Hello. This is 6 Minute English from
BBC Learning English. I’m Beth.
And I’m Neil. Phew! I've spent all day in meetings,
then shopping, then collecting the kids from school - I'm
exhausted, Beth! What have you been doing today?
Oh, not much, just sitting around doing
nothing… relaxing and kicking back! Lucky you! Don’t you have work to do?
It may not look it, Neil, but I’m actually as
busy as a bee! If you’ve seen nature documentaries
about worker bees flying from flower to flower,
you probably think animals are always on the move.
But the surprising truth is, away from the cameras,
most animals spend most of the time doing absolutely nothing at all.
In the natural world where finding food and shelter
is hard work, why have some animals evolved to do nothing?
And if it’s good enough for animals, would being lazy work
for humans too? That’s what we will be discussing in this
programme, and as usual, we’ll be learning some
useful new vocabulary as well. But first, let me work up the energy to ask you
a question, Neil. Of course, some animals have
a reputation for lounging about – lions, for example,
can sleep up to twenty hours a day! But what is the
slowest moving animal on Earth? Is it: a) the giant tortoise
b) the three-toed sloth or c) the koala?
Well, I think it’s the three-toed sloth.
OK, Neil. I’ll reveal the correct answer at the end
of the programme. Now it’s no surprise that lazy lions
love relaxing, but even animals with reputations for
being busy spend time doing nothing. Look carefully
into an ant's nest and you’ll see around half
of them just sitting there motionless.
Here’s Professor Dan Charbonneau, an expert in insect
behaviour, discussing the lazy rock ant with Emily Knight,
presenter of BBC Radio 4 programme, Naturebang.
Dan’s research has focused on ant colonies, a species
called temnothorax rugatulus or the rock ant.
I think ants are a symbol of industriousness, you know,
they have this whole tiny little society going on that's
kind of similar to ours… some idealised version what
humans might be if we could only pull it together and
all work together we could be as industrious as
the ants, but then when you look at it, roughly about
half the colony is inactive at any given time.
We think ants are industrious, or hard-working.
Groups of ants, called colonies, seem tiny,
perfect societies where everyone works
hard for the good of the group. Then why are so many of them inactive?
One possible answer is that they’re reserve ants,
ready to step in if disease or disaster strike.
But could it simply be that they don’t work
because they don’t need to. Would you get out
of bed on Monday morning if you didn’t have to? Maybe the ants can teach us a thing or
two about relaxing. But wouldn't it get
boring just sitting around all day? Not according to psychologist, Dr Sandi Mann.
She thinks being productive – working to produce
a lot for the amount of resources we use,
is overrated. Boredom has its benefits too,
as she explains to BBC Radio 4 programme, Naturebang.
Would humans have invented bread or beer or fire,
you know, if we hadn't been bored and were wondering,
‘what on earth would happen if we mix this with this?’,
you know. Are all these sorts of
inventions the mother of boredom? But in this world of constant stimulation
switching off is harder than it's ever been. That's why we're constantly swiping and scrolling
and looking for the next big thing, and the
new thing and we bored of things very quickly… so
it's a kind of paradox to get rid of this unpleasant
state of boredom is actually to
allow more boredom into your life. Dr Mann doubts humans would have invented
things without the curiosity that comes from being
bored. Boredom is the mother of invention,
an idea based on the famous proverb, necessity is
the mother of invention, an idiom meaning that if
you really need to do something,
you will think of a way of doing it. Instead of fearing boredom we can open up to its
benefits by switching off - stopping worrying or
thinking about something and relaxing. Slowing down
helps too - something we can definitely
learn from our animal cousins. I think now’s a good time to reveal the answer to
my question, since we have nothing else to do.
You asked me to name the world’s slowest animal and
I guessed it was the three-toed sloth. Was I right?
That was the correct answer! With a top speed
of 30 centimetres per minute, three-toed sloths move
so slowly that algae grow on their coats!
OK, let's recap the vocabulary that we've learned
from this programme starting with the
phrase kicking back – stop doing things
and relax completely.
The adjective industrious means hard-working. A colony is the name given to a group of certain
animals including ants and some seabirds. Someone who is productive is able to produce
a lot for the amount of resources they use. The proverb necessity is the mother of invention,
means that if you really need to do something,
you will think of a way of doing it. And finally, to switch off means to stop worrying
or thinking about something and relax. Once again,
our six minutes are up – it must be time to sit down,
close your eyes, and just do nothing! Goodbye for now!
Bye!