Am I the only one who thinks this is very selfish and primitive attitude? I like to think that I want to live not as an animal, for the sake of eating, sleeping and procreation. That I need to force myself to go beyond living for the sake of living and live for the sake of great ideas. I want to work on great things that contribute to progress and I care about that more than myself.
The author is right that working long hours for an employer is actually an intellectually lazy way to live. However this doesn't make hard work, effort or high-standards in themselves wrong at all. This is also a lazy attitude.
However, the distinction is that whatever you are working on RIGHT NOW is not what's all important. You may and should love what you're doing right now, but attaching too much of your identity to your current product/role/company will cause you pain if the product/company fails, or prevent you from taking opportunities elsewhere where you can contribute to your overall goals more than where you currently are.
He also says "learn languages, play music instrument, do sports", but these actually require work and overcoming yourself, and are synergistic with whatever you do 9-5.
1. Make sure what you're working on is really a great thing that contributes to progress (e.g. not another junk social media "app").
2. If what you're doing really matters, all the more important to stick to a disciplined 30-40 hour working week to retain your ability to think clearly, instead of slopping into overtime and destroying your judgment.
3. Raising a family is the most important job of all (in a real sense it's the supergoal of which everything else we do is just a subgoal).