Mismatch Analyzer

For 300,000 years, work meant doing things that directly benefited people you could see, people you loved, people who would do the same for you tomorrow. Three to four hours daily. The rest was rest, socializing, being human.

The 80-hour brag is status signaling in an environment where exhaustion has become virtue. The biology reads it correctly: this person is depleted. The culture reads it backwards: this person is valuable.