Can You Blame the Laziness Gene?

The "laziness gene" should be called the "excuse gene".
We people seek for reasons why we don't exercises and why we postpone our activity for tomorrow.
We all must do an effort to strengthen our "motivation gene" and maybe than we will see the results that we constantly seek.

I suppose gay people should just strengthen there straight gene then.

If it's in the genes then it's incredibly hard to fight it, and Laurens statement just goes to show how people look at genetic dispositions "just fight it" really doesn't work.

i can honestly say that only about 3 people, including myself, in my family have EVER been to the gym. i'm sure that laziness is partly genetic or chemical; but i do believe that you learn from your family members. i never saw anyone in my family take a walk after a meal until i was in my late teens- even then i still wanted to be home watching tv. it does take more motivation, but i believe that if you're lazy and used to never seeing results, you'll feel way more motivated after a week at the gym and you feel your energy level soar. makes you wanna go almost every day

Good thing human beings are self-aware creatures that can use logic and judgment to look past predilections! There are times I don't feel like working or cooking or paying attention to my pets -- and maybe that's some other lazy gene rearing its head -- but I understand the necessity of getting things done. Someone who needs exercise but doesn't feel like doing it should be able to reason with themselves in exactly the same way. It needs to be done. End of story.

Another reason to support eugenics.

I think I'm inherently lazy (would not move much as a kid) but I got to the point where I loved exercise and would do it a lot. Humans are to complicated to look at it one factor at a time, period

I think it's interesting to step back and look at the general mindset in which this study and pretty much every study is conducted.

If society was structured differently, if we were traditionally inactive and lounged around, taking life at a slower pace, it would be the "active gene" we'd be discussing here and how "active people" should learn to take life more slowly. We'd be outline steps for slowing down instead of getting active and calling this post "Can you blame the active gene?"

These studies seem kind of obsurd when you can look at them outside of societies conditioning.

Whether or not genetics are a real factor for being lazy, I am thinking that relating to such an idea (or a fact if proven) will be more abused as just another excuse rather than used as a source of acknowledgement.
Call me crazy, but given the choice I am not sure if I want to know whether or not I have the lazy genes.

Why does the author assume that inactive people are overweight? Does the study on mice show that inactive mice where also fatter than active mice?

That assumption seems totally displaced and arrogant to me. (By the way, I think that everyone, lean or overweight, can benefit from exercise, that's not my point here.)

I am a lazy person but I love fitness. People are clueless but do not research how to fix their problems.

I'm glad you put in the part about not giving up. If it is proven that there is in fact a "lazy gene" in humans, I could see many people using that as an excuse for not trying to stay active. It may make it more difficult, but it is still important to try to stay active.

Why does the author assume that inactive people are overweight?

I hit send comment before I finished....LOL....anyway, yes it was an assumption, based on this study, that there were two weight groups - Buff Joe versus Chubby Jack....in the mice in the study there was no difference in weight between the groups.

Why blame anything on your genes? It is useless and foolish to tell yourself you can't do something because "you were made that way." Just go ahead and do it.

Not be able to get fit because of lazy genes? I do not doubt that genetics has some part in your fitness, but it is not a primary indicator. I think this is more of an excuse than an important medical finding.

Genetics load the gun, but environment pulls the trigger.

I'm not so sure about a "laziness" gene, but even if it did exist, you couldn't blame it for keeping you a couch potato, any more than any more than an obese person who overeats and doesn't exercise can rightfully blame their genetics. My entire immediate family has a weight problem. Both my parents are overweight, and all three of my sisters are obese. I used to be as well (from 1994-2002). Yep, the family tendency was definitely there, but the real reason was that, even though I got exercise, I ate waaay too much food. I'm now 5'5" and under 130 lbs. So genetics might provide an obstacle for some people, but it's not an unsurmountable one.

There is a saying, "Argue your limits and they are yours!" Of course we can't all be THE best, but we can all work toward being OUR best. Everyone has obstacles and weaknesses, and everyone has abilities and strengths. What you chose to focus on will reveal much of what you are to yourself.

I think that genetics being the determining cause of behaviors is far overrated. Just like the other posters who brought up the genetic components of homosexuality, there are definitely genes that may predispose people to various traits, but we can ultimately do whatever we choose to do by consciously altering our behavior.

If there is a "laziness gene", everybody in my family has it. Seriously, my mother never cleans her house and my brother never went to college because he was too lazy to fill out the applications. My sister and I both really hate doing housework for the most part, but we make conscious efforts to keep on top of things so we don't end up living in disaster areas. Our families can definitely teach us a lot about how to act when faced with certain situations. Example: in our house, it was perfectly OK for dishes to pile up in the sink for days. I thought it was strange when I went over to my friend Shannon's house and they never had dirty dishes. She always wondered why we had stacks of dishes at MY house...she had a neatfreak mom and I had a slob mom. Genetics had nothing to do with it; we just had different environments.

That being said, who said lazy people are always fat? My husband's lazy and not fat, I can be lazy and I'm not fat. And there are PLENTY of fat people that are most definitely NOT lazy. It all comes down to behaviors. Some people may just need a little more of a push to get themselves into the gym than others, I guess.

When people talk about the effect of genetics on behaviour they refer to tendency rather then actuality.
For example; there is a genetic tendency towards the abuse of alcohol. People with that gene have a tendency towards developing alcohol abuse patterns, but that doesn't mean that they ever will or that everyone who has those patterns also has the gene.
If there is a laziness gene in humans, which has not even been tested at this stage, then it will only mean that people with it would rather lie in the sun then run ten km. Not that they won't run ten km if they have a reason to do so.

This logic does not apply to the other trait under discussion here, that of homosexuality, because homosexuality is not a behaviour.