Anti Gravity: Up the Lazy Creek; June 2006; Scientific American Magazine; by Steve Mirsky; 1 Page(s)

I turned this column in very late. I just couldn't get started writing it. Low energy. You know how it is.

Fortunately, my editor can take no action against me, because my lateness, I was delighted to discover, was in fact brought about by a disease: I clearly suffer from "motivational deficiency disorder." The British Medical Journal, the praises of which were sung in this space in March, reported on this novel malaise in its April 1 issue. "Extreme laziness," the BMJ piece explains, "may have a medical basis, says a group of high-profile Australian scientists, describing a new condition called motivational deficiency disorder (MoDeD)." (MoDeD is most definitely not to be confused with Mos Def, who is clearly not a sufferer of MoDeD.)