I don't want to be a tough watermelon

Some scientists once did an experiment: they got hold of a young, growing watermelon and placed heavy weights on it while it was growing. Every day they would gradually add to the weights.

In the end when the watermelon had finished growing they tried to cut it open. Knives just bounced off, so in the end they had to use a chainsaw. The fibers inside were tough as hell. The scientists involved estimated that the final form of the watermelon could support up to 500 kilos of weight. Very impressive.

This story is often used as an allegory to show that people who have taken more pressure in life tend to be tougher and more successful, like the watermelon.

So, for society to progress should we work harder and put more pressure on people, starting with giving little kids a ton of schoolbooks?

Personally I disagree.

I do admit that people who have taken more stress and pressure do tend to be able to withstand hardship better and work harder than others. No doubt there.

But is the purpose of humanity to withstand hardship and work hard? I would say that although those qualities are necessary to some degree, they are not the final aim of humanity. Our purpose in creation is to create and find beauty and truth, through advancing art and science, and by our words and deeds.

If a man is fighting hard every day just to stay alive, where would he have the time to create beauty in this world? I find this juxtaposition of values to be disturbing to some extent; hard work should be so that we and our future generations have more time to do this great work, rather than an end goal in itself.

In the end, I would rather see a society in which people work normal hours, then spend their other time with family and friends, on arts and sciences and hobbies, rather than a society in which everyone has no life aside from work. The value of hard work has been over-exalted in a way to me.

Yes, the watermelon under pressure became very tough. But a watermelon's purpose is not to be tough, it is to taste sweet and juicy. Our purpose as human beings is not just to work hard, but to be human.

And that is what this analogy misses.