Incompetence isn't just an inconvenience. It's (usually) the result of some gross immorality; often a long-standing policy of refusing to exert the effort to do something right. I'm not referring here to some occasional mistake, however bad the effect. What I mean is the habitual, 'just didn't want to think about it,' 'failure to do what can be reasonably expected' sorts of actions caused by what the Greeks referred to as akrasia (literally, "bad mixture," the Greek term for the character flaw of incontinence or weakness of the will, the condition in which an agent is unwilling to perform actions that are known to be right).
-- Jeffrey Perren
No complex proof is required to show that doing something requires effort. Doing something well requires lots of effort, and doing things superlatively requires years of dedication for all but the few who are just wired differently. Such effort is always a combination of the mental and physical; emphasis more on one than the other, depending on the circumstances. Most people, surprisingly, are pretty willing to exert great physical effort. Mental effort is much less often greeted with enthusiasm. Why this should be is somewhat mysterious.
-- Jeffrey Perren
Few things in life are more pleasurable than solving a differential equation, forming a sound argument, or writing a tight essay. Or, if you prefer something less analytical, and more creative, it
-- Jeffrey Perren
Competence requires sustained mental (and physical) effort, emphasis on sustained, even more emphasis on mental. Using one
-- Jeffrey Perren
...the Latin word 'amateur' originally had a meaning opposite to that which is in common use today. It designated someone who did something for the 'love of doing,' and who was therefore presumed to have a highly developed skill, as distinguished from a 'professional' who did it 'merely' for money. The latter was presumed not to care enough about the doing, as opposed to the payment, to have achieved excellence.
-- Jeffrey Perren
The passion to use one
-- Jeffrey Perren
An uncomfortably large percentage of individuals today just flat out don't care enough to do a good job. Whether fixing your plumbing or resolving a mistake on your credit report, whether creating a computer system or plowing the snow out of your driveway, making the effort to do it right just isn't high on the list.
-- Jeffrey Perren
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