What is Sloth?
“Slothful” is not “a Sloth”. I want to remove the unfortunate verb-noun parallelism: A “sloth” is slow, but not slothful.
Sloth: Tree-dwelling mammal, stereotyped as the slowest animal on Earth (a turtle is probably slower). Fur-covered, spending its time suspended in trees, resides in Central and South America in tropical rainforests.
Slothful. The verb “slothful” has a long history. In this regard, Sloth (or slouthe) appeared in the late 12th Century BC. It displaced the word (sleuthe), from Old English slæwþ, Kentish slewð, but the meaning of “slothful” has not changed much over time: "slothful = indolence."
Slothfulness was noted by Pope Gregory I in the 6th Century and then elaborated by St. Thomas Aquinas in 13th Century as one of the 7 Deadly Sins. Somehow sloth moved to a 6th position, but I think this is just a nuance because there is no hierarchy from the view of Catholicism around the belief that the 7-Deadly Sins “are naughty”.
Why is Slothfulness Sin?
Sloth, pictured by Hieronymus Bosch.
Is the Nun in the green being “slothful”?
Or, Is she just taking a break after a hard days work?
Who knows. But, either way, the distinction between slothfulness and “simply resting or taking a break” is sometimes difficult.
We don’t use the term, “slothfulness” much today, but we know what it means. In modernity, “slothfulness” = indolence or indolent = having or showing a disposition to avoid exertion.
Of all the problematic words for “Christianity,” slothfulness is big. Example: If Sloth is inactivity or indolence or laziness; then, What is chronic depression?
I write this because from a behavioral point of view (focusing only on behavior), slothful behavior and depression are indistinguishable.
If you add to this (depression manifests through features of inaction and lack of motivation) to the foundational tenants of “Christianity” which has as its basic premise: “Hard work is a blessing from God” and when “Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden, the remainder of their days were spent in hard work and toil - sweating brows - and God viewed this as good”. I’m assuming God did not initially endow any genetic features of chronic depression into either Adam or Eve’s brain:
What God did, it appears, was create a situation ripe for either/or both Adam and Even to experience chronic depression if so disposed.
Why is Slothfulness so Bad?
Slothfulness is bad when there is “maliciousness” attached to it. What is “maliciousness”?
Maliciousness derives from the word: “Malice”. Malice is the intention to do harm.
Why must “malice” be added to slothfulness to make it a “Deadly Sin”?
There are many non-malicious reasons a person might stop being active or engaged.
A person in a coma is inactive. Yes, the person is alive, but not contributing to anything - just lying there. Other people must care for this person or the person will die. The person in a coma uses up resources, causes caregiver heart-ache due to being in a coma, is a source of inconvenience, and so on. But,
The person is in a coma! The person is inactive, but the person is not slothful. The difference is the state of the person’s mind (impaired) by internal disease condition (coma).
This is an obvious example. Let’s examine the less obvious:
Joey is a 17y/o male, he plays hard, goes out with friends, has his own new car his parents bought for him. Joey loves clothes, stays up late, sleeps in, doesn’t want to interact with family, plays videogames anywhere and everywhere, never does his chores, gets angry when prodded to help around the house; broods in his bedroom, then starts videogames again, is happy and content. He does anything to get out of work at home or at school. He is failing school because he could care less, wants nothing but attention and interaction from his friend group. Smokes weed because he likes it, and doesn’t care that it stinks up the house.
Is Joey Slothful?
YES AND NO.
My God! How can you say that Joey is not slothful?
Joey is a teenager, he is in a developmental stage. He needs help and structure. It is likely - we are being optimistic here - as Joey grows older he will change, discover the value of work and school. Get on track - perhaps the right structure and support (sometimes tough-love support) will help. In adulthood Joey may still become a productive, a caring, normally functioning adult. But, right now, Joey is developmentally delayed. His brain may not be developed enough to realize he is engaging in behaviors that will hurt him more than anyone else.
I ask again, Is Joey Slothful?
I don’t think it is possible to justify Joey’s behavior as productive, and in this case his intent is “self-centered” and “indolent”, but the bigger picture for Joey is not clear.
Is immaturity “slothfulness” a state or a trait?
His parents fear a trait. They need to act. If Joey was 45 years old and acting like this, I might be persuaded that it is a trait. The bigger question is not Joey’s “slothfulness” but his immaturity. How does one help Joey mature through a pre-developmental stage of thinking and behaving?
My view: Joey is engaged in slothfulness behavior, for sure. But, it might be due to a developmental feature, that is, Joey learning how to deal with “personal autonomy”. Joey might not understand that he is engaging in a Deadly Sin, so it needs to be conceptualized differently than the draconian notion of a Deadly Sin. Joey needs, not to “repent”, but to grow up because when he grows up he might regret he engaged in slothfulness as a 17 y/o. Kicking Joey out is not the answer, helping him develop appropriate outlets for his autonomy needs is.
