Our eternal preoccupation, as confirmed in our writings, has been with the moral necessity of mankind to recognize and appreciate of the unique and generous award by Darwinian Evolution to homo sapiens of an advanced brain. We have maintained that such derived appropriate acknowledgement is to be impliedly expressed, (consistent with nature’s dynamic in the direction of progress of the species) by regular and continuing efforts towards mankind’s continued personal growth and maturity. The motivated individuals who have recognized such goals and availed themselves of the substantial abundance of varied pathways tending in that direction, have empirically found life to be fuller and more satisfying.
In our industrially- oriented society, the drive for commercial profits by the production and sale of goods and the delivery of services, has morphed into a perceived existential necessity, like the ancient mandatory obeisance to the ubiquitous Sun God. Individual human beings, in this evolved business context, accordingly, are pragmatically and coldly, evaluated in accordance with their perceived potential for the generation of profits for their employer. In man’s private life, disappointing to say, prestige is usually awarded dependent upon one’s personal accumulation of material reward, derived from work or business enterprise. The unvarying tempo of industrial society, in its eternal unyielding and grinding routine, results in the manufacturing of both, merchandisable goods and as a by- product, workers who functionally are semi-automatons, living their day orchestrated by the immutable exigencies of hourly production, scheduled meals and bedtimes, with meager time for family or elective, personal pursuits.
Individuals who nevertheless choose to judiciously use whatever leisure time is available (after performance of employment and family responsibilities) to ardently pursue elective interests, (such as writing, reading, painting, hobbies and crafts, music, collecting, gardening or one of the many others) reportedly, experience a fuller and more satisfying life. From a more comprehensive perspective, engaging in such activities leads to self- advancement, growth of perspective and a sense of personal efficacy, resulting in substantial enhancement of mind, mood and joy of living. It also is responsible for the production of valuable and useful citizens in a representative democracy.
There are certain individuals who are devoid of any impetus toward pursuing an interest or activity, are disinterested in their surroundings, that dread leisure time and feel that each unstructured day not occupied in work is dull, meaningless and wearisome. Such an individual predicably retreats to the familiar predictable security of a soft couch for perpetual zoning out. He watches sports or inane television gameshows in the empty periods between suddenly occurring naps and may indulge in the excessive use of alcohol or drugs in aid of emotional survival during the unbearably empty voids between meals and bedtime. This not-uncommon vegetative varietal of the sapient species of homo sapiens, is anthropologically and functionally classified under the genus and species, “Couch Potato.”
The regular life- style of the chronic couch potato’s sedentary athleticism, often is predictable of various useless and negative concomitants. These may include, extreme ennui, abusive behavior, anger and frustration with the (chosen) quality of life, rationalizing the same by fantasized attribution to some contrived explanation, the inclination to irrationally and hatefully cast the blame on unrelated groups of people, or perhaps, assume imagined pseudo- status through bigotry. These individuals are useless as citizens, totally undesirable for social interaction, and as advised by the medical and psychiatric professions, especially prone to illness of all kinds and briefer longevity.
The cataclysmic advent of the present and ongoing pandemic of coronavirus, aside from its exponential threat to human health and life, may serve as a social laboratory in further confirming the efficacy of the subject principle. The call for prophylactic limitation on social interaction and medically recommended quarantine, predictably will result in its confirmation. The pandemic, spurred on and exacerbated by a shameful catalytic boost furnished by an incapable and ignorant Presidential Administration, has raged on for many deadly months with, reportedly, no signs of slowing down. The mandated limitations on social contact and quarantine programs consequently will continue as reported, for the foreseeable future. Those individuals whose lifestyle has valuably and wisely included, time permitting, elective life interests and pursuits, have the emotional capability, furnished by their developed inner resources, to patiently, perhaps, somewhat enjoyably, endure infinite the pandemic’s unpredictable course. We are generous in our decision to afford some sympathy to the chronic couch potatoes, who understandably will find the extensive period of time-out, virtually unendurable.
The contemporary pathology of coronavirus will in time be preventable by vaccination. However, the waste of precious life due to chronic couch potato syndrome, may never be curable.
-p.
plinyblogdotcom 