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On July 27, 2024, Kasie and Rex finished this summer’s Seven Deadly Sins journey with sloth. Here are the show notes:

Theme for the day

Seven Deadly Sins: Sloth

Agenda

• Quick Catch Up
• Seven Deadly Sins: what are they?
• Focus on Sloth

Segments 1 & 2

It’s been the summer of the Seven Deadly Sins series. This blog gives a quick summary of all seven sins and some examples of how to use them. 

The Seven Deadly Sins (this link) in Roman Catholic theology, are the seven vices that spur other sins and further immoral behavior. First enumerated by Pope Gregory I (the Great) in the 6th century and elaborated in the 13th century by St. Thomas Aquinas.

The sins are:

• Pride
• Greed
• Lust
• Envy
• Gluttony
• Wrath
• Sloth

What is sloth? This link is “What is sloth and why is it worse than laziness?” and here’s what the author says: “The sin of sloth is a bit deeper than laziness, and that subtlety is found in the thing that keeps us bound up: fear.”

How does fear affect sloth? The dark side here is the lack of motivation or a person’s choice to accept the easy way, the lowest risk, by doing nothing. The Bible calls out idleness or failure to think toward the future and plan for it. Slothfulness is losing sight of purpose, or letting fear keep you from acting.

This great article has seven Disney villains who represent the sins:

1. Envy – the evil queen from Snow White
2. Wrath – the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland (add Heartless by Marisa Meyer)
3. Gluttony – Cruella deVille
4. Greed – Madam Medusa from The Rescuers or the scheming butler from The Aristocats
5. Pride – Gaston from Beauty and the Beast
6. Lust – Judge Claude Frollo from The HUnchback of Notre Dame
7. Sloth – Hans from Frozen

In the character Hans, we see sloth manifest as getting the most benefit from the least amount of work. Think of The Dude in The Big Lebowski, he’s content to just exist, he’s not interested in getting more (Walter) or righting wrongs, he just wants to exist and persist. Pushing him out of his sloth is the action of the film.

Are Frasier and Niles Crane guilty of sloth? They want to maintain their high-class lifestyle but they’re loathe to change their behavior to earn that lifestyle.

Homer Simpson might be a great example of this, too. Content to exist, does not like disturbance or change, does not have ambition or drive.

Peter Gibbons in Office Space is another one – he’s fine doing the thing he does, no need for extra responsibility or corporate ladder climbing. 

Troy Dyer in Reality Bites has a sloth to him – playing in the same coffee house forever, can’t keep a job, etc.

This article talks about the science of laziness. It defines sloth by what it’s not:

• It’s not procrastination – procrastinators aspire to complete a task, they just struggle with the motivation to do it. 
• It’s not idleness – not really, people aspire to idleness but then can’t really tolerate it in reality, rest is fine after achievement, but rest is temporary.

Segments 3 & 4

How can you portray this in your characters? Their unwillingness to act is a sin of sloth – think reluctance of Luke Skywalker or Bilbo Baggins to go on their hero’s journey. This link gives us a few tips:

• Motive – slothful characters want to coast through life, they want the easiest way to the most comfort and security; it’s easy to motivate them if they think the path looks easy to traverse and plentiful with benefits
• Method – slothful characters want the most gain for the least work, so they’ll manipulate others into working for them, they’ll cut corners and mooch off of others to not have to work
• Flaw – slothful characters need to be pushed into action, because they forgo the preparation needed to do the job well, they’ll often struggle with doing the task – messy consequences

What does the sin of sloth do to the characters around this person?

Are they aware of the sloth? Do they call it out?

What tension lives between the moocher and the moochee?

This link talks about the benefits of adding flaws to your characters.

How does apathy appear in characters? Are they interesting?

This link talks about an adjacent characteristic, complacency. 

Some possible causes for complacency:

• Comfort with the familiar and resistance to change
• Passive or submissive personality traits
• Fear of failure or rejection
• Lack of external pressures or challenges to push oneself
• Past successes leading to complacency
• Feeling content with current circumstances
• Low self-esteem or self-worth
• Lack of motivation or ambition
• Overconfidence in abilities or accomplishments

Some behaviors associated with it:

• Refusing to take responsibility for one’s actions
• Being content with the status quo
• Over-reliance on past successes
• Settling for mediocrity
• Lack of ambition or drive
• Ignoring potential problems or threats
• Not seeking new knowledge or skills
• Resisting change or new ideas
• Avoiding challenges or risks