In the 2003 cult classic Cold Mountain, Rene Zellweger's character acerbically dismisses her father as someone “who lived to rest—he was born tired.” Her sarcasm reveals a timeless truth: from cavemen to hunter-gatherers, breaks were luxuries amid life's grind.

Today, we're told to “switch off,” “log out,” “unplug.” Laws like India's Right to Disconnect Bill promise boundaries, evoking a nostalgic world of clear edges between work and rest. But this vision is a myth. Because, the fully disconnected human no longer exists. Work may be part of the problem, but it’s far from the whole story.

A NEW KIND OF “ALWAYS ON”

In a recent interaction with WSJ, historian Yuval Noah Harari argued that organic humans are in conflict with non-organic digital life, spawning unprecedented challenges and

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