"The old aristocratic style of appearing to be lounging about while producing great ideas has been replaced by conspicuous displays of frenzy to impress bean-counting administrators---showing up at 7AM, working until midnight and chaining oneself to the computer. Thus, leisurely lunches with colleagues, let alone 'wasting' hours in a cafe debating Big Ideas is mistaken as a sign of a poor work ethic. The ambitious careerist begs off invitations for lunch or coffee with 'We might meet for a quick bite at 11:15 next month but right now I have two conference papers, a book review and a book chapter to do.' This is a (self-proclaimed) busy person destined for glory. Ironically, what is actually accomplished with 'leisure' is irrelevant---socializing is just verboten. Among grind-oriented academics it is unimaginable that the path-breaking physics of the 20th century was often done in Berlin or Gottingen sidewalk cafes (the brilliant John Von Neumann complained that Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study lacked good coffee houses and this hindered world-class physics)."
ADDED: Creativity needs a feeling of play. Who cares what drudges think?
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