GregoryWohlwend

"So what are these barriers that keep people from reaching anywhere near their real potential. The answer to that can be found in another question, and that's this: which is the most universal human characteristic: fear or laziness?" - Louis Mackey.
Our barriers as a species of social order exist beyond fear or laziness, yet the question rouses an interesting debate. Fear usually causes some sort of action, while laziness lies in inactivity. This question, posed above, is not answerable in the sense of a right or wrong. Contemplation of such conflicts can breathe understanding into those who question. Duane Herman, a 28 year old, from Oklahoma believes that "the human potential is limited by laziness." Duane uses his own experiences and lessons learned throughout his life to outline the argument for his belief. For the purposes of the question, a person's real potential will be weighed out of the amount of truth they have uncovered in ones lifetime. Truth is a dirty word in philosophical terms for it can easily be refuted; perhaps take the example of Plato. He is revered as one of the greatest minds of all time and was dubbed the smartest man alive by a local oracle in his days. Exercise of the mind and thought are the set standard for this question, none other.

"Most people seek contentment not enlightenment. It is easy to define yourself through status as you don't have to look inside of yourself to define who you really are. You can merely define yourself through your possessions." This statement holds ground when applied to modern society. Many people today work at jobs which pay a certain amount of money for a certain amount of work. These jobs allow for the individual to sustain a quality of life which they deem comfortable or appealing. Humans all over America follow this trade-off of time for quality of life. This comforts the human ego, but not necessarily the progression of their self or mind. Lifestyles lay a framework for a method which limits the human potential. Possessions act as the fruit of the labor of laziness. Often times these fruits are inanimate and declare a certain social status which the human regards as worth. These possessions feed the laziness of the individual who holds them; they are a means of reassurance for the person's ego. To come full circle, the job holds the position of the daily sacrifice, the money replenishes the sacrifice of time and energy, and in turn the money provides a means for self-worth to be bought in the form of possessions. Possessions accumulate, time steadily dissipates and the life of the individual, wrapped in facade and falsehood gives meaning to itself in this never-ending circle. This very circle exists due to an inability for the human to acknowledge and end such a fixed agenda. This inability is also known as the attitude of laziness.

"I used to physically intimidate people who didn't agree with me, because it was easier than fully explaining my point of view." Duane would resort to action instead of communication for he was too lazy to explain his point of view. Often times people resort to other means of expression in order to appease a variety of excuses provided by those same people. Some of these excuses may be rooted in fear, but in the case of Duane they are most definitely a consequence of laziness. These sort of experiences exist in today's culture, and their existence plays a big part in the barrier between the bigot and the philosopher. Their existence is not intriguing while there origins or effects are. Where do these things come from, are they a byproduct of society? Are they taught in an establishment of some sort?

In the case of Duane, he claims that his parents were lazy; therefore he picked up their traits through imitation. Imitation is a common practice among the learning pattern of humans. Because **** sapiens are a k-selection type species (low number of off-spring, high quality of parent care) the children's very survival depends on the learning and imitating of their parents. This carries on well past learning simply the necessary tools for survival. The habit crosses into social and moral aspects of the human mind. Later the offspring can learn to unlearn this set of characteristics. Such things are definitely part of the answer to why so many humans lay dormant in their search for their potential. Just as parenting is an institution of sorts, the education system also acts as a governing body. This body may also be a source for barriers on human limits.

"In modern education, they pass people who didn't learn the requirements. Many kids realize at an early age that they don't have to really learn anything except how to agree with the teacher/professor." Education usually conditions the pupils within to conform to the best means of survival. Survival within the education system means to get the best grades as possible while making it as bearable as possible. Quick fixes such as memorization, cheating, copying, calculating etc. often occur as vices throughout the entire process. These quick fixes are a direct result of laziness within the individual students. Rather than learning or critically thinking as the system is designed, the students find loop holes which everyone is okay with. In reality this institution does nothing more than prepare students for a lifetime of laziness which they will pay in jobs that are serving to prolong their potential even further.

"No, i've fought off contentment with a stick. I read as many different points of view as I can, to try and see a larger spectrum of belief." Duane believes that many buy into laziness because they are content with the current state of affairs. By fighting the feeling of "contentment" he hopes to never satisfy himself with his current lifestyle while constantly searching for a new one. By searching like this, Duane can always change, evaluate and analyze new thoughts from different viewpoints. The cycle of laziness breaks under the pressure from Duane's open attitude toward analysis, his thoughts never gain rust or cob-web, but stay well-oiled. However there are things which stop him from achieving all that he would like.

