Interesting Links for 12-06-2018

[andrewducker]

There's much more empty retail space in the US than in other countries on a per capita level

(tags: usa uk design )

Laziness Does Not Exist

When I was first working here I'd spend _weeks_ being avoidant, get myself into a complete mess, and then have to go to a senior dev/mentor and say I was completely stuck. And then they'd help me to unpick it and talk it through to the point where I was ready to go, and suddenly it was (fairly) easy. Without that help I'd have really suffered, and quite possibly lost my job. Instead, I am now a senior developer, mentoring and supporting others, and a massive asset who's appreciated by the people around me. That's why it annoys me when people are written off as being lazy, rather than helped to be better and do better (or decide that they're in the wrong job and should go do something which suits them better).
(tags: procrastination psychology viaSwampers )

Renaissance painting or Baroque painting - Trump edition

(tags: politics art )

The former goalkeeper who gives a voice to sex workers and LGBT people

(tags: sport football twitter lgbt awesome )

On Writing the Comics—and Queer Characters—We Need. Neil Gaiman and N.K. Jemisin in Conversation

(tags: neilgaiman nkjemisin writing comics race lgbt )

15 Sci-Fi Books To Read If You Need A Break From Dystopian Novels

(tags: scifi )

Is the British press turning against Brexit?

(tags: uk europe media journalism corruption russia )

This stomach-coating pill is a potential treatment for diabetes

(tags: diabetes food )

See where your home was when dinosaurs roamed the earth!

(tags: prehistory maps )

Comments

[danieldwilliam]

I enjoyed the 15 recommendations for non-dystopian sci-fi. Many of them look very interesting.

I do think that Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy could be classed as a dystopian novel. The galaxy seems to be a pretty disorganised place full of bullies, charlatans and incompetents and Dent is rather thrown in to the system, a bit like Josef K in the Trial or Winston Smith in 1984.

It's funny but it's a bit of a dystopia - especially if you are expecting to be saved by aliens with a higher intelligence than us.

[danieldwilliam]

I really enjoyed and learned a lot from the tweets about Baroque and Renaissance painting.

[andrewducker]

I tend to think of status as being a deliberately designed society which is set up to cause misery.

Whereas HHG2G is just an exaggerated reflection of the society Adams lived in. Messy, bureaucratic, and corrupt. But not severe or deliberate enough to be an actual dystopia. A lot of the people in it seem to be having fun.

(If it's a dystopia then so is, for instance, the universe of Doctor Who, which is equally full of war, corruption, and unpleasantness. As that also doesn't feel right to me)

[cmcmck]

It took me a while to get really into teaching, but I ended up being headhunted as a top class act so yeah, I know that one. :o)

[danieldwilliam]

That's a fair point.

[andrewducker]

I do think they're pretty miserable though. I wouldn't want to live there.

And they got moreso the further into the series the books got.

Brexit and the Press

[akicif]

As with a lot of Charlie's more optimistic pieces, I wish I could believe it: The Sunday versions of the Mail and the Times have always been a bit more in favour of Remaining than Leaving (see also the opposing positions on IndyRef taken by the Herald and Sunday Herald)

I don't see the D**ly M**l shifting many of its positions either - they will want to keep their readership (see also the way that the Daily Express hasn't shifted position since the takeover by Trinity Mirror)

"Laziness does not exist"

[(Anonymous)]

It's a comforting thought, but I don't think it's true.
If I'm sitting on the sofa playing on my phone rather than getting up to unload the dishwasher, it's not because of anxiety about getting it done right, or uncertainty about how to break it down into smaller tasks.

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[(Anonymous)]

(That was me - Rachael/woodpijn)

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[andrewducker]

No, it's because you don't want to do it.

But "not wanting to do it" isn't a character attribute, and laziness is constantly used that way.

See where your home was when dinosaurs roamed the earth!

[jack]

Truly Douglas Adams was prescient :)

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[woodpijn.livejournal.com]

I would say laziness is the character attribute of habitually not getting on and doing the things you ought to do but don't feel like doing.
-Rachael/woodpijn

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[andrewducker]

Laziness seems like a really catch all term for what's sounding like executive dysfunction to me.

