These charts use the same idea as the software model: hold output fixed, split the original human workload into tasks, and show what happens when machines reduce the time needed for each task.
The time shares and reductions are illustrative assumptions, not measured historical statistics. The baseline is 100 units of labor for a fixed quantity of cotton cloth or grain. A stage’s remaining labor equals its baseline share multiplied by one minus its assumed reduction. Total speedup is 100 divided by the sum of the remaining labor.
The invention dates are historical milestones. The “after” case combines technologies and later improvements across centuries; it does not describe productivity in the invention year or claim that a single invention delivered the modeled reduction. It excludes maintenance, management, transport, sewing garments, crop growth time, and changes in output or demand.
| Task | Original share | Assumed reduction | Labor remaining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Picking cotton | 20% | 90% | 2% |
| Removing seeds | 10% | 95% | 0.5% |
| Spinning thread | 50% | 87.5% | 6.25% |
| Weaving cloth | 20% | 90% | 2% |
Sum: 10.75% of the original labor remains, giving an illustrative 9.3× speedup. The chart rounds labels to one decimal. “Weaving clothes” refers here to making the cloth, not cutting and sewing garments. The spinning assumption uses an illustrative eightfold gain; spindle counts do not establish measured labor productivity.
| Task | Original share | Assumed reduction | Labor remaining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preparing soil | 25% | 90% | 2.5% |
| Sowing seeds | 15% | 90% | 1.5% |
| Reaping grain | 30% | 95% | 1.5% |
| Threshing grain | 30% | 95% | 1.5% |
Sum: 7% of the original labor remains, giving an illustrative 14.3× speedup. This is a simplified grain-farming scenario, not a model of every crop, livestock operation, or food-production task.