Being lazy is mostly caused by having an inaccurate view of reality: one misunderstands the nature of work and effort, and thinks that to do less work will make one happy. On the extreme end, many who have dropped out of society hold this viewpoint, but this is also a view held by aristocratic societies that create a leisure class. In neither case does idleness make one happy; rather, it leads to an entitled existence based on privilege characterized by a lack of stimulation and engagement with the world, with no challenge in one’s life.
In the lower classes, idleness often leads to a life characterized by substance abuse, restlessness, meaningless sex, and occupation with cheap entertainment. The same is true of aristocracies, but the entertainment is more expensive. I don’t believe in the Devil, but the saying “the Devil makes good use of idle hands” has some truth to it. If we step back a little and examine the saying in a different light, the Devil is the person’s ego, and the ego creates desire after desire to satisfy itself.
However, the ego, if given free reign, is never satisfied and never can be satisfied as its basis is a conglomeration of various impulses: to live forever, avoid suffering, and sublimate and satisfy the endless natural drives of the body. The ego creates its desires because it knows that the drives that fuel it cannot be satisfied: it is a complex founded upon a fundamental disappointment. Lazy people are fearful egoists at heart. They’re afraid of death, and think that by avoiding danger, they can be safe. They’re afraid to suffer, and think that by not suffering that they’ll be happy. And they think that if they satisfy their natural desires, this will lead to happiness as well.
On all accounts the egoists have deluded themselves. One is never truly safe from harm, no matter what situation they are in. Safety is relative. Being absolutely safe is an illusion, and not something that is desirable anyways. Lack of suffering doesn’t lead to happiness, it leads to stasis, boredom, and restlessness, which are forms of suffering. Suffering truly will not be denied. And natural desires can not be satisfied, because they are infinite as long as one is alive, and as soon as one desire is fulfilled, another takes its place, for they are the result of chemical processes that never cease in the brain.
All of this is not something you can really teach a person who is lazy, however. If lazy people listened to good advice, they would cease to be lazy, as much of what I am saying has probably been told to them before. Laziness’s core fundamentally is a desire to avoid suffering, but by avoiding suffering, lazy people avoid the game of life, and live as spectators and not as participants. Lazy people are fundamentally alone, and when they are with others, they are alone with themselves, because their huge egos prevent them from making meaningful emotional bonds with others.
I speak of lazy people, but let’s be clear: laziness is a fundamental human trait, and it’s responsible for a large portion of the problems in the world. Laziness is always a solution that causes more problems in life, but it is the preferred solution in most situations, and is much of why human beings do what they do.
We should not praise people for making our lives easier. The fact that we do shows the fundamental laziness of humanity. It would be better if we were to praise those that make life interesting, challenging, that inspire us to higher aims. Anything but to praise those who make life easier.