(Unless by "ought" you mean "someone else thinks I should do this")

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[andrewducker]

To go into more detail, you have several different situations here, all of which are being lumped into "laziness", which means you're attaching cultural connotations to things which are quite markedly different to each other.

1) You want to do it, but can't - thats a psychological issue. See the article.
2) You want to do it, but not right now. That's time-management. And possibly fine, providing it's not (4).
3) You don't want to do it, but you feel like you should be the kind of person who does. That's a psychological issue.
4) You don't want to do it, but you have a responsibility to do it. That's lack of respect for the people who you've agreed to do it for.
5) You don't want to do it, but someone else feels you should do it. That's their problem - Or at least a negotiation between you.

But none of these feel like the stereotypical image of laziness. And they're all very different to each other.

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[channelpenguin]

3. is my exact atttude to work! LOL

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[woodpijn.livejournal.com]

#4 is pretty close to my definition of laziness (especially if "the people you've agreed to do it for" can include yourself).

I think the article writer is saying "#1 isn't laziness, therefore laziness doesn't exist" and I'm saying "#4 exists and is laziness, therefore laziness does exist".

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[andrewducker]

That's lack of respect. You're treating people badly by not living up to your responsibilities.

Which isn't what most people tend to think of when you say "lazy". Because it's used to cover a wide range of situations in which people don't do what you think they should.

It's a pejorative word, and in my opinion worse than useless.

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[andrewducker]

Also, if you've agreed to do something for yourself, and don't want to, then you can let yourself out of the deal, the same way you could let someone else out of it.

That's not a bad thing. That's just changing your mind about what you want.

Now, you might not be good at trading off short term and long term goals, but that's executive dysfunction, and that's very different from lack of respect. So even in your example above you've conflated two very different things into one.

Re: See where your home was when dinosaurs roamed the earth!

[jack]

That's a lot of promising sounding books I haven't heard of, judging by how much I liked the ones I have.

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[maia]

Or want to do it, but don't know how to start. I think that may be the most common of all.

I read something about math a few years ago: that many people could be good at math if more were made explicit. Concept A is made explicit, and Concept C is made explicit, but to truly understand Concept C you don't just need Concept A, you need Concept B - but Concept B isn't made explicit. Some students grasp Concept B without it's being made explicit, and they do well. Some students don't grasp Concept B, and they're assumed to be lacking in mathematical aptitude. But if you change the way you teach, and make Concept B explicit, then those students can do just as well in math. And it goes further: maybe some people also need Concept A.1 and Concept B.1 made explicit before they can truly grasp Concept C. So, make it explicit for them! Break everything down into whatever increments the student needs.

I think this is true not just for math but for many other tasks in life. Some people don't need to be taught how to break a big project down into manageable pieces. Some people do need to be taught. Some people only need a few extra steps to be made explicit. Some people need things broken down into tiny increments. But anyone can learn, if you break the skill or task or concept down into small enough pieces.

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[khoth.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure where the dishwasher example fits here.

I don't want to do it, but I want it to be done, and nobody else is going to do it.

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[andrewducker]

Totally. The article covers that somewhat. And it's very easy to think "hey, I should totally be able to understand C, and everyone else can. I must be an idiot. I'll sit at the back and keep quiet"

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[andrewducker]

Do you want it done more than you don't want to do it?

If so you'll do it*. Otherwise you'll postpone until you do.

And that's ok.

*Unless you have executive dysfunction. Which also isn't laziness.

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[khoth.livejournal.com]

Switching examples from the dishwasher that I stole from Rachael to one that actually affects me (I' happy with my dishwasher system):

If I spend five minutes shoving some clutter into the bin and giving the living room floor a quick vacuum instead of reading junk on the internet, I'll be less happy for five minutes, but more happy for the next day.

It tends to not happen unless there's some external deadline like people visiting, though. I can do tasks with a cutoff, but in a case where doing it a little later is only a little worse, forever, I can put them off forever even though I'd be better off doing them sooner.

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[andrewducker]

That sounds very much like executive dysfunction
https://everydayfeminism.com/2015/09/symptoms-executive-dysfunction/

[drplokta]

Ancillary Justice and Ninefox Gambit are definitely dystopias — they’re both set in highly unpleasant interstellar dictatorships, and the politics is in the foreground, not the background. So I don’t trust the rest of that list.

