lotus-eater

Unhappiness serves to provide this motivation, and it is therefore precisely that motivation which the lotus-eater machine removes.

So maybe becoming a lotus-eater would not have been that bad after all.

At least for me this was a well-written post that was very introspective and made me think about my own choices and if I was a lotus-eater or a pursuer of Ithaca!

Perhaps here the author is talking of a different type of "lotus-eater" - one who has become comfortable not taking risks, and live in the comfort of their company perks and just coast along without striving hard.

Don't accept a free $350 jacket if you don't want it, but if it's because you're too good for it and that anyone who accepts one is a "lotus-eater", don't be too surprised when that attitude doesn't win you any friends.

The question of why healthy people tend to be opposed to lotus-eating is also not difficult to answer, especially given that what TV Tropes calls the "Lotus-Eater Machine" has been constructed several times in reality, and its addictive nature and harmful effects well documented [1].

But I think the point being made is that eating the free-lunch makes you "weak" (weakens your resolve) on your journey towards your Ithaca -- illustrating exactly the point being made about being a "lotus-eater".

Somerset Maugham wrote a great short story - "The Lotus Eater" about a bank manager who earned a lot of money, then retired to an island of Capri to live comfortably off his savings - become a "lotus-eater".

Perhaps here the author is talking of a different type of "lotus-eater" - one who has become comfortable not taking risks, and live in the comfort of their company perks and just coast along without striving hard.

Don't accept a free $350 jacket if you don't want it, but if it's because you're too good for it and that anyone who accepts one is a "lotus-eater", don't be too surprised when that attitude doesn't win you any friends.

The question of why healthy people tend to be opposed to lotus-eating is also not difficult to answer, especially given that what TV Tropes calls the "Lotus-Eater Machine" has been constructed several times in reality, and its addictive nature and harmful effects well documented [1].

But I think the point being made is that eating the free-lunch makes you "weak" (weakens your resolve) on your journey towards your Ithaca -- illustrating exactly the point being made about being a "lotus-eater".