The Evolution of Laziness

A recent article in the Times, titled the “Psychology of Cheating” can be described as a social commentary responding to the recent "not guilty" verdict in the Barry Bonds steroid usage trial.  Instead of focusing on the legal implications of the verdict however, the author instead highlights the moral relativity that is now associated with cheating or cutting corners to get ahead.  He paints the phenomenon as a natural reaction to productivity in an ever-changing, fast-paced world.  Upon reading about this profound social discovery…it made me think of another lewd behavior that has become somewhat of a norm in society.  Cheating’s uglier cousin…laziness.  Also a deadly sin…sloth has often been considered less reprehensible than the others as it is a sin of omission, rather than commission.  However, isn’t it worse to consciously check out of responsibility than it is to simply be ignorant about it from the start?  A recent situation at work has recently called this notion into question.

As some of you may know, I am a corporate robot.  Working for a large corporation can be quite fulfilling as it generally tends to provide a lot of upward mobility and growth.  However, like most work environments, there are politics.  Recently, I have inherited a very tedious and time-consuming task from an individual outside of my department.  The individual is more than capable of completing this task…rather they saw an opening to get rid of the responsibility and they took it.  As it is, I don’t mind doing it.  However, it is the principle…that my already enormous workload just grew because someone else just didn’t feel like doing it.  The justification for this individual’s recycling of this responsibility is that they simply did not have enough time to get it done [and I do?].  Ok, that is fine.  Call it what you want.  It is not like anyone is going to readily admit that they are just LAZY.  

Laziness can be blamed for many of our current social problems. Take for instance, the infamous Ponzi scheme of 2008. Are all of the Bernie Madoff’s of the world innately evil?  Probably not. They saw an opportunity to make an easy buck and rather than work hard the old fashioned way to become successful, they jumped on the L train.   As with many charismatic individuals in history, Madoff built his wealth and empire off of the hard work of others.  When studying the animal kingdom, it is can be observed that extremely efficient predators have more free time and thus often appear more lazy than relatively inept predators that have little free time.   Perhaps this parallel allows individuals like Madoff to justify their behavior? 

Even more alarming is when laziness leads to tragedy.  In May of 2005, the popular news outlet “Newsweek” released a report alleging that officials at the prison in Guantanamo Bay had flushed a copy of the Koran down the toilet.  A week later, when newspapers in Afghanistan and Pakistan picked up the item, it sparked anti-American demonstrations in the Afghan city of Jalalabad in which four protesters were killed and more than 60 injured. About a dozen more protesters were killed in the following days when the demonstrations spread across Afghanistan and to Pakistan and other countries.  It was later found that the source used to write the article was wrong. The deadly consequences of the report, and its reliance on an unnamed and inaccurate source, could have easily been avoided if the reporter assigned to the case had done their due diligence and verified all of the facts.   

Like cheating, laziness is not a construct created by our generation.  Instead, it has only been fueled by the instant fulfillment culture that technology now provides us with.  It can actually be found disguised in many different names, languages and venues.  Senioritis is now a commonly accepted rite of passage among graduating college students.  If they only knew however, that your last semester in college is also the first page sitting in front of a campus recruiters would they still be as comfortable with letting a few slide?  Let’s not forget Larry Wall, infamous programmer who wrote The Programming Perl, which describes the three virtues of a successful programmer as laziness, impatience and hubris.  Perhaps it makes sense in context?

Maybe laziness is really in the eye of the beholder?  After spending time in Italy, I can confidently rebut the notion that the Italians are lazy, wine-drinking afternoon nappers…quite the opposite in fact.  The Italians have simply cultivated the air of relaxation. I guess that narrows down the criteria with which we can define laziness.  If someone works all day and comes home to unwind on the couch for the remainder of the evening…is that laziness?  Hardly.  Heck, I spent most of my Sunday afternoon planted in front of the TV watching the Criminal Minds marathon.  It seems that in order for laziness to truly be destructive, it must be coupled with another of the deadly sins.  Laziness plus greed = Enron.  Laziness plus gluttony = America’s Biggest Loser. 

So how does one avoid succumbing to perpetual laziness?  In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell discusses the characteristics of meaningful work: it is complex, it offers autonomy, and there is a relationship between effort and reward.  I think the last characteristic is probably the most important.  As evolved social creatures, we need fulfillment that extends beyond getting the job done so to speak.  Simply completing tasks is not enough…we need a system that responds back to our efforts.  That is not to say that situations such as Enron will ever be avoidable.  Clearly, when laziness is coupled with opportunism, all bets are off. On a smaller scale though, perhaps my work counterpart should start looking for a job that doesn’t require any actual work.