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[woodpijn.livejournal.com]

If what Edwin is describing counts as executive dysfunction, then executive dysfunction is universal and therefore pretty meaningless.

(Or it could be that I'm committing the typical-mind fallacy, and in fact the majority of people find it effortless to do chores and work, and people like Edwin and me are battling against a disability and it's admirable and praiseworthy that we ever get anything done at all. Which is tempting to believe, but almost certainly not true.)

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[andrewducker]

I suspect that it's a spectrum, but they most people suffer from it only a tiny amount.

Certainly I know plenty of people in work who aren't that way.

[helen_keeble]

I’m friends with Yoon Ha Lee, and forwarded him the link. His reaction is best summed up as “whaaaaaaaaaat?” *grin*

[heron61]

15 Sci-Fi Books To Read If You Need A Break From Dystopian Novels

This is a very odd list - several of the novels on it are dystopian AF, I'm not certain that Kameron Hurley has written anything that isn't exceptionally dystopian - sure, her novels aren't set on Earth (which seems standard for dystopian novels), but wow. Everfair is perhaps the most optimistic book possible that's about a realistic depiction of the Belgian Congo genocide, but I'm also not certain it belongs on the list. OTOH, Chambers A Long Way To A Small Angry Planet is an excellent choice.

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[ninetydegrees]

"Every time I think about writing it, I’m frozen. And the more time that elapses, the harder it is for me to get started. And this doesn’t just apply to this one article. Most of the time, this inability to act expands to everyday tasks. In fact, just the act of opening up my word processor took about as much energy as I imagine it takes to lift a car above your head."

Most people I work with, friends and family don't experience this at all, or don't experience it on a daily basis. I do. Putting off a task, minor or major, isn't just what is described here. And as Edwin explains these are common symptoms of depression and anxiety. I *am* battling both and it's indeed admirable and praiseworthy that Edwin and I get anything done at all. If everything is *this* hard *this* often for you as well, you are also worthy of praise.

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[steepholm]

I wonder how hard it would be to argue away any number of undesired traits by a similar method. Does unkindness exist, for example? Or stinginess?

(People who own dishwashers are lazy by definition. :))

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[(Anonymous)]

Do you want it done more than you don't want to do it?

Isn't that only true if people are perfectly rational machines which always do at every moment whatever comes up highest in their internal weighting algorithms?

But they're not: people since classical times have known that akrasia exists.

I mean if that were true rational donkeys would starve, and they don't.

It also seems quite a Skinnerian view at first glance ('well, we know that that was what you wanted to do most, because that was what you actually did'). And therefore wrong because Skinner was wrong.

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[nancylebov]

6) You want to do it, but are tired and/or ill.

[danieldwilliam]

The amount of retail space in the per capita seems huge compared to the UK.

I guess they have a lot of space and a lot of malls and big box retailers and are less tolerant of a shop not having something in stock.

[andrewducker]

Unsurprisingly for the USA, it's because there was a tax loophole
http://archive.wilsonquarterly.com/in-essence/why-america-got-malled

Re: "Laziness does not exist"

[woodpijn.livejournal.com]

The article Andrew linked describes what I would consider executive dysfunction. I can't speak for Edwin, but I do not experience that.

But the experience Edwin (khoth) described ("If I spend five minutes shoving some clutter into the bin and giving the living room floor a quick vacuum instead of reading junk on the internet, I'll be less happy for five minutes, but more happy for the next day. It tends to not happen unless there's some external deadline like people visiting, though. I can do tasks with a cutoff, but in a case where doing it a little later is only a little worse, forever, I can put them off forever even though I'd be better off doing them sooner.") sounds to me like regular, universal, putting off a task. Andrew then said "That sounds very much like executive dysfunction", which is what I was disagreeing with (i.e. if that counts as executive dysfunction, then executive dysfunction is universal and meaningless).

[ninetydegrees]

My sincere apologies. I obviously got confused. I couldn't even fully parse your reply to my comment. Clearly a sign I should stop commenting for a while :) Again, sorry and thanks for the calm explanation. I mean it.