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Q. What lies under the character trait of carelessness? What
causes it? What are the things that characterize this
character trait?
A. The careless person is a negligent person. The personality
trait of carelessness, a tendency toward negligence, is
generally associated with a large cluster of other tendencies.
They form a type of personality. For insight let us first
consider the following dictionary definitions:
Careless. Not done with care; neglectful.
Negligent. Habitually neglecting to do what ought to be done;
neglectful.
Frivolous. Inclined to levity; not serious; silly; fickle.
Lazy. Unwilling to work or engage in energetic activity;
indolent; slothful.
Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary
For more insight let us now refer to Roget's International
Thesaurus. The following are traits that are often associated
with carelessness
Carelessness, negligence, laxness, heedlessness,
disregardfulness, thoughtlessness, indifference,
unconscientiousness, unmeticulousness, slovenliness
Impulsiveness, impetuousness, thoughtlessness, undeliberateness
Unconcerned, indifferent, not care, not give a damn,
easygoing, devil-may-care
Easygoing, remiss, lax, procrastinating
Inattentive, heedless, unobserving, undiscerning, unperceiving,
unreflecting, incurious, uninquisitive, uninquiring
Thoughtless, scatterbrained, brainless, emptyheaded, witless
Frivolous, shallow, superficial, featherbrained, birdwitted
Undisciplined, capricious, whimsical, erratic
Lazy, indolent, remiss, lax, slothful
Untidy, negligent, careless, slipshod, slovenly, messy,
disorderly, unmethodical, unsystematic
Let us pick some words from above: Frivolous, shallow,
undisciplined, capricious, thoughtless, easygoing, unconcerned.
What causes the character trait of carelessness? We can get
insight from Aristotle. According to Aristotle a character
trait is caused by repeatedly doing some particular thing.
With repetition it becomes a habit, a character trait. Take
the character trait of laziness as an example. A person
acquires the character trait of laziness by repeatedly taking
the route of avoiding work, of repeatedly ignoring the voice of
conscience, intellect, prudence in regard to what he ought to
do. He has developed the habit of taking the easy road in
regard to work. He just avoids it. By repeatedly doing this
it becomes a way of thinking, a way of dealing with life. Now
a person who is careless, or negligent, is one who habitually
doesn't do the things he ought to do. He is untidy. The house
is a disaster, in total disarray. He doesn't put anything
away. What explanation can you give for this kind of behavior?
Could the explanation lie in that character trait that we call
laziness? Could it be that he is just lazy? Why doesn't he
put things away? It is too much trouble. He doesn't want to
go to the trouble of putting them away. It is just too much
bother. And there is a problem, an obstacle. He doesn't know
where to put them. He has accumulated so much stuff his
storage spaces are all full. Nor does he want to go to the
trouble of figuring out the best way of solving the problem.
Of organizing and storing them, or where to store them. That
requires the activity called thinking. He is averse to that.
Thinking, analyzing, figuring things out is just not one of his
specialties. It is too much trouble, too much work. It is
just an activity he shys away from. So when he changes his
clothes he just throws the old ones in a pile on a chair. He
has no self-discipline. He is impulsive. He does whatever he
wishes. He buys this and he buys that, whatever his heart
desires. He has a whole lot of stuff and no place to keep it.
So his stuff is strewn all over the house in piles. He is just
not a methodical person, never has been one. His mind just
doesn't work that way. Organizing things requires thought, not
one of his specialties. He is not lazy in everything. He is
not lazy in doing things he enjoys doing. He has plenty of
energy for doing things that give him pleasure. He can show a
lot of perseverance in doing things he likes to do, wants to
do. But with regard to drab, mundane tasks that give him no
pleasure, he is very procrastinating, dilatory and foot-
dragging. He is impulse oriented, mood oriented, feeling
oriented. He doesn't do what he doesn't want to do. He just
habitually avoids doing things that he doesn't feel like doing.
It is a way of life for him. Confusion and disarray don't
bother him at all. It is a way of life. He doesn't deal with
basic problems at their root. He just lives with them.
Now, for added insight, let us consider the opposite character
trait from carelessness: carefulness. Consider the following
dictionary definitions:
Careful. Exercising care in one's work; thorough; painstaking.
Conscientious. 1. Governed by or done in accordance with
conscience; scrupulous. 2. Careful and thorough; painstaking.
Honest. Not given to lying, cheating, stealing, etc.; acting
honorably and justly; trustworthy.
Serious. Grave and earnest in quality, feeling, or disposition;
thoughtful; sober.
Syn. Serious, earnest and sober are compared as they
characterize persons. A serious person is not frivolous, but
diligent in work, and always mindful of his responsibilities as
a parent, citizen, employee, etc. Earnest adds a note of zeal,
sincerity, and perseverance to serious, and so is generally a
stronger word. The sober person is calm and composed, and not
easily excited.
Industrious. Characterized by or showing assiduity in work or
effort; hard-working; diligent.
Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary
From Roget's International Thesaaurus we get:
Honesty, integrity, probity, conscientiousness, scrupulousness,
high principles, moral strength, trustworthiness, reliability,
dependability
Seriousness, earnestness, purposefulness, resolution,
determination, resolve, will power, moral fiber, self-control,
self-discipline, self-denial, self-reliance
Industrious, assiduous, diligent, energetic, hardworking
We see now that the honest, conscientious, serious, hardworking
type of person has something in him that the careless,
indifferent, negligent person doesn't have. What is it? It is
something inside himself that requires him to do the right
thing, the honest thing, the intelligent thing. He has that
voice within that tells him how he ought to act - and he obeys
that voice. He is a person who habitually obeys the voice of
Conscience, Reason, and Prudence within. He does what he knows
he should do even though it may require a lot of work and be
hard. He habitually takes the high road even though it may be
the hard road. He is not daunted by difficulty. He does the
right thing. He is a person of integrity. He has a self-
discipline and moral strength that the careless person doesn't
have. The careless, negligent person who takes the easy, lazy
path in doing things reveals a lack of integrity that will
likely reveal itself in other ways as well. See
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