how to combat laziness/ selfishness

["Alice Evans" <apyyae@nottingham.ac.uk>]

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** For Your Eyes Only **

i think that laziness is a kind of selfishness, people just cannot be bothered to put long-term interests of others, or indeed themselves, before short-term interests. it is such a hassle to do the 'green thing', to seperate one's waste, to cycle, not drive, and we want our lawns to look pretty so we whack on that sprinkler.. 

i think that it is difficult to convince people to change their ways unless you can somehow appeal to self-interest. Many religions manoevere round this hurdle by adding the threat of the dreaded afterlife (be it doomed to eternal damnation with the catholics, or come back as a dog for the buddhists). Appeals to self-interest can motivate actions which benefit others.

Alternatively, government should attempt to educate so that everyone recognises the horrors of what their doing and hopefully recoil in disgust. Take slavery for example, now, it was not in the immediate self-interest of the privileged to end slavery but academics showed society the error of its ways and the populus followed suit. There's the saying that "inequality [and injustice] is rarely seen from above" and this recognises the mighty hurdle of vested self-interest. 

Well i think it's now the duty of those that recognise the implications of what we're doing to be a bit evangelical and do the preacher thing: attempting to limit self-destruction. I mean yeh, ok, maybe 'free-will' is really important and we've got to grant each individual the ability to come to their own conclusions... But at what cost?

Given that science does seem to favour the view that global warming is indeed happening, can we really be so tolerant of failure to obey, i.e. laziness?

We need education and tougher policies. Take smoking, many smokers find it difficult to quit but welcome the proposed bans because it will force them to do what they really want to do (i.e. quit) but lack the motivation to. Again, it all comes down to laziness and vested self-interest. The smoker and non-recycler knows what they're doing isnt a good idea but cant really be bothered to go through any such pallava. 

Likewise, the state ought to whack a whopping tax on SUVs, change policy regarding industrial expansion - generally take more central action.

Such a 'dictatorship' would overcome potential problems of laziness. The government has both a right and a duty to limit individual freedom when acting for the greater good. Education can work towards the same aim but given selfishness, people may always be tempted to revert to the 'dark side' and have a bath (jokes)



 

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