The Lazy Gene

I am not lazy, just physically challenged*

How do you change the channel on your TV? How do you get from place to place? How and where do you eat?

Most of us instinctively answer: The remote control. A car or some other motorized transport. And, for those with access, food delivery services.

The rise of food delivery became essential during the pandemic and, soon after, conveniently catered to the “Lazy Gene” lurking in most of us. But food isn’t the only thing being delivered to our doorstep—so is our entertainment, our information, and even our education.

Remote controls, streaming services, robot vacuums, scrolling news feeds, AI-generated content—technology has found a way to indulge our every whim while keeping us perfectly still. We no longer need to seek entertainment; it’s handed to us. We don’t need to engage with the world outside; it streams right into our living rooms. Reading books in a library? Watching a play at the theater? Cheering on a team at the stadium? These have all become optional, nostalgic relics of effort.

Don’t get me wrong—at my age, going out and participating the way I once did has become harder. But that’s precisely the point. If everything is handed to us from the start, we take it for granted.

We visit zoos and feed the animals what we think they should eat, giving them little choice in the matter. And yet, we fail to see that the same thing is happening to us—but instead of zookeepers, our feeders are faceless corporations and political strategists deciding what is socially acceptable, ethically sound, politically correct, and—most importantly—most profitable.

We’ve become passive consumers of whatever they serve up. Influencers nudge us toward trends we didn’t ask for. News cycles churn out narratives we don’t question. Entertainment algorithms shape our preferences before we even know what we like. And as we sit back, indulging in this curated reality, our minds quietly slip into autopilot.

Of course, the Lazy Gene defends itself well. These tools give us more time for important things, we tell ourselves. But are we truly making use of that time, or are we simply feeding the machine that keeps us sedated? If this trend continues, perhaps we really are just batteries in The Matrix, sustaining a system that thrives on our passivity.

If any of this resonates with you, then now—more than ever—is the time to reclaim control. The key isn’t rejection, but moderation. Convenience should serve us, not define us. We can embrace technology without surrendering to it.

It’s time to switch off autopilot and start living like the humans we were meant to be.

Cheers.

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