The Lazy Box

So, I've always had this thought in the back of my mine about having a blog.  I was never really sure what I would write about, and even less sure of who, if anyone, would care what I had to say.  On top of that, creating a blog to begin with is a pain in the ass, and something that I would start the process to, and then loose interest while I waited for each slogging web page to finish loading so that I could actually get my ideas or thoughts down on the page.

After all this thought, I've had a few false starts, and nothing, almost literally, to write home about.  Well, this weekend, while at the grocery store getting food to feed myself and my fiance for the week, I happened by a magazine rack that actually had something on it (and by something I mean not some celebrity rag).  I picked up a copy of Scientific America and brought it home, only to sit on the table for a few days, before I actually started reading. 

I love reading about innovations in science, I like watching science fiction on TV, and sometimes you can even find me reading a good sci fi novel, but I rarely actually take the steps to read any of these things if they're not already in my possession, because at that heart of it, I am a lazy American, who doesn't want to take the time, or the brain power to go out and get something like a science magazine to read.  I have to say, when I make the effort, I'm always happy that I did.

While the articles on the Human Genome are always interesting, and I like reading about new anthropological discoveries (since I did do part of my undergraduate study in Anthropology) I was most blown away by an article that I started reading almost entirely on accident.  The article was titled "Technology's Friction Problem" and I think I started reading it because of the almost Steam Punk picture at the top.  The article itself was essentially about our problem with things that take too long, and are inefficient.  If it takes too long, or requires too many steps, we tend to shy away from actually taking the time to do what even it was that was too involved.  The example given in the article was of the author going into an Apple Store and purchasing an item using an app on his iPhone, which took far less time, and was much more simple than finding a sales assistant, standing in line, and paying for the item in the normal way, ie through someone ringing you up on a cash register, handing over money in one form or another, and receiving either a receipt to sign, or cash back. 

As I was finishing the article, which was well written and enjoyable to read (though that's besides the point) my phone beeped at me, letting me know that I had an email.  This on happened to be from Change.com, which I discovered some time ago, and is an online site dedicated to petitions.  This particular email was informing me of a new petition I might be interested in, based on my past interest in similar subjects.  I made a few clicks and I became involved by signing the petition.  Then I thought about what I had just done, not in a negative way, but in the fact that if you had asked me two years ago about my political or social involvement with anything regarding taking action to make a change, I would have just shrugged and told you about the organization I give money to once a year.  Now, I can boast involvement with several projects, I can tell you about starting with a petition to stop the killing of sled dogs in Alaska, and continue on to tell you about writing to my congressmen about the clean air act.  All of this because it has been made readily available to me through my email, and the fact that with three clicks I can sign a petition and become involved in something I would have never taken the time to do before.

So, this article got me thinking about, a) how effing lazy we all are, and b) how great it is that there are people out there thinking about how effing lazy we are, and doing something to make our laziness work.