what we can do, but I venture to think that unless the human makes up its mind which way it wants to go, then instead of being pleasant this will be a curse. |