The study of history offers two competing 1)outlooks on human nature. On the one hand, the past reveals 2)continuity in our psychological makeup. People thousands of years ago were much like we are today. Human 3)foibles, including the tendency to put off vitally important commitments, are universal. Ancient wisdom remains relevant for our confrontation with procrastination.
On the other hand, human attitudes vary profoundly because they are rooted in different cultures. Ideas about success, just like ideas about what is beautiful, are 4)embedded in the larger value systems of different groups. Some nations have a tradition of doubting modernity’s 5)preoccupation with the efficient organization of time. For them, procrastination is not a problem but a solution!
“If Not Now, When?”
A sense of timelessness arises when we read Chapters of the Fathers, a collection of Jewish ethical teachings 6)compiled around 200 7)C.E. The text repeatedly advises readers not to put off important duties. 8)Rabbi 9)Hillel, who was born around 100 B.C.E., says, “Do not say, ‘When I am free I will study’, for perhaps you will not become free.”
10)Punctuality is the essence of ethics. As Hillel, again, says in one of the most famous expressions in the entire Jewish tradition: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? And if not now, when?”
Numerous 11)admonitions in the Christian Bible also speak to humankind’s 12)perennial tendency to put things off. Jesus taught that 13)reconciling with our 14)adversaries should be done immediately. “Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry,” echoes 15)Ephesians.
From these ancient sources we learn that procrastination is a 16)spoiler of morality. It’s not enough to know what is right. Personal discipline must close the gap between a good intention and a good deed. This is no less true today than in ancient times.
Urgent to Procrastinate
But history also shows us that cultures vary. Over time and across societies, one person’s fish becomes another person’s poison. The French word for fish is poisson. And when it comes to procrastination, French culture is a good place to look if you want to find a playful 17) twist in favor of it.
Under the Old Regime, France was an 18)aristocratic society. Physical labor was a sign of low status. The original role of the nobles was to be the warrior class. But that was in the Middle Ages. Under the 19)absolute monarchy of Louis XIV and his 20)successors, 21)nobility became a leisure class, defined by 22)courtly manners and elegant consumption. Before the French Revolution of 1789, the values of hard work and efficiency were characteristics of the 23)bourgeoisie but not of the cultural 24)elite.
Then came 1789 and everything changed, and did not change. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, French 25)Marxists, Romantics, and 26)Anarchists 27)decried the discipline of the industrial factory. The aristocratic 28)disdain for work became the radical’s 29)hostility to economic 30)exploitation.
Frenchman David Equainville recently proclaimed March 26, 2011 to be International Procrastination Day. A joke circulating on the Internet is that it was originally scheduled for March 25. “Procrastination Day Put Off Till Tomorrow” was an April 3, 2011 headline in The Telegraph.
Combining classic attitudes of the old nobility with the modern French intellectual’s hostility toward 31)capitalism, Equainville has written a 32)pamphlet in favor of procrastination. It is called 33)Manifesto for a Day Put Off. It is currently available only in French. The publisher’s 34)blurb says, “It is urgent to procrastinate against all the trends breathing down our neck. Procrastination is an art that brings doubt and 35)skepticism to 36)unquestioned standards of efficiency.”
拖延症历史观
历史的研究体现出对人性两种互相矛盾的看法。一方面，过去反映出我们心理需求方面的延续性。几千年前的人们其实很像今日的我们。人类有着普遍的弱点，比如倾向于推迟极其重要的承诺。古人的智慧对我们现今抵抗拖延仍有一定作用。
另一方面，人类的态度又发生了很大变化，因为人们扎根于不同的文化之中。对成功的定义，就像对美丽的看法，植根于不同群体的更广泛的价值观体系之中。一些民族有这样的传统，他们会怀疑现代社会对高效管理时间的执着。对他们来说，拖延不是一种问题，反倒是一种解决方法！
“如果不是现在，那是什么时候？”
当我们阅读《先祖伦理》――一本约编撰于公元200年的犹太道德教义精选集时，永恒的感觉 便会油然而生。此书不断建议读者不要拖延重要的职责。出生于约公元前100年的犹太学者希勒尔曾经说道：“不要说，‘当我有空时，我便会学习’，因为也许你会没空。”
守时是道德规范的核心，就像希勒尔所说过的，在整个犹太传统中都享负盛名的言论：“如果我不为自己，那谁会为我？但如果我只为自己，那我是谁？如果不是现在，那是什么时候？”
基督教的《圣经》中也有无数的箴言提及人类耽搁事情的长期倾向。耶稣曾在《以非所书》中教导道，与我们对手的和解应该马上进行，“不要等太阳下山了还只顾自己生气。”
综观这些古代资料，我们可以得知，拖延有损美德。知道什么是正确的还不够。人一定要通过自律去缩小善意与善行之间的距离。无论古今，都同样在理。
急于拖延
但是历史也向我们展现了不同文化之间的差异。时日变迁，社会各异，一个人的佳肴会变成另一个人的毒药。法语中表示“鱼”的单词便是“poisson”。谈及拖延，如果你想找到一个支持它的有趣说法，法国文化是一个很好的例子。
在旧政权的统治下，法国曾经是一个贵族社会。体力劳动是地位低下的标志。贵族的原本角色应该是武士阶级。但那是在中世纪时。在路易十四及其继位者的君主专制统治下，贵族成为一个有闲阶级，谦卑有礼、消费高雅是其特征。在1789年法国大革命之前，辛勤工 作及效率是资产阶级的特征，而不是文化精英的特征。
1789年到来之后，一切都变了样，一切又还是老样子。19世纪到20世纪，法国的马克思主义者、浪漫主义者以及无政府主义者谴责工业工厂的纪律性。贵族对工作的鄙视演变成对经济剥削的激进敌对态度。
法国人大卫?埃奎恩维尔最近将2011年3月26日命名为国际拖延日。互联网上流传着这样一个笑话，说拖延日原定是3月25日。《拖延日延迟到明天》，这是英国《每日电讯报》2011年4月3日的一则新闻标题。
埃奎恩维尔将旧贵族的传统态度以及当今法国知识分子对资本主义的敌意结合在一起，写了一本推崇拖延的宣传小册子――《拖延一天之宣言》。目前，这本手册只有法语版。出版商大肆宣传道：“我们应该尽快去阻延那些朝我们袭来的潮流趋势。拖延是一种怀疑及质疑那些大家不假思索便接受的效率标准的艺术。”