Joey is far from a person I would call “characterologically slothful.”
WHY IS SLOTHFULNESS A DEADLY SIN?
Everyone is lazy once in a while.
Sometimes there are good reasons for it, sometimes not.
A recent Pew poll:
51% of Republicans agreed “lack of effort” was the primary reason that poor people find themselves in poverty”, while 32% blame “circumstances beyond the poor person’s control.”
63% of Democrats blame circumstances rather than a lack of effort, 29%.
Independent voters: 51% blame circumstances versus 33% blaming lack of effort.
poverty. https://www.msnbc.com/politicsnation/gop-blames-poverty-laziness-msna252956
Is lack of effort the same as laziness which is the same as slothful?
Is “poverty” the same as “slothfulness.” This is a big conceptual jump from “laziness”. But, some people obviously think so, as noted above.
Is “laziness” the same as “slothfulness”?
Is “chronic laziness” equivalent to being “slothful”?
Below is a quote from Carl Jung, who had a strong dislike for “laziness.”
“[we] have a mighty dislike of all intentional effort and are addicted to absolute laziness until circumstances prod [us] into action.”
I return to the core meaning of “Slothfulness” which is the defining term for one of the 7-Deadly Sins.
Although most would agree that the 7-Deadly Sins describe universal human constructs that are problematic for the soul, for adaptation to life, and for the individual psyche, the actual word: SLOTHFUL is not a popular term today.
Why?
There are more precise contemporary words to describe what it means to be slothful. For example: You would not expect to hear someone say.
Wow! Roger is really slothful when it comes to his job. No wonder he got fired.
rather
Wow! John is really a procrastinator when it comes to his job. No wonder he got fired.
Today, the term, slothful has been replaced in our lexicon by words that better match our social context.
19th Century Slothfulness has been replaced by 20th Century terms like:
lazy.
idle.
indolent
shiftless
apathetic
apathy
A second, and perhaps more important point, is that the nature of slothfulness is different in the 21st Century than it was in the 18th or 19th Century.
When it comes to work, in the 18th Century this usually meant “manual” work. “By the sweat of your brow will you toil and work.”
Today, perhaps the hardest work does not involve exertion or sweat. I’m not saying that ditches no longer need to be dug, or that crops no longer need to be planted, but now we have machines (and even robots) that do many manual tasks. One would never claim that their personal/industrial robot is slothful. Broken or malfunctioning - yes - but slothful - no.
What are words that describe slothfulness when it comes to advanced technological tasks that are primarily cognitive. Examples: writing computer code or designing technical products or developing and planning complex infrastructures or plowing through legal briefs or managing spread-sheets or writing professional journal articles?
We have a conundrum.
What is a conundrum? Defined Conundrum = A paradoxical, insoluble, or difficult problem; a dilemma.
Five Premises to identify slothfulness as a Deadly Sin:
Premise One: Slothfulness is inactivity or lack of effort or energy towards others or task(s).
Premise Two: The reason for inactivity is a personal (uncoerced) choice (conscious choice) in an otherwise “able” or “capable” individual towards a needed task and its completion which requires effort to complete.
Premise Three: The reason for the inaction is self-focused, or self-gain.
Premise Four: The motivation for inaction - or lack of will to act - is malicious towards (an)other (a person, group, or community). “I will make others work when I perceive that my effort is needed.”
Premise Five: The outsider (or other) view of the inaction is “Laziness” (or a similar substitute word, indolence, apathy, etc.) for the purpose personal gain.
AM I SLOTHFUL?
Apathy Evaluation Scale:
I am interested in things.
3:not at all/ 2:slightly/ 1:somewhat/ 0:a lot/
I get things done during the day.
3:not at all/ 2:slightly/ 1:somewhat/ 0:a lot/
Getting things started on my own is important to me.
3:not at all/ 2:slightly/ 1:somewhat/ 0:a lot/
I am interested in having new experiences.
3:not at all/ 2:slightly/ 1:somewhat/ 0:a lot/
I am interested in learning new things
3:not at all/ 2:slightly/ 1:somewhat/ 0:a lot/
I put little effort into anything.
0:not at all/ 1:slightly/ 2:somewhat/ 3:a lot/
I approach life with intensity.
3:not at all/ 2:slightly/ 1:somewhat/ 0:a lot/
Seeing a job through to the end is important to me.
3:not at all/ 2:slightly/ 1:somewhat/ 0:a lot/
I spend time doing things that interest me.
3:not at all/ 2:slightly/ 1:somewhat/ 0:a lot/
Someone has to tell me what to do each day.
