# Laziness and its cause **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 10, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179 "2011-10-10T14:49:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/1 "2011-10-10T14:49:31Z")
Do you think there is always underlying cause of medical/psychological abnormality for all laziness such as depression, ADD, etc particularly with chronic types of lethargicness OR do you believe some people are simply lazy? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/2 "2011-10-10T15:06:14Z")
I think there are probably legitimate medical reasons for people to appear lazy, but I also believe some people simply are lazy. Perhaps they had parents or grandparents who did everything for them. Perhaps they were good-looking or charismatic enough to have others tend to their needs and take care of them. Perhaps they think the world owes them. Some folks are selectively lazy. I have a nephew who is really bright, but if it doesn’t have to do with fishing, he doesn’t care and he won’t put forth any effort. Maybe one day he’ll meet a girl who steals his heart and makes him get his ass in gear. Failing that, I see him shuffling through life doing as little as possible, except for fishing. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/3 "2011-10-10T15:58:47Z")
I am more lazy than I used to be and mostly because so many modern things seem like a waste of time. Clean a house that’s bigger than we need and it gets dirty again right away, go through the piles of junk mail so that more can come today, go grocery shopping so we can eat it all and do it again. My job doesn’t help because it’s sales and I do a lot of work for things that don’t always work out. BUT . . . I have a depression problem and when my depression is being perfectly controlled I am not lazy. So, it just seems like being depressed doesn’t allow me to ignore the futility of cetain chores. ---
**Author:** ![Jbone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@Jbone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jbone)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/4 "2011-10-10T16:23:38Z")
I tend to put things off and make an excuse for me not to do it. Usually this excuse is pretty lame and, if said aloud, would bring a frown to anyone’s face. I meant to clean the shed this weekend because it was beautiful weather and because the temp will probably plummet this week (I live in Wisconsin). Instead I’ll end up cleaning it in near-freezing weather in the coming weeks. I found a lot of my excuses revolve around my children (three of them ages 4 and under). Some of them, IMO, are valid (usually being tired), but other times it seems that if you get a break and have some time to do your “chores”, you choose not to because relaxation time sounds so much better. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/5 "2011-10-10T16:35:34Z")
> [@Jbone](#): > > you choose not to because relaxation time sounds so much better. Sounds like this covers much of non-medically induced laziness. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/6 "2011-10-10T16:37:41Z")
Saying that someone is “simply lazy” is a bit ludicrous; it implies that understanding the human mind, free will, etc. is “simple”. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/7 "2011-10-10T17:14:04Z")
I think it’s both. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/8 "2011-10-10T17:22:04Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Saying that someone is “simply lazy” is a bit ludicrous; it implies that understanding the human mind, free will, etc. is “simple”. In the sense of the old fashioned “lazy” like how someone is simply “stupid” in the days prior to terms like learning disability, dyslexia, and ADHD etc. Many people still resist believing these conditions actually exist. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/9 "2011-10-10T17:46:25Z")
Choosing to relax or do something enjoyable instead of doing some non neccessary chore: is that really lazy? Is it better to use our time doing something we don’t enjoy just because society says the shed needs to be tidy (why?). Maybe it’s better to put it off until the weather is cold because then you won’t be wasting a good day. Is it better to work and work to buy stuff you don’t need and doesn’t make you happy instead of doing what you enjoy and working just enought to cover what you absolutely need? ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/10 "2011-10-10T17:46:45Z")
Both exist. When I was suffering from depression after my father passed away a few years ago, I was definitely what you would call lazy. I didn’t do much of anything. I got my kid to school on time and picked him up. My husband handled just about everything else. I got better and now I’m back to my (mostly) not-lazy self. My mom was lazy when she was young. She admits it. She just didn’t like doing housework or spending time “making a home”. She didn’t want to hold down a job outside the home either or go to college. She would just rather do fun stuff. Eventually she realized how selfish she was acting and started changing. Now she is so not a lazy person. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/11 "2011-10-10T17:46:55Z")
For me, household chores (especially yard work) became permanently associated with being forced to do the bulk of the work in my childhood home, while my sister got to sit around in the air conditioning doing nothing. So there’s still a primeval remnant of my brain that screams, “NOT FAIR!” when I have to wash dishes or take out the trash, even though I’m 27 now. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/12 "2011-10-10T17:54:45Z")
Both exists, just like bad grammar exist. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/13 "2011-10-10T18:02:03Z")
I’ve never met a “lazy” person in my life. I’ve met people who have very little energy, through depression or medical conditions or just because that’s how they were born. I’ve met people who are pathologically disorganized. I’ve met people who are afraid of making mistakes and hence don’t do very simple things like scrambling eggs or washing their socks because they never were taught to as children. I’ve met people who lack the American middle class cultural value of hard work and sacrifice for the future, because their economic/cultural environment is different. The most genuinely “lazy” people I’ve met were people who put an unusually high value on relaxation; they were the most efficient people of my acquaintance, because they did exactly as much as was needed as fast as possible in order to get to the part of their life they liked best. Lazy is a word I mainly see used as a code word for “poor” or “of a despised other color than myself”. It’s ruined as a real word for me. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/14 "2011-10-10T18:37:14Z")
I know the answer to this but I can’t be bothered to explain. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/15 "2011-10-10T18:49:17Z")
Laziness can be both a state and a trait. Like, everyone experiences a “lazy Sunday” every now and again. It’s raining and cold outside and you just want to lay in bed and watch reruns of “The Facts of Life” all day. Some people may have more of these kinds of days than others. But that doesn’t make a person lazy. It just means they are not always bustling with energy. Laziness can also be a personality trait. You can pathologize personality, of course. But I don’t think laziness as a personality trait alone is indicative of a medical condition. Not anymore than the tendency to daydream or being extroverted. It’s just how a person is. Of course, everything in moderation. So if a person is so lazy that they can’t get out of bed and out of their pajamas, that’s clearly a problem. Or feeling fatigued and lethargic all the time, that’s not normal. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/16 "2011-10-10T19:12:08Z")
Which of the following(s) doesn’t belong with the rest of conditions? chronic tendency to procrastinate consistent slowness space cadet chronic tardiness slouchiness couch potato chronic excessive sleepiness ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/17 "2011-10-10T19:48:26Z")
What do you mean by “lazy”? Do you mean lazy all the time, not wanting to do anything at all? Or do you mean not wanting to do what you’re supposed to be doing, like doing your school work or cooking dinner? If the latter, this targeted laziness is probably because you have something better that you prefer to be doing. If someone is lazy all the time, that may be due to some underlying medical condition like depression. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/18 "2011-10-10T19:53:59Z")
As in if you hear “You are LAZY!!” or “You lazy bum!” often in your life. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/19 "2011-10-11T00:40:23Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > In the sense of the old fashioned “lazy” like how someone is simply “stupid” in the days prior to terms like learning disability, dyslexia, and ADHD etc. Many people still resist believing these conditions actually exist. Well, I believe that some people are lazy because they lack the willpower or motivation or whatever to work hard. But where does willpower/motivation come from? Jehovah? Neurochemicals? I don’t think there’s a simple answer to it. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179/20 "2011-10-11T01:17:57Z")
I voted wrong. I should have voted “both” but, looking at myself, I realize I am just lazy. Not depressed or any other medical excuse, I would rather do something I enjoy than something I don’t. This was pretty good for my career because I so enjoyed doing mathematics. But it hurt me in school because I would not spend time on anything but math and science. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laziness-and-its-cause/599179.md?page=2)