A Pet Theory Briefly Explained

It's a complaint you see fairly often: "We have all these labor-saving devices, so why are we doing more work than ever before?"

I've developed a theory as to why this happens. And why it will keep happening unless forcibly stopped.

My theory is essentially based on the premise that there are two kinds of people who do work: the intelligently lazy and the overachievers. (Okay, there are way more than two kinds of people who do work -- the unintelligently lazy, the diligent but uninspired, the honestly dedicated, plenty of others -- but these two particular kinds are the main ones who affect my theory. The others can safely be ignored for right now.)

Now, an intelligently lazy person wants to put in less effort, but still get the job done. This sort of person will look at a given task and say: "There must be an easier way to do this." And if indeed there is an easier way, such a person (if sufficiently intelligent) will find it.
This person will then begin using the Easier Way habitually, reasoning: "Now I can do the same work with half the effort, and I will therefore have more time to relax and do non-work things."

Enter the overachiever. This sort of person will look at the Easier Way constructed by the intelligently lazy person, and say "That's brilliant! Now we can do twice as much work with the same amount of effort!"
The overachiever will then begin using the Easier Way, and rather than decreasing effort will increase work output. In order to stay competetive in the industry, or in the job market, the intelligently lazy person is forced to similarly increase work output instead of decreasing effort. Until the point where, sighing at the amount of effort required for the job, the intelligently lazy person will once again say "There must be an easier way to do this."

Lather, rinse, repeat.