Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.Compulsive gambling actually runs in my family, and it probably is the result of a neural thing.
Maybe the taxpayer should give people like me a monthly fund to gamble with so that I don't lose all my own money and end up not being able to feed my kids. -
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.Not necessarily. Scrounging off other people, getting them to do the work for you, seems like it could be a workable survival strategy.(Original post by Hopple)
The genes for underachievement, if they existed, would have been bred out of the genepool, surely? -
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.that sounds more like the thing the study was looking at than 'lazyness' tbh. It was looking differences in brain activity between people who chose to invest small amounts of time frequently when there was a high chance of getting a small payoff with people who chose to invest large amounts of time in tasks with a small chance of recieving a bigger payout.(Original post by avupa2.01)
Compulsive gambling actually runs in my family, and it probably is the result of a neural thing.
Maybe the taxpayer should give people like me a monthly fund to gamble with so that I don't lose all my own money and end up not being able to feed my kids.
Seems to be a comparison between steady workers and get rich quick merchants... Which the telegraph has decided to interpret as people who work steadily being lazy and people who take more risks as hard working.
Just read the abstract though. -
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.edit. Oh, sorry misread your post.(Original post by Joinedup)
Just read the abstract though.
I would, but I read an article quite a while back that said that sort of stuff quite a while back so no need to really, it makes sense to me.
In some situations for example, high risk behaviour can reward, in others it can punish. It's not surprising imo that evolution has done it's thing and not make everything do the same thing - because, it's never good to put all your eggs in one basket and etc.
The article I read was talking about how, addicts in general have something similar about their brain in some way or something like that. And that there was a genetic factor involved also.Last edited by avupa2.01; 03-05-2012 at 10:00. -
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.Do you ever make any post that is not related to capitalism/left wing beliefs as a matter of interest? It's like every post I see by you always has something to do with it haha(Original post by Martyn*)
Scientists have identified neural pathways that appear to influence an individual's willingness to work hard to earn money.
Or, pathways that appear to influence people's willingness to obey and conform to their corporate masters, and because society dictates that the only thing worthy of achievement in life is money and status.
- on topic... I'm not sure really about this study.
As others have said it doesn't actually show a genetic link, only chemical concentrations, which could have occured from other factors, and, aside from this, I think there are also other factors which play into motivation to work/achieve, medical conditions such as depression for example.
While I do think under-achieving is probably higher in lazy people than people who give their all, I don't think it's for the reasons stated in that article, and I dont think it applies to all lazy people, due to the mixed bag of some lazy people achieving high whilst doing the minimum, and some people who try hard also under-achieving too... -
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.Reminds me of this
http://xkcd.com/1027/
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.A rare day that I agree with you(Original post by Martyn*)
Scientists have identified neural pathways that appear to influence an individual's willingness to work hard to earn money.
Or, pathways that appear to influence people's willingness to obey and conform to their corporate masters, and because society dictates that the only thing worthy of achievement in life is money and status.
But it's true. I've little motivation to work for money. Not everyone goes around chasing money so they can buy copious amounts of iCrap. -
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.Tbf given how capitalism and corporations dictate everything in our society if you have a problem with capitalism then everything bothers you. It becomes a massive elephant in the room. Look at the olympics and football for evidence of how even something as pure as sport can be corrupted.(Original post by TheHistoryStudent)
Do you ever make any post that is not related to capitalism/left wing beliefs as a matter of interest? It's like every post I see by you always has something to do with it haha
Last edited by Aramiss18; 03-05-2012 at 10:39. -
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.Do you think the findings of the study are flawed, or just unpleasant to hear about?(Original post by silverbolt)
what a crock of ****,
sounds like another contrived excuse to ensure even more people dont have to take responsibility for thier actions (or lack of)
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The thing is that obviously all behaviours have a physical basis in the brain, everyone knows this. But it doesn't excuse us from our actions. If I got angry now and killed someone then yes obviously "my brain made me do it" but that's still part of me so I (brain and all) would be dealt with accordingly.