"My biggest restraint is time itself." Time always works against those who exist within its limits. This poses an obvious and unchanging barrier for all who attempt to grow as human beings. Time may stop short for some and not for others. The question does not apply to the unfortunate, rather to those who squandered their time as miniscule as it may have been. Duane goes on to explain how "In others I've found that apathy is the biggest barrier." Apathy, a cousin to laziness, works in the same ways yet without discontent. The apathetic state is about finding a middle ground within a desire or fear, by doing so things stay safe, yet nothing is achieved. By achieving nothing, the individual is no closer to their potential.

Near the end of the interview Duane makes an interesting point about bias views. "I live in America, so I believe it to be laziness. If I lived in another country (Iraq comes to mind) perhaps I would not better myself for fear of reprisal." This statement rings true for all different types of experiences. The barrier may be found to be laziness in America, while in other countries the circumstances could be quite different. Fear may run rampant in tyrannical regimes while laziness prospers in countries of privilege. Such a statement is interesting and begs for a statistical analysis of the subject matter at hand. Does fear override laziness in term of barriers? What role does fear play in the path of man?

Fear is everywhere in all forms and individuals, yet it takes many different faces which are often times hard, if not impossible, to pinpoint. The cliché view of fear comes in the form of a life or death situation, when absolute terror is upon the living and action must be taken in order for those living to continue to do so. However fear is not so black and white, fear may be found in the scene of a children's birthday party, or a black tie fundraiser. Often times fear is referred to as anxiety, or a mild form of social fear. Perhaps Sally is at her friend’s house and is worried that her blue dress will not be worn by another one of her friends in order to avoid social humiliation. This humiliation and fear is completely conceived within the mind of Sally alone, regardless it appears as real to her as the coat rack next to the door she hung her coat on. These things like anxiety enter into a whole host of possible problems.

The main focus is on the human potential, and fear can definitely be a governing factor. Research shows that in an early study of males and females in a science class, males were much more likely to answer questions than females. The reason does not lie in the gender itself; rather it lies in the roles which gender plays. Because those roles exist, so does the fear of traveling outside of those roles. If a female answered such a question she may be subject to immediate or delayed ridicule by her peers. Ridicule is commonly known to be a negative stimulus for all humans of modern day American society. Just as this rang true in the 50's and 60's so does the theme of gender roles in the current educational system. Often times homosexuality is poked fun of among the pupils in the education system. The idea of straying outside the gender roles is looked down upon and therefore is seen as an option for ridicule if someone perhaps slips off the path of heterosexuality. Due to this the pupils fear slipping and grab tighter to the moral code of society. This all ties in with staying on a certain path which others have laid out for many to follow. Instead of each individual pupil treading the path on their own, they are coerced by their own fear and anxiety to follow the trodden path of others. Staying on this path does not allow for growth of the individual, yet only for the growth of a population on the common path. Hence fear causes assimilation within the society which hinders the potential of each person subscribing to such feelings.

Such applications of fear can be found in any situation if one analyzes with enough detail and patience. These examples make a case for fear infiltrating the potential of humanity, yet do not refute the possibility of laziness being a contributing factor. While researching this topic those views which pertain to fear became less and less obvious and the idea of apathy and laziness rose in percentage of possibility. By forcing myself to expand upon the basic ideals of another, it was terribly obvious that all the answers were not at my fingertips. The issue is a gray matter just as with any other, each side has its black and its white, yet the solution can be found in a multitude of grays. Fear may dominate in a tyrannical regime, while laziness dominates a prosperous and "free" nation. "Universal" would mean everyone is affected in a similar way, but with six billion humans on the Earth and growing, such a conclusion is impossible to come to. Therefore the conclusion cannot be a conclusion, but remain a perfect rhetorical question. Positive in its intentions, yet negative in its rewarding a true, unwavering answer.

Being forced to analyze a position from the other side taught me not so much about the other side as it did about debate and conflict. By interviewing another and coming to grips with their position as if it were my own, I saw that neither right nor wrong exists, yet only beliefs about those rights and wrongs do. To understand such a topic with the completeness of scholarly-hood would be to take no side. Treat all sides as if they were your own. Once this is done, a true sense of any conflict grows clearer. The process was also interesting, usually when debating a certain topic I resort to refuting rather than listening. By truly listening to Duane, I was able to grasp the topic through his eyes and take a look at it with a different sort of perspective. By conversing with others it is much easier to come to a different angle of thinking about things than it is by ones self. In retrospect some of the regrets I hold are due to lack of documentation. The responses recorded were only portions of larger thoughts that I retained yet was not able to quote in their entirety.

Without opposites no argument or position can exist. It is because of these differences that ideas and there implications can be analyzed. Through analysis a greater understanding of each position draws closer and closer. A question such as this one will never be proven one way or the other, yet the questioning continues to spark curiosity. Perhaps this courageous curiosity drives those in search of the distant ceiling over their true potential. By continuing to question any and all concepts one can only hope to reach the ranks of those revered to be wise.

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