Does 'Laziness' Start in the Brain?(theguardian.com)
theguardian.com
Does 'Laziness' Start in the Brain?
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/nov/30/does-laziness-start-in-the-brain-apathy-motivation
16 comments
When I used to have bigger gaps between contracts it would take about a month after finishing a job before I could do lots of coding on my own projects.
Went travelling for a bit and was working on my own projects and learning - it worked best when treating it a bit like an job, having a schedule to go and work in a coffeeshop pretty much.
Went travelling for a bit and was working on my own projects and learning - it worked best when treating it a bit like an job, having a schedule to go and work in a coffeeshop pretty much.
You might want to look into ADHD and executive dysfunction in general. As a fellow ADHDr, I know the struggle is real. But there are ways to improve this, both behavioral and pharmacological.
Yes the “I can summon motivation magically if there are people around
me” mirrors my own struggle.
Suffering from executive dysfunction obviates that there is no free will, and it's as if good health is simply having that illusion work out harmoniously.
As a convinced idler I've long thought this is the case; this was a reflection on my own flaws prompted by my strong belief that significant presentations in other people of what in the old days would be called "weak character",eg obesity must be majorly down to underlying mental disorders or weaknesses because nobody would choose to be like that, right?
The neural or mental cause hypothesis for the latter has been pretty much proven by the success of drugs like Ozempic; it's really not a great stretch to see other deadly sins as similarly significantly brain-derived in addition to (and possibly sometimes dominating) environmental and cultural influences.
The important thing though - if you believe this - is not to claim victimhood as a sufferer but to grasp the opportunity that comes from identifying a challenge, and investigating the tools and techniques available to counter and - with perseverance - defeat it.
The neural or mental cause hypothesis for the latter has been pretty much proven by the success of drugs like Ozempic; it's really not a great stretch to see other deadly sins as similarly significantly brain-derived in addition to (and possibly sometimes dominating) environmental and cultural influences.
The important thing though - if you believe this - is not to claim victimhood as a sufferer but to grasp the opportunity that comes from identifying a challenge, and investigating the tools and techniques available to counter and - with perseverance - defeat it.
> nobody would choose to be like that, right?
I can't say I'm obese, but I am proudly lazy, and I am firmly convinced our entire models of character, personality, mental illness, etc is rooted in culturally relative values. There's no particular reason we should look to productivity (or the west at all, really) for a source of values or reference of health.
I can't say I'm obese, but I am proudly lazy, and I am firmly convinced our entire models of character, personality, mental illness, etc is rooted in culturally relative values. There's no particular reason we should look to productivity (or the west at all, really) for a source of values or reference of health.
> David was successfully treated in this way: his motivation levels went back up after taking a drug that stimulates dopamine receptors in the brain. Because of this, he was able to get a new job, become independent and even find a partner
I've always wanted to hear the stories of patients like David. What happens when you can tell your family and friends - I'm not a screwup, this has a physical cause? How do people interact with you who've previously only seen you in your decline?
A long time ago I read an account by a financial journalist who'd had some kind of brain injury and temporary lost his faculties. It damaged his professional relationships and the implication was, most of his former colleagues remained unduly sceptical - even after years of normal functioning.
I've always wanted to hear the stories of patients like David. What happens when you can tell your family and friends - I'm not a screwup, this has a physical cause? How do people interact with you who've previously only seen you in your decline?
A long time ago I read an account by a financial journalist who'd had some kind of brain injury and temporary lost his faculties. It damaged his professional relationships and the implication was, most of his former colleagues remained unduly sceptical - even after years of normal functioning.
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From the article:
> Studies in people who develop apathy have shown that many of them just don’t find it sufficiently rewarding to take action. The cost of making the effort doesn’t seem worth the potential benefit.
In a work environment, if the rewards don't come in a timely fashion, pretty soon you should be looking for something new. If you don't know who the patsy is, the patsy is you.
And in a work environment, if you're not the kind of person marketing yourself, promoting yourself, that's another way that you might not see that effort/reward feedback loop get closed.
Maybe it's executive functioning faults, or whatever, but it might not be easy to keep the motivation and the commitment at a high level unless your manager is really tuned in.
In a work environment, if the rewards don't come in a timely fashion, pretty soon you should be looking for something new. If you don't know who the patsy is, the patsy is you.
And in a work environment, if you're not the kind of person marketing yourself, promoting yourself, that's another way that you might not see that effort/reward feedback loop get closed.
Maybe it's executive functioning faults, or whatever, but it might not be easy to keep the motivation and the commitment at a high level unless your manager is really tuned in.
Anterior mid cingulate cortex (aMCC) has been shown to grow when individuals overcome challenges.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7381101/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7381101/
> The key to changing everyday behaviour is to make the evaluation of costs (effort) and benefits (rewards) a habit that doesn’t seem too much like hard work. Even for the most apathetic among us, this holds out the hope of turning a kneejerk “no” into an ability to consider saying “yes”.
and this
> But left to his own devices he did nothing. Studies in people who develop apathy have shown that many of them just don’t find it sufficiently rewarding to take action. The cost of making the effort doesn’t seem worth the potential benefit.
seem to form a deadlock?
and this
> But left to his own devices he did nothing. Studies in people who develop apathy have shown that many of them just don’t find it sufficiently rewarding to take action. The cost of making the effort doesn’t seem worth the potential benefit.
seem to form a deadlock?
It is a cycle that feeds into the next, constantly strengthening itself. Whether that is positive feedback or negative feedback is really important. It is worth a large disruption to your life to get it working for you. The deadlock is very real.
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Arnold Schwartzenegger gives similar advice. Cultivate chosen habits, so that energy isn't spent agonizing over choices. This reduces friction to the behaviors that you choose.
The Pump Club newsletter is a free offering and has simple, time tested tips that he's picked up over the last six decades, during which he's been Mr. Universe, two term Gov of California, movie star and more. Not to be a shill, but I've picked up plenty of useful tips over the past year. Now to mine over a year of those email newsletters and distill them into bite-sized, fortune-cookie-like nuggets and put them into some kind of blog or app :-)
The Pump Club newsletter is a free offering and has simple, time tested tips that he's picked up over the last six decades, during which he's been Mr. Universe, two term Gov of California, movie star and more. Not to be a shill, but I've picked up plenty of useful tips over the past year. Now to mine over a year of those email newsletters and distill them into bite-sized, fortune-cookie-like nuggets and put them into some kind of blog or app :-)
Yes, please do so. Unless the newsletter recycles its posts, all that knowledge may be lost unless someone like you recycles it in another form. :)
When I am at work and I see a customer or a colleague who needs some help I instantly conjure some motivation and can write some code... But when I'm alone at home I cannot accomplish anything on a computer, only can do the chores.
How do people even do anything on their own? I only became good at linux because I at some point in life became obsessed with it, I can't study anything on my own, couldn't get a driver's license, couldn't finish a university