In a lot of ways, these trends are called innovation — in other ways, they are called laziness. I’m not arguing that we return to times before electricity when people lost limbs from crappy medical care or worked so hard that they just died. That would be really stupid. But I do think we need to stop glorifying laziness.
In the old days, one would have to spend hours cultivating food, hunting or preparing edibles in order to feed himself or his family. Today we microwave bowls of ramen noodles that were prepared in a far off factory by people we neither know nor care about.
Getting new clothes involved killing and skinning an animal before painfully sewing skins together by candlelight. Now, we go to the store and pick from a multitude of fashions. We don’t even have to dig into our pockets to pull out bills, instead pulling out a shiny card that gives us access to the entire world.
Truly, human laziness has reached a pinnacle.
As I walk around this campus, I frequently hear people bragging about how they spent yesterday watching an entire season of “Orange is the New Black” or taking three naps after already sleeping until noon.
While a little television isn’t bad for you, and I am definitely not one to complain about sleep, this excessive lethargy can lead to harmful consequences. We are at college for a reason, and while that reason may be different for everyone, I doubt that watching Netflix or sleeping all of the time will get you anywhere closer to your goals.
So I urge people to reconsider.
Before starting on your tenth episode of “Orange is the New Black,” maybe pick up a textbook and try to learn something.
Before sleeping another hour after the 16 you’ve already slept, do that worksheet your psych professor assigned.
I urge you to try doing an activity you are passionate about, or act like you care about something. Just please, stop reveling in your laziness, because you are really just setting yourself up for underachievement and possibly even failure.