In The Principia: Mathematical Principles of Philosophy, Isaac Newton states
” Every body perseveres in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly straight forward, except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by forces impressed”
This is what you learned in your form one physics as the law of inertia. That “an object will remain static or in motion unless a force greater than itself acts upon it”.
Sir Newton was talking about matter/mass such as planets but he may as well have been talking about the nature of human beings.
Apparently, we have a tendency to remain in the same state even when it is not in our best interest to do so. The status quo is what we are accustomed to. It is not just a place where we are happy. It could be a miserable place but we are used to it.
You see, human beings are very adaptable creatures. Put us in coldest place on earth and we will find a way of living with the snow. Put us in the hottest desert and we will find a way of surviving the heat.
Our adaptability is also a curse. It makes us settle. We have perfected the art of making lemonade and forgetting that we can do without the lemons altogether.
We complain of the same problems year in year out. But nothing really changes. Like Arsenal FC we keep “saying next season”.
In essence, based on the law of inertia, a person who is seated on a couch watching a movie will keep watching. A person rolling down a cliff will keep falling. Until a greater force acts upon him.
But what is this force that will kick our butt and get us out our state of inertia?
The person watching a movie will only stop watching if he needs to make some bowel movement. The person hurtling down a cliff will keep falling until he hits a rock at the bottom.
We only change when we have to.
Life is life
Fabio