Unfortunately, though, there is a move towards excusing people for all sorts of things just because, surprise surprise, we have found a physical basis for them. What did we expect, that it was just "magic" and not visible to our science/tech? -
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.Are you saying lazy people don't reproduce?(Original post by Hopple)
The genes for underachievement, if they existed, would have been bred out of the genepool, surely? -
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.I think it depends on what the person wants out of life. For some people that's a truckload of money, for others it's happiness, family and love. We can live comfortably without "achieving", we don't need high paid jobs to have a good life. I personally think I'm not lazy, just content.
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.I'm using the example of Capitalism to show that not everyone is driven purely by material wealth, and is compliant with making pen-pushers very rich. Some people succeed so that they can do other things with their spare-time, or so that they can give their children a good education, etc. Those who never achieve much in life, according to this study, are supposedly 'hard wired' to do so. I do not believe this is true for the majority of people who achieve very little in life. I'm nos suggesting that there is no neurological factor involved; I'm saying that there are other factors involved.(Original post by TheHistoryStudent)
Do you ever make any post that is not related to capitalism/left wing beliefs as a matter of interest? It's like every post I see by you always has something to do with it haha
- on topic... I'm not sure really about this study.
As others have said it doesn't actually show a genetic link, only chemical concentrations, which could have occured from other factors, and, aside from this, I think there are also other factors which play into motivation to work/achieve, medical conditions such as depression for example.
While I do think under-achieving is probably higher in lazy people than people who give their all, I don't think it's for the reasons stated in that article, and I dont think it applies to all lazy people, due to the mixed bag of some lazy people achieving high whilst doing the minimum, and some people who try hard also under-achieving too... -
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.i meant i've just read the abstract (cos I can't do athens on the not so smart phone) but it was ambiguous.(Original post by avupa2.01)
edit. Oh, sorry misread your post.
I would, but I read an article quite a while back that said that sort of stuff quite a while back so no need to really, it makes sense to me.
In some situations for example, high risk behaviour can reward, in others it can punish. It's not surprising imo that evolution has done it's thing and not make everything do the same thing - because, it's never good to put all your eggs in one basket and etc.
The article I read was talking about how, addicts in general have something similar about their brain in some way or something like that. And that there was a genetic factor involved also.
newspaper reporting of journal articles is generally pretty lamentable. Ben goldacre used to blog about it but he seems to have laid himself off.
Just to be clear these findings are based on looking for 1 chemical in peoples brains while they push buttons for 20 minute sessions inside a fmri machine and may not accurately reflect the full complexity of societal problems. Nothing wrong with doing this sort of experiment, but it's a small piece of a very large jigsaw. -
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.But if it actually is biologically determined, then in what sense is it helpful to make snarky comments?(Original post by Snagprophet)
Inb4 laziness is the next 'disability' worth an allowance for. -
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.But how do the whole 'responsibility for actions' comments offer any insight into this issue at all? It just betrays not only scientific ignorance but also lack of willingness to expand your scientific understanding. Laziness, your apparent mindset could be called.(Original post by silverbolt)
what a crock of ****,
sounds like another contrived excuse to ensure even more people dont have to take responsibility for thier actions (or lack of) -
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.So a little pinch of laziness is ideal?(Original post by Hopple)
Lazy drives progress. Whoever invented the wheel went "Sod carrying this mammoth's head, let's roll it around instead".
But if someone had no desire at all, due to their genes, they wouldn't get anywhere unless it's only recently that humans have favoured outgoing partners. -
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.So they should all just be forgiven - murderers should be let off as thier brain made them do it, rapists, well thier brain made them do it, mugger, well society made them do it, lazy, well its thier brain and thier conditioning, vandalism, well its thier upbringing(Original post by Retrodiction)
But how do the whole 'responsibility for actions' comments offer any insight into this issue at all? It just betrays not only scientific ignorance but also lack of willingness to expand your scientific understanding. Laziness, your apparent mindset could be called.
not thier fault really. Lets just let them carry on.
You can blame anyone for anything. anything to avoid responsibility really. -
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Re: Lazy people are hard wired to underachieve.People choose to be lazy or not..
I could be lazy and sit in this chair watching YouTube videos.. or I could go and study for my Chemistry exam in 10 days..
Being lazy may not have any short term implications, but think about the extreme possibility - I don't study. I fail exam. I can't get a job. I live on benefits and sit around the house - this leads to a whole new level of accused laziness.
Whereas if I studied, I gain confidence in all aspects and am driven to succeed! It's nothing to do with genetics..
