How did the industrial revolution change perceptions of work, leisure, and time?

How did the industrial revolution change perceptions of work, leisure, and time?

Introduction

This paper discusses how the industrial revolution caused people to change their perceptions regarding work, time and leisure. Paul Hensley's concept on how the industrial revolution affected the overall concept of time will also be discussed and critiqued.

Discussion

Up until the middle of the eighteenth century man had little no actual concept of time, the usual perceptions regarding it were pretty much hazy and vague, neither was the measurement of time precise and accurate. Many scientists and researchers claim the awareness and familiarity of time came once the industrial revolution took place which shook mankind altering their lives and making them more concerned about various aspects of life which they were previously oblivious about. The industrial revolution caused all of these notions regarding time to change and not just change but to completely altering the lives of people making them consistently concerned regarding passing time. People were for the first time forced to change the course of their lives since in order for them to survive within the society they needed to embrace the industrial revolution which meant getting a job and for the first time ever “time” became a commodity, since in order to work and earn a living people had to maintain a job which mean they had to be aware of time, it also meant giving up the life of leisure which they had known and follow the new trends which seemed like the brighter future that would change everything for the best. The general public was of the perception that the industrial revolution woke people up from their slumber and forced them to abandon their lives of happiness and ease for a more complicated and systematic life. This is considered to be the general perception that people had as far as the revolution was concerned. Many people had revolted against the changes considering them unnecessary and a burden on the lives of the normal people.

Similar claims were made by Hensley in the year 1992 in one of his publications that had the same perception regarding the changes taking place due to the industrial revolution, he stated that they were unnecessary and had turned the lives of the people nothing but miserable. In this article Hensley has criticized rather peculiarly the changes that time had taken with ...