Proverb: Many Hands Make Light Work
Proverb: Many Hands Make Light WorkFor thousands of years, people have been holding an opinion that if many people get down to one heavy work, it will be made a light one and that is how the proverb, many hands make light work, comes into being. Personally, however, I will say that it all depends.
First of all, let us make clear the “work” mentioned in the proverb. As we all know, there are various kinds of work there and this “work” here is quite ambiguous. If it refers to the physical work especially when the work is very heavy, it is no doubt that the more people help, the lighter one person has to do in his part and the quicker the work will be finished. We can never ignore the common sense that the strength of ten people is always larger than that of one. However, when the “work” comes to something complex and non-physical, “many hands” may sometimes seem to be less important and evenunnecessary. Supposably, the structurers who work for the city government are assigned to build a monument in the center square of the city and they need to determine the scale. Do they need to make the decision on public opinion? If so, the whole process will be a marathon. First, the government has to gather all the opinion of every citizen and then hold a vote for all the people. I believe you can imagine how long and exhausting the process will be. In order to be effective, the structurers would better make decisions based on their personal convictions according to their professional knowledge rather than on public opinion. In this case, the proverb is obviously not true.
Secondly, let us talk about the “hands”. As we all know, “hands” here is a metaphor which symbolizes the people participating in the “work”. As a team working together to get down to work, the personnel is a crucial element which determines whether the work will be well and effectively done or not. Now, here is the deal. If the “many people” in the proverb means a group of elites, then it would make sense. Otherwise, it would be a mess. Can you imagine a gang of illiterate people are able to produce the theory of relativity?
In summary, the proverb that has been believed and used for thousands of years is not absolute right because the “many hands” and the “work” mentioned in the proverb are ambiguous and covering a wide range so that we do not exactly know what they specifically refer to. As a result, the proverb could be, under certain circumstance, “many hands make heavy work”. So the usage of this proverb mainly depends on what kind of people are involved and what kind of work it is.
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