What Is Laziness?

Laziness is one of the seven deadly sins. At one time or another, we have all felt lazy. But what, exactly, does laziness even mean?

The classic conception of a lazy person is someone who sits around all day, doing nothing. But even a “lazy” person is doing something, right? They are not in a vegetative state.

For as example, let’s pretend that the lazy person in question sits around all day playing video games. They contribute nothing, just hours and hours of Xbox.

But isn’t that video game play, in itself, something they are working quite hard at? They are advancing in the game, learning playing techniques, maybe even reading about cheat codes or Easter eggs. A decent amount of time and effort might go in to learning how to play. Can that really be considered lazy?

Related: Listen to an episode of the Intellectual Roundtable Podcast, where Lee and Michael discuss this question: ‘What is the value of inefficiency?’ We discuss another question as well, ‘How can we encourage debate?’

Admittedly, playing video games doesn’t really improve life in any way. Or does it? There are people who upload videos of themselves playing video games to YouTube, and make hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars in doing so. Are they lazy?

The difference there may be one person is earning a paycheck, and the other is not. Is laziness tied to money? One person doing something is lazy, someone else doing the exact same thing for pay is not lazy? Does that make any sense?

It may be that our classical definition of “lazy” merely means “disinterested”. Perhaps someone who is late for work, doesn’t try very hard, makes a lot of easily-fixed mistakes, is simply not interested in doing that job. That same person might be totally invested in playing video games, or managing their fantasy football team, or even working at a more engaging job.

In that case, a different definition of “laziness” may be in order. Can you think of one?

Related questions: Pride or humility? When do you need inspiration? What gives you purpose? What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

Change Or Status Quo?

No one is perfect, and if you want to improve, you need to change. However, people fundamentally don’t like change, so the status quo is preferable. What about you? Which one do you like better?

Share why if you wish.

Change Or Status Quo?
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What Would You Do If You Had More Time?

Let’s try a thought experiment. Pretend that there is an eighth day in the week, or an extra hour in the day. What would you do with more time?

Many people feel they are too busy, that their days are too full. Between work, family, social obligations, and so on, there isn’t much extra time for hobbies or exploring other interests.

This starts at an early age, as school work can take up a lot of our childhood years. For many, there is a relentless pressure to get good grades, in order to get into a good college. This sets you up for graduate school, law school medical school, or the like.

It doesn’t get any better once you get into the working world, as a young employee will often be expected to work long hours in order to get established (and pay off school debt).

Add in a spouse and some kids, and every hour of the day can easily be taken up with one chore or another.

Related: Listen to an episode of the Intellectual Roundtable Podcast, where Lee and Michael discuss this question: ‘Are we too busy?’ We discuss another question as well, ‘What are our responsibilities to others?’

But what if it wasn’t that way? What if you had some time every day to an interest of some sort? What if there was an extra day to spend on an extra project? How would you spend that time?

Maybe you would write a novel. You might get your friends together to film an amateur movie. Perhaps you would host a regular party for friends, or learn to paint. Who knows? You might watch more TV.

What would you do if you had more time?

Related questions: Are we too busy? If you had an assistant, what would you have them do? What are your favorite hobbies? What is time?