The Guardian:<p>&gt; <i>Research shows</i> that shorter work weeks are just as effective.<p>John Carmack:<p>&gt; <i>I feel</i> like longer work weeks are more effective.<p>Does anyone else see the problem with this?<p>Of course, pop-sci writing is often terrible.  Of course, headlines can wildly misrepresent the research they&#x27;re covering.  Of course, there may be issues at stake (such as, in this case, personal freedom) beyond the simple phenomenon being described.<p>However, if you have an issue with the research&#x27;s methodology, explain it.  It might even be a little interesting to hear a new conflicting hypothesis from your own anecdotal experiences.<p>As it happens, regarding the quality of pop-sci journalism, on this particular issue, the research on the starkly diminishing returns of overtime and the negative impact it has on work (especially creative work) is all pretty consistent.  For those who do not have the luxury of working in cushy chair-sitting industries like Mr. Carmack and myself, overtime is strongly correlated with an increase in industrial accidents, both fatal and otherwise.<p>I really wish that high-status people in the software industry would stop thinking that their success exempts them from cognitive bias and the need to make a rational argument, or that their experience writing software somehow transfers, with no particular education, to social science or management.<p>The problem with this opinion is neatly summed up by this statement:<p>&gt; Given two equally talented people, the one that pursues a goal obsessively, for well over 40 hours a week, is going to achieve more.<p>which has been all but <i>proven</i> wrong by repeated scientific studies.  In the general case, it is not true.  In the specific cases of outliers where it appears to be true, my understanding of the research indicates that the &quot;People with the psychological makeup that allows them to productively pursue a goal obsessively for well over 40 hours a week will tend to be extremely successful&quot;.  But this attribute is highly unusual, and it may not be something you can cultivate; people who are taller also tend to do better in life, but that does not mean that the average person should torture themselves on the rack for 80 hours a week in the hopes of getting taller, either.