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Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

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Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#112

Post by motiw »

My personal realization that Evolution is the other “theory of everything”, with the exception of the laws of physics, evolutionary processes are shaping everything, including progress in science, economy, history, politics, ideas, social, emotions, religion, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#113

Post by soneca »

fredsir wrote: post #83
soneca wrote: post #18

News == entertainment. Originally by Aaron Swartz http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/hatethenews Although I have slightly different takes from his and the level of avoiding the news might be different too, but the core idea that I follow these days is there. I used to think following the news was a mix of my duty as a citizen and important for my life, personal and professional. Now I believe it's quite the opposite, I be…

I'd like to hear more about how you have implemented this. Do you not read any news? Some? How do you find out what's going on? I've been dabbling with this too, and my current state is that I don't consume any news or social media (twitter) that I cannot consume via my RSS reader, which in practical terms means I don't subscribe to any major news outlets, but instead subscribe to a smaller newspaper in my country th…

It's not hard for me. I have a very low fear of missing out.

I do end up consuming news, but always either through some sort of filter or directly (rarely), but realizing the role of entertainment in whatever I am watching.

I use Twitter a lot, but I follow people who mostly don't replicate the news. I try to follow people that say interesting things.

I read Hacker News a lot, but there is the explicitly idea to not replicate mainstream news here, so another good filter.

I use Whatsapp a lot, but I am only in groups with friends and family, so another source of news, but filtered by people I care about. Maybe luckily, or even by my influence, these few groups are not just spamming news to me.

I am not against the news, I don't particularly "hate" the news.

I do inform myself through podcasts, a few that talk about books for example, so it is another filter to consume the news.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#114

Post by krapp »

kleer001 wrote: post #99
krapp wrote: post #73

God's not real. We're just apes whose ancestors caught a lucky break when an asteroid flattened the dinosaurs 60 million years ago. We shouldn't even be here.

Not a literal actor in time/space, for certain. That said I've come around to the usefulness of deification of ideals and the idea that not every moment should be lived in object-space, but also in drama-space.

>That said I've come around to the usefulness of deification of ideals and the idea that not every moment should be lived in object-space, but also in drama-space.

I can agree with that.

God as an idea is real in the abstract sense that all powerful ideas are real, and people believe in them, and treat them as real.

But as someone who was raised in a (Christian, US Southern) religious background, I've come to believe that everything wrong with religion comes from taking it literally.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#117

Post by mmsimanga »

soneca wrote: post #113
fredsir wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to hear more about how you have implemented this. Do you not read any news? Some? How do you find out what's going on? I've been dabbling with this too, and my current state is that I don't consume any news or social media (twitter) that I cannot consume via my RSS reader, which in practical terms means I don't subscribe to any major news outlets, but instead subscribe to a smaller newspaper in my country th…

It's not hard for me. I have a very low fear of missing out. I do end up consuming news, but always either through some sort of filter or directly (rarely), but realizing the role of entertainment in whatