Synthesized answer
Wastes of human effort are less appreciated than material wastes because they are less visible and tangible. Material wastes can be seen and felt, while inefficient or ill-directed human movements leave nothing behind to observe. Appreciating these human wastes requires memory and imagination, which is why they have not stirred as much attention as material wastes, even though the daily loss from human inefficiency is greater [1].
The passages highlight that while there is sympathy for those who are overworked, there are far more individuals who intentionally underwork every day, contributing to conditions that result in low wages [2]. This deliberate loafing can be almost criminal, leading to higher housing costs for families and driving away trade [3]. The contrast between a workman's full effort in sports, where failing to give one's best leads to contempt, and their deliberate reduction of output at work is stark [4]. Under systems where pay is the same regardless of effort, naturally energetic men slow down to match the pace of the least efficient, as the logic of receiving the same reward for less work is persuasive [5].
Synthesized from the book passages below. Chat with the book on Feynman for follow-up.
From the book
y," are less visible, less tangible, and are but vaguely appreciated. We can see and feel the waste of material things. Awkward, inefficient, or ill-directed movements of men, however, leave nothing visible or tangible behind them. Their appreciation calls for an act of memory, an effort of the imagination. And for this reason, even though our daily loss from this source is greater than from our waste of material things, the one has stirred us deeply, while the other has moved us but little. As yet there has been no public agitation for "greater national efficiency," no meetings have…
em that they are overworked. A great deal has been and is being constantly said about "sweat-shop" work and conditions. The writer has great sympathy with those who are overworked, but on the whole a greater sympathy for those who are under paid. For every individual, however, who is overworked, there are a hundred who intentionally under work--greatly under work--every day of their lives, and who for this reason deliberately aid in establishing those conditions which in the end inevitably result in low wages. And yet hardly a single voice is being raised in an endeavor to correct…
ricks laid by each man, and for telling each workman at frequent intervals how many bricks he had succeeded in laying. It is only when this work is compared with the conditions which prevail under the tyranny of some of our misguided bricklayers' unions that the great waste of human effort which is going on will be realized. In one foreign city the bricklayers' union have restricted their men to 275 bricks per day on work of this character when working for the city, and 375 per day when working for private owners. The members of this union are probably sincere in their belief that…
ctually exist in this country and in England. The English and American peoples are the greatest sportsmen in the world. Whenever an American workman plays baseball, or an English workman plays cricket, it is safe to say that he strains every nerve to secure victory for his side. He does his very best to make the largest possible number of runs. The universal sentiment is so strong that any man who fails to give out all there is in him in sport is branded as a "quitter," and treated with contempt by those who are around him. When the same workman returns to work on the following day,…
"Under this plan the better men gradually but surely slow down their gait to that of the poorest and least efficient. When a naturally energetic man works for a few days beside a lazy one, the logic of the situation is unanswerable." "Why should I work hard when that lazy fellow gets the same pay that I do and does only half as much work?" "A careful time study of men working under these conditions will disclose facts which are ludicrous as well as pitiable." "To illustrate: The writer has timed a naturally energetic workman who, while going and coming from work, would walk at…