Ep-009: On Zipf’s Law of Least Effort and virtuous laziness

Episode Summary

Should you be lazy? The answer might surprise you.

We often hear the advice to ‘work hard’. When we have difficulties, well-meaning people advise us to bear down, buckle-up or lean in and ‘work harder’.

But in this episode, we take a closer a look at this piece of advice in the light of the 80/20 principle. Specifically, I’ll introduce or reintroduce you to Zipf’s Law of least effort and how it can help you do more by doing less.

Some of the main points—The Vital Few (TVF) Timestamps:

The nerdy stuff: What is the Law of Least Effort? (1:35)

Can laziness be a virtue and the 2 kinds of laziness (07:05)

Misunderstanding the law of least effort, the false exaltation of hard work and the primacy of the goal (12:07)

The 3 keys to applying The Law of Least Effort (18:57)

Notes and References

The Principle of Least Effort and the Zipf Distribution (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1113/1/012007 )

Additive Bias Reference: There are many references to this cognitive bias, but a good article can be found in The Scientific American here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/our-brain-typically-overlooks-this-brilliant-problem-solving-strategy/

Ancient philosophers regarding man as a teleological being: https://www.britannica.com/topic/teleology

Anthony’s Book: The Law of The Vital Few