We can distinguish two trends within this conventional viewpoint. One perspective, with roots traceable to classical Greek thought, holds that there are higher and more meaningful human activities than work. Work is to be avoided so that one can pursue these more valuable and refined goods. The good life for humans would be a life of contemplation and a life spent enjoy-ing the higher pleasures of art, politics, and culture. Perhaps a view such as this was implicit in the assumptions of those social scientists studying leisure and affluence mentioned in the discussion case at the start of this chapter. Once workers attained sufficient affluence to fill all their needs, they would reduce the amount of time spent working so that they could pursue more valuable and refined cultural goods.