The Sin of Sloth

And how we are about to pay.

Apocalypse Now
Today I want to mashup some perennial observations that seem to keep returning, and the first of them is the post-apocalyptic movie. We started with disaster films back in the 70s when America was dealing with some trauma. Vietnam War, assassinations, OPEC politicization of production, sexual revolution and all sorts of Berkeley stuff becoming commonplace. It was a very difficult thing for me to accept, the idea that adults can be as stupid and flaky as kids and it makes entire sections of the population want to see the world burn. That profound cynicism has forced my generation (X) to consider the probabilities that it actually will, and symbolically nothing put the fear of man into me like Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Not only were they victims of nukes, they worshipped The Bomb.

There is always the tension between the straight laced middle class who are ignored by the powers that be and the radical middle class who aspire to be a threat to the powers that be. Then there is always the Ra’s Al Ghul contingent who just want to see the world burn. I always say Let the World Answer, but let’s add a chart to that. A box of razors for you to play with.

There can always be a simple explanation.

That Other Deadly Sin
The second concept in the mix is the meat here. That is the deadly sin of sloth. I don’t have a theory of everything. I have a closet full of philosophical wardrobes I have accumulated over the decades, and a watch for every occasion. But you can grok my orientation by the selection of colors, and I do try not to clash. I think I look good in black, with yellow accents. So as I speak about sloth, this might sting a bit.

When Wink and I cut our last podcast, we talked about AI. And I have been thinking about why Americans in particular are vulnerable to having yet even more of our livelihoods outsourced. That is because we are slothful.

As of this moment Wikipedia is on point:

The scope of sloth is wide. In a spiritual sense, acedia first referred to an affliction attending religious persons, especially monks, wherein they became indifferent to their duties and obligations to God. In a mental sense, acedia has a number of distinctive components: the most important of these is affectlessness—a lack of any feeling about self or other; a mind-state that gives rise to boredom, rancor, apathy; and a passive inert or sluggish mentation. In a physical sense, acedia is fundamentally associated with a cessation of motion and an indifference to work; the sin finds expression in laziness, idleness, and indolence.

Sloth includes ceasing to use the seven gifts of grace given by the Holy Spirit; these gifts are Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Knowledge, Piety, Fortitude, and Fear of the Lord. Such disregard may lead to slower spiritual progress towards eternal life, neglect of multiple duties of charity towards a neighbor, and animosity towards those who love God.

Sloth is the dereliction of duty to discipling and strengthening one’s own humanity.

Let’s flashback to something from last week and 13 years ago, and 1937 when George Orwell wrote:

And why should physical strength survive in a world where there was never the need for physical labour? As for such qualities as loyalty, generosity, etc., in a world where nothing went wrong, they would be not only irrelevant but probably unimaginable. The truth is that many of the qualities we admire in human beings can only function in opposition to some kind of disaster, pain or difficulty; but the tendency of mechanical progress is to eliminate disaster, pain and difficulty.

This is worse than the Nanny State, this is the outsourced life. It’s not that the robots go rogue and takeover, it’s that you were so slothful that you monetized the industry of robotics in the first place. Why? Because you believed you were entitled to the convenience.

You thought you were entitled to get the president you wished for. You thought you were guaranteed a level of service. You believed that you were correct because people around you didn’t correct you. You TLDR’d your way into smug confidence, and you think you can remain comfortable if you perfect you can-kicking technique. Like faking sincerity, that’s all it takes, right? It’s your right, right?

If you were attuned to the ways and means of greatness (and power, quite frankly), then you would have understood the nature of the power move that the Great were choking you out with when they hyped the kitchen of the future. There’s nothing futuristic in your kitchen after all these years. You have a microwave and an air fryer and you still can’t make your own steak sauce. You can’t cook. Easy, the influencer says, buy Ozempic.

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

Sound familiar? If not, read into it. You have given your hearts away. To the Party. To the Mob. To the Science. And where is your soul?

I’m not trying to be an apologist here. Of all the philosophical styles in my closet, I wear my cross only on random non-slothful occasions. I cannot vouch for the quality of your minister any better than for your mayor. I don’t know that you are sorted into a physical community of your own choosing or if you are merely a product of your environment. Recall that my differentiation is between the cosmopolitan and the yokel. The fox and the hedgehog. You are either a jack of all trades or master of one. There’s a time and a place for each of our worn out aphorisms and analogies - but at least they were made by humans for humans and not the monetization of the next State capital program. God matters. The rules of the Universe matter. Reality matters. So are you engaging that discipline? Did you ingest that box full of razors, or do you expect Chadt to answer your questions of life?

I simply ask you to observe the sloth. I’m seeing it a lot of places. Avoid that sin. It’s the one nobody wants to talk about. Now you cannot unsee it. Now you’ll see the Cringe even more.

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True Open Competition
The third observation is an antidote. Like a few of you whom I am certain are fans of the martial arts and crafts, I have been watching the 2025 Natsu Basho. This is not kayfabe. This is a 1000 year old tradition. There’s no fakery. It is an open competition. There are no weight classes. You train for life, you get into the squared circle and you fight for your privilege to fight again.

My favorites: [Daiesho, Aonishiki, Wakatakakage, Gonoyama, and Hoshoryu]

You can read the confidence on Hoshoryu’s face every time. He is the Yokozuna, after all. You don’t get there by accident. Here is a rules based competition with respect for opponents, fair and objective judging and no spontaneous end-zone dances. You cannot be slothful in this virtuous contest.

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The world is not going to end and wash away your slop, or reward you cynicism. A thumbs up is not enough commitment to maintain your humanity. There are virtuous traditions that must be upheld.