0:not at all/1:slightly/ 2:somewhat/ 3:a lot/
I am less concerned about my problems than I should be.
0:not at all/ 1:slightly/ 2:somewhat/ 3:a lot/
Getting together with friends is important to me.
3:not at all/ 2:slightly/ 1:somewhat/ 0:a lot/
When something good happens, I get excited.
3:not at all/ 2:slightly/ 1:somewhat/ 0:a lot/
I have an accurate understanding of my problems.
3:not at all/ 2:slightly/ 1:somewhat/ 0:a lot/
Getting things done during the day is important to me.
3:not at all/ 2:slightly/ 1:somewhat/ 0:a lot/
I have initiative.
3:not at all/ 2:slightly/ 1:somewhat/ 0:a lot/
I have motivation.
3:not at all/ 2:slightly/ 1:somewhat/ 0:a lot/
Add up the total (#6, #10, #11) are reverse scored - a lot=3. Your score reflects a level of apathy. Higher scores = More apathy.
Note: Apathy is has similar features to, but is not always slothfulness.
Why?
Because there are disease conditions (dementia, depression, etc.), drug-state conditions (marijuana users), external-conditions (extreme heat) that can cause apathy.
These exceptions mean that you are unwilling to do the task, not for malicious reasons, but because something external is a barrier. “I will do this when it is cooler.” This is not a statement of slothfulness. Example: The person might want not to act on a task to avoid getting heat stroke.
Perhaps, “indolent” is a better word. But, we don’t use indolent very much either.
Below is an interesting graph where the Apathy Evaluation Scale has been used to evaluate the differences in Apathy in persons before and after the COVID Lock-down. Higher scores are more apathy.
(note: label - Before Lockdown versus After Lockdown) and this condition is crossed with whether the person is an (solid line=adolescents; dotted line=adults) AND (black color = cannabis users, gray color = non-users). Note here: that being an adolescent showed more apathy than being an adult. That being a pot user showed more apathy than a non-user (PRE TO POST-COVID LOCKDOWN). That apathy increased in POT USERS + ADOLESCENTS MORE after lockdown.
Cannabis Use and Lockdown had an amplification effect on apathy over time.
This isn’t surprising. Cannabis, as a drug, impacts negatively, motivation, engagement with tasks, enthusiasm for activity. Adolescence as a developmental stage (noted earlier in this blog) tends to be where apathy runs the highest (especially verbalized apathy). The COVID lockdown put a damper on everyone’s energy and activity, therefore, these two high risk apathy conditions (drug use and being an adolescent) magnified apathy. But, the point is that apathy, although a component of slothfulness, is not in and of itself a deadly sin.
It is difficult to measure true slothfulness. So, be careful who you judge.
Although a truly slothful person is recognizable because in our Western culture because we are socialized to work, and work hard. But, the reason for hard work doesn’t go on all the time is because we need time to rest, recreate, and enjoy life.
Why Do Slothful People Exist?
Many reasons. Slothfulness, like Greed, Envy, Gluttony, Pride, etc. is an indulgence of sorts.
Some people think they want the good life all the time, which some people fantasize is the easy life to sit back in a lounge chair, on the beach, served drinks and food, perhaps even be entertained passively by other people serving them. This is a typical metaphor of “total receiving without giving anything back” and feeling entitled to this kind of living all the time. But, would relaxing, like this, be a panacea for the perfect , fully-fulfilled life? I think not.
Those people who do believe this and aspire for it all the time tend to get bored and saturated with too much pampering and self-comfort. Believe me, I see this all the time in therapy. It’s just like any indulgence. A little is OK, some is about right. Too much is problematic.
But, is this never wanting to do anything but recreate a good example of slothfulness? In the end, Who knows?
My view: You must go back to the five earlier premises of Slothfulness that I proposed. I copy these once more below:
Premise One: Slothfulness is inactivity or lack of effort or energy towards others or task(s) in an otherwise fully developed (or mature) individual.
Premise Two: The reason for inactivity is a personal (uncoerced) choice (conscious choice) in an otherwise “able” or “capable” individual towards a needed task and its completion which requires effort to complete.
Premise Three: The reason for the inaction is self-focused, or self-gain.
Premise Four: The motivation for inaction - or lack of will to act - is malicious towards (an)other (a person, group, or community). “I will make others work when I perceive that my effort is needed.”
Premise Five: The outsider (or other) view of the inaction is “Laziness” (or a similar substitute word, indolence, apathy, etc.) for the purpose personal gain.
If a person’s actions and motivations meets these 5 premises, I think it is safe to assume that this person is being slothful. From here, I leave it to you to judge.
I look forward to your comments on this 6th of the 7-deadly sins.