Laziness Does Not Exist with Dr. Devon Price | #88

Click here to access a written transcript of this episode.

Social psychologist Dr. Devon Price joined me in this episode to talk about their new book, Laziness Does Not Exist. The book details a belief system called the Laziness Lie, which teaches us that hard work is morally superior to relaxation, and people who aren't productive have less innate value than productive people. This interview will help you break the belief that your work is your worth and give you strategies for fighting back against internalized capitalism.

We discussed:

• What initially got Devon invested in the idea that laziness does not exist.
• How pets can help us take the moral implications out of laziness.
• The history of the Laziness Lie belief system that Devon's book is based around.
• Methods that may help people with less career autonomy to obtain more work-life balance.
• The ways we internalize the Laziness Lie and believe we need to be busy at all times.
• How self-care has become something that's seen as feminized and frivolous.
• Being okay with getting “sloppy” in some areas of your life.
• The importance of recognizing the inherent worth of others and yourself.
• Making an effort to zoom out and question our harsh reactions to other people's choices.
• Why Devon thinks you should do things you're bad at.
• The value in allowing yourself to be instead of always working on self-improvement.
• How what we view as laziness in our bodies is actually the wisdom of our bodies.
• Living according to your own values instead of the values of others.

Mentioned in This Episode

• Devon's original Laziness Does Not Exist article on Medium
• Laziness Does Not Exist
• Devon's pet chinchilla, Dump Truck
• Malicious compliance subreddit
• Tom Vanderbilt's research on late merging
• Fundamental attribution error in social psychology
• Recovering from Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson

Featured in This Episode