Watching “Waking Life” I came across an interesting question:

There are two kinds of sufferers in this world: those who suffer from a lack of life, and those who suffer from an over-abundance of life. I have always found myself in the second category. When you come to think of it, almost all human behavior and activity is not, essentially, any different from animal behavior. The most advanced technologies and craftsmanship bring us, at best, up to the super-chimpanzee level. Actually, the gap between, say, Plato or Nietzsche, and the average human is greater than the gap between that chimpanzee and the average human. The realm of the real spirit, the true artist, the saint, the philosopher, is rarely achieved. Why so few? Why is world history and evolution not stories of progress, rather this endless and futile addition of zeros? No greater values have developed. Hell, the Greeks 3,000 years ago were just as advanced as we are. So what are these barriers that keep people from reaching anywhere near their real potential. The answer to that can be found in another question, and that’s this: which is the most universal human characteristic: fear or laziness?

Searching for answers, here are some answers from net:

It’s the laziness that gets me.
If I didn’t procrastinate, it would be amazing what I could do.
How many Plato’s and Nietzsche’s have been forgotten; their legacy lost? Even worse, how many have been repressed and actively tortured for their ‘heresy’?
Laziness is definitely a symptom of fear; fear of unrewarded effort, fear of failure, fear of what’s outside, fear of rejection. All things that keep people in front of the TV where life is safe and empty and you can hide from the world and hope nobody notices.

Most of us aren’t taught to think like the philosopher, the saint, etc. We are influenced by the media, impressing our parents, and peer pressure. If we can’t get beyond those things, how can we learn to be introspective and self-knowing, and learn the things we need to know to make this life more valuable to live?