Kant makes a point that people should refrain from being lazy. He argues that this is what a person must learn as he/she begins to grow up. I agree with Kant, as I believe that people should work to become the best versions of themselves.
This relates to the beliefs of Kobe Bryant, who used reasoning (which is a fundamental idea of the Enlightenment) as a fundamental idea behind his belief that people should become the best versions of themselves that they can possibly be. In an interview, Kobe Bryant used reasoning to explain how one can improve himself/herself. This is what he argued: if a person wakes up at 3:00 AM everyday, then he/she is able to get way more work done than a person who wakes up at 8:00 AM everyday. And as time progresses, there will eventually be a huge gap between the skillsets of those two people, and the person who woke up at 3:00 AM everyday will be years ahead of the person who woke up at 8:00 AM everyday. Like Kant, Kobe Bryant adamantly believed that people should not be lazy, and he applied this to his everyday life, which led to him becoming one of the best athletes to ever step on a basketball court. After he retired, he said that one of the quotes he lived by was to “rest at the end, not in the middle.” This helps to explain his intense work ethic.
Shaun Tayaba, while I agree with you that being lazy is detrimental for yourself, over working yourself will likely prove to be a large act of self harm. Yes, the example of waking up at 8 am vs 3 am is a bit of an extreme but it proves it also shows that some people overwork themselves. Reason would suggest that an excess of anything will have diminishing returns and eventually have no effect on you. Therefore rest is needed but not to an excess, allow yourself some time for a break and some laziness and youll find that the next time you go to work your productivity will be much improved.
Nice post Shaun! I agree with you that people should always work to become a better version of who they were yesterday. One will not get anywhere if they are lazy, one must put the work in to become who they want to be. Behind every great athlete is hard work and dedication that put them there in the first place. Other than athletes, everyone who is successful today is successful because of their work ethics. It’s almost impossible to accomplish anything if laziness is all they can give.
While Kant regards laziness as harm for people, I agree with you guys about this as well. For Kobe Bryant, Kant would define his qualities good as he is a figure that has good temperament (perseverance, serious, and dare to make great efforts), and with good will. Kobe showed some unconditional goods for us, and it is a huge pity that we lost him. Still, it’s hard for people to see the 3 A.M. Los Angeles
Hi Shaun,
Nice post. I am glad that you thought of Kobe as a clear example of someone who avoids laziness, as well as citing some of the main reasons as to why he prioritized high amounts of effort. Effort and logical reasoning are both highly emphasized in the Enlightenment and Kobe’s approach to basketball, which strengthens the connection you made in my opinion. As Locke said, ownership over what God put on Earth is attained through one’s personal effort in obtaining that product or asset. This is how Kobe viewed the way he could own the title of best player: by outworking everyone and considering every possible factor involved in acheiving victory, he truly believed he could obtain possession of this title.