Expanding one’s perception and belief of a system, establishment, or institution can lead to extremely humbling conclusions. We are all cogs in an exalted machine, our bodies are essentially a sack of bodily functions, our brains are fundamentally a collection of neurons firing.
“As skyscrapers replace rows of small shops, so offices replace free markets. Each office within the skyscraper is a segment of the enormous file, a part of the symbol factory that produces thebillion slips of paper that gear modern society into its daily shape.” -C. Wright Mills, White Collar (1951).
Mills (for whom I wasn’t named) is referred to several times in this excellent article on the development, history, and effects, including the “moral life,” of cubicles. If you work in an office or are interested in the social effects of office life, you might find it worthwhile.
