-
Sloth Is the Mother of Invention
- Syracuse University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
230 Sloth Is the Mother of Invention Because he tired of climbing stairs, Otis invented elevators which invented skyscrapers which converted downtown Chicago, Dallas, and New York into downtown Chicago, Dallas, and New York . . . Intrigued with automobility, Henry Ford produced the horseless carriage that promoted sanitation plus convenience. No more manure on city streets. More speed, less shoveling. Stench became a memory, and people drove while sitting statue-still behind a wheel. . . . Plumbing and flushable commodes made dumping chamber pots defunct while buttoned or zippered trouser-flies for men and skirts for women sensibly facilitated urination. . . . Dismissive of negotiations and slow wars, Hitler simply blitzed his enemies. If might made right, why bother with diplomacy? Diplomacy took time, and time took effort, and effort meant time wasted if war could cut the time in half. . . . 231 Show me a shortcut, and I’ll prove how only people steeped in laziness could give us elevators, autos—toilets—clothing tailored for hygiene—and war and be proclaimed, for good or ill or both, ingenious. ...