As a caveat before I start this rant: Lazy in all its forms exists. I’m not discounting that.
It is a common thing to find on bodybuilding discussion boards a certain amount of sneering at lazy among those with some truly astonishing physiques. (I read the “naturals” as steroid-enhanced isn’t my kink). “You could have a body like this if you were just willing to get up at four every morning to do your cardio and then go to the gym every evening to work on your weights… blah blah blah. You don’t have it because you’re LAZY.”
Thing is, we all know genetics plays a part in physical activity. Michael Phelps couldn’t be a great football player. He’s too skinny. It would take steroids to put enough mass on him to be able to take being tackled by those enormous linebackers. A professional quarterback, a position that isn’t noted for being particularly massy out on the football field, averages an inch or two shorter than Phelps, but generally outweighs him by about 30 lbs. That surfboard-flat body, long limbs and paddle-like extremities (which he was born with) are what enabled him to develop after YEARS of dedication his incredible swimming speed and skill.
Yes, you can manipulate your body stats to a degree with some serious time and dedication. It’s certainly possible. But after awhile, your final genetic blueprint takes over and you reach the end of what you is physically possible to manipulate –never mind what’s reasonable if you want a life outside of the physical manipulation. It’s why attaining a certain body look as a moral imperative is idiotic when you look at it logically.
This applies to intellectual attainment, too. Now, most of the people I interact with on a regular basis are pretty damn smart. I like discussion — unscrewing the inscrutable, analyzing material, figuring out why. It would be fair to say that my general social/discussion circle, were their brains bodies, would be at least amateur competitive bodybuilders with a couple zooming past me as (natural, there are no brain steroids yet) Mr. or Ms. Olympia.
Among my social circle, there is a common belief that if you do not think well and fluidly, if you’re poor at thinking outside the box and coming up with a creative solution, if you’ve not amassed by the age of thirty a pretty good knowledge base, and more importantly, learned how to learn, that you’re lazy. Now, remember, lazy does exist. I had the requisite mental ability to get straight As in any high school. I think I graduated with something like a 2.81 average and never got straight As until I decided to as an intellectual exercise in a community college. (It was tedious, but hardly difficult). So as far as lazy, I’d fit the bill. I recognize it exists.
I suspect that many people who slap the lazy label on sloppy thinking are like me. They’re flippin’ smart. If they aren’t getting something mentally, it’s because they’ve decided not to try. Can’t? Don’t be silly!
But as a mental exercise: Imagine that the ability to spot faulty logic or to think outside of the box is the equivalent of being able to bench press 500 pounds, and you’re in the 99th percentile for bench pressing ability. YOU could do it with ease. Someone in the 75th percentile (well above average) COULDN’T.
Disparity in the ability to REASON, it seems to me, genuinely exists. Like weight training, you can work very hard and fulfill the potential of *your* genetics, but that will still take an overwhelming amount of work that’s difficult for the naturally gifted to grok.