Kort Explores conundrums of the human condition

I wrote the following for a "5 Minute Lightning Talk" at the Oregon Mensa RG. I wrote a longer exploration of this topic for the Aug/Sept 1997 Port of Call.

It's become popular to condemn greed and laziness as flaws in the human character, but I submit that the problem is actually one of competence at being greedy and lazy. The key is the difference between the superficial and profound forms of these very human characteristics.

The superficially lazy simply tries to avoid exertion moment by moment. The profoundly lazy recognizes that a substantial exertion over a short period can make it possible to achieve an even larger decrease in his overall exertions - often accompanied by a substantial improvement in his quality of life. The profoundly lazy individual may superficially appear to be tirelessly industrious, but his real motivation is achieving the long term profound laziness that will only be possible because of his short term efforts.

For example, it wasn't all that long ago when a wood fire was the primary source of heat. A superficially lazy man might minimize the amount of wood he chops, but his simplistic avoidance of work will likely mean that he'll also be cold and uncomfortable.

The profoundly lazy man invents a gas fired furnace so that he won't have to chop any more wood at all - just turn up the thermostat on the wall.

The superficially lazy slacker, napping in his hammock all summer while his industrious neighbor spends long hours hammering and welding on his new invention, may appear at that moment to have achieved a higher degree of idleness.

But the industrious man is motivated by the profound laziness of simply turning a knob - which will require orders of magnitude less exertion than a lifetime of chopping just enough wood to keep from freezing to death.

Which one achieves the greatest reduction in effort over the long term? Which one has demonstrated greater competence at being lazy?

Now consider the related concept of superficial and profound greed. The superficially greedy individual defines his desires relative to those around him on a moment to moment basis. His greed can be satisfied either by acquiring more himself, or by those around him having less.

To the superficially greedy, it doesn't matter whether it's tulips, paint splattered scraps of canvas, or piles of shiny metal locked away in a vault. If other people appear to want it, he wants more of it.

There is always a downside to superficial greed, since in order for there to be a winner there must also be losers - who tend to resent being cast in that role. The greater the success of the winner, the greater the effort he must expend to defend his relative wealth. Many of the superficially greedy are forced to become so involved in defending their relative wealth that they in effect become the victims of their own baser instincts.

The profoundly greedy individual measures his wealth not against the assets of his neighbors, but against a utopian ideal. The goal of the profoundly greedy transcends crude avarice to wanting all that he can possibly have. If achieving his goal also means others will benefit from his efforts, so be it.

Only the profoundly greedy attain the transcendent understanding that the easiest way to achieve their self-interested goals is to create new wealth - that it's a lot easier to create a new pie by creating a new product, technology or opening a new frontier, than squabbling over how the old pie of existing wealth is divided.

The social contract that forms the very foundation of our modern industrial civilization is an extension of profound greed. Only the profoundly greedy individual is capable of understanding that he receives substantial benefits from participating in a larger socioeconomic system. He can see that the smooth efficient operation of the larger system is to his advantage, and that serving the general good is also serving his own goals. His enlightened self-interest allows him to see that by cooperating in helping others achieve their goals, he also helps himself.

The independent efforts of a single superficially greedy individual pale to insignificance compared to the organized efforts of an entire society of profoundly greedy individuals practicing enlightened self-interest. And by agreeing to respect each other's lives and property, the participants in the social contract minimize the downside costs of their profound greed.

I submit that the proper approach isn't trying to deny these most basic aspects of our nature, but rather to revel in our greed and laziness to the point where these base instincts are transformed into enlightened self-interest.

While superficial greed focuses on trying to grab as much of the past as possible, only the profound greed of enlightened self-interest can create the new future that will take humanity to the stars and beyond. Only profound laziness can summon up the drive and force of will to make the trip armchair easy.