Laziness is not a character trait. It is more an instinct, or perhaps an inherent characteristic of living things, for it is part of all humans, and, in fact, most animals in general. Laziness is an essential part of humans and many other types of animals; it is an instinct that helps to ensure the survival of the individual possessing it. Laziness is not a vice, but in modern times it has been accentuated in humans beyond the norm of the natural world. It soon becomes sloth, which is a vice.

Laziness helps to ensure survival by preventing excessive exertion. When an antelope is being chased by a lion on the African savannah, and the lion gives up the chase in lieu of an easier target, the antelope must stop running at some point or suffer complete exhaustion. Inherent laziness speeds this along. Other survival instincts overpower this at times of true danger, but when there is no danger, inborn laziness keeps the antelope from wearing itself out.

This also manifests itself in a human race. There are few humans that want to hurt themselves, and even for those who do, even the best elite runners in the world, succumb to some small dregs of this ancient instinct and stop when the race is over. Those who can push the will to stop the farthest will be those who will win in the end, all other factors being equal.

When training for an endurance sport such as swimming, running, cross-country skiing, or rowing, one must be disciplined enough to push away the desire to stop or slow down until the workout is over. If humans had no inherent laziness, there would be little competition in these types of sports, only those who had the best coaches, equipment, and genetics would win. The “mental toughness” aspect athletes who perform these sports talk about would be negated.

There is another kind of laziness, an extreme type of laziness, or sloth, that is more of a character trait, and not present in all animals, just humans. This is what most people call laziness, the unwillingness to do work such as daily tasks. This is not useful in the natural world, and has grown stronger with the advance of technology. It is this type of laziness that has caused the advent of all types of energy-saving devices.

So to conclude, laziness, in my opinion, is a natural self-protection method, which, in the present lifestyle of humans today, has magnified manyfold and become sloth. Sloth has led to the creation of new technologies, but it has also contributed to the obesity problem in wealthier countries, as people no longer need to walk anywhere, if they own a car, and other such things.