Why Am I So Lazy?

Re:Why Am I So Lazy? by sanderjd on Sunday January 07, 2018 @10:49AM (#16091209)

I think there's an important distinction here: in "stop being lazy" it is a verb, an act which is temporary and can be overcome, while in "he is lazy" it is an adjective, an attribute which can all too easily be taken as an indelible personality trait. I think it's only the latter that can be harmful.

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Re:Why Am I So Lazy? by pavel_lishin on Sunday January 07, 2018 @12:38PM (#16091694)

Reminds me of a part from Cryptonomicon:

> '"I don't like the word 'addict' because it has terrible connotations," Root says one day, as they are sunning themselves on the afterdeck. "Instead of slapping a label on you, the Germans would describe you as 'Morphiumsüchtig.' The verb, suchen means to seek. So that might be translated, loosely, as 'morphine seeky' or even more loosely as 'morphine-seeking.' I prefer 'seeky' because it means that you have an inclination to seek morphine."

> '"What the fuck are you talking about?" Shaftoe says.

> '"Well, suppose you have a roof with a hole in it. That means it is a leaky roof. It's leaky all the time—even if it's not raining at the moment. But its only leaking when it happens to be raining. In the same way, morphine-seeky means that you always have this tendency to look for morphine, even if you are not looking for it at the moment. But I prefer both of them to 'addict,' because they are adjectives modiying Bobby Shaftoe instead of a noun that obliterates Bobby Shaftoe."

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Re:Why Am I So Lazy? by b__d on Monday January 08, 2018 @09:08AM (#16096772)

Though the word "Sucht" may imply that it derives from "suchen", it does not [1][2][3], making the translation "süchtig" into "seeking" just plain wrong, even loosley.

süchtig = addicted, hooked seeking = suchend

[1] https://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/Sucht [2] https://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/suchen [3] https://michelmasters.wordpress.com/category/etymologie-und-...

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Re:Why Am I So Lazy? by fho on Monday January 08, 2018 @07:24AM (#16096256)

Plus one for Cryptonomicon reference ... such a great read once you get up to speed with the book. I finished it on my third attempt after quitting twice. Currently stuck on REAMDE ...

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Re:Why Am I So Lazy? by sanderjd on Monday January 08, 2018 @10:03AM (#16097152)

Honestly, I didn't find REAMDE to be worth the time. Re-reading Cryptonomicon would be time better spent.

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Re:Why Am I So Lazy? by pavel_lishin on Monday January 08, 2018 @10:17AM (#16097247)

Parts of REAMDE lagged, and it was weirdly paced - there were at least three parts of the book where I was sure I was approaching the conclusion, only to look down and see that I was 20%, 40%, 80% through the book. But overall, I enjoyed it.

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Re:Why Am I So Lazy? by brw12 on Tuesday January 09, 2018 @11:23AM (#16107260)

I highly recommend SEVENEVES. It's like NS doing "The Martian" but weirder.

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Re:Why Am I So Lazy? by uhnuhnuhn on Sunday January 07, 2018 @11:06AM (#16091283)

> in "stop being lazy" it is a verb

It isn't.

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Re:Why Am I So Lazy? by sanderjd on Sunday January 07, 2018 @02:28PM (#16092181)

That's very pedantic! While I didn't mean "it" in that statement to refer just to the word "lazy", I suppose it's true that "being lazy" also isn't technically a verb. Other commenters below have found more precise language, but I think a charitable reading of what I wrote is pretty clear in meaning.

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Re:Why Am I So Lazy? by Digit-Al on Sunday January 07, 2018 @03:43PM (#16092581)

How about "stop [acting] lazy"? 'Acting' has more of an implication of something you are putting on that can be easily changed, rather than 'being' which possibly implies something you are, that is not easily changed.

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Re:Why Am I So Lazy? by sanderjd on Sunday January 07, 2018 @04:42PM (#16092908)

This is deeper down a rabbit hole than I really meant to go, but I personally think "being lazy" is appropriate; I spend time being lazy pretty often, and it isn't an act, it's true laziness, but it's also temporary.

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Re:Why Am I So Lazy? by vermilingua on Sunday January 07, 2018 @11:15AM (#16091320)

No, but "being lazy" is an action, which can be stopped. It's much harder to stop being lazy if you are being told it's a facet of your identity.

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Re:Why Am I So Lazy? by Zak on Sunday January 07, 2018 @11:35AM (#16091388)

Lazy, here, is a state. It could be understood as a temporary state like being asleep or being hungry, or a facet of one's identity.

"Stop slacking" might be better; it unambiguously refers to current behavior that a person can change immediately.

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Re:Why Am I So Lazy? by betenoire on Sunday January 07, 2018 @03:07PM (#16092381)

I thought that maybe another language would have a word for this, and I found

https://spanishto-english.com/spanish-dictionary/haraganear

It calls "being lazy" an intransitive verb

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Re:Why Am I So Lazy? by thomastjeffery on Sunday January 07, 2018 @01:49PM (#16092004)

Lazy is an attribute.

"Being lazy" is a transient state.

That's the important distinction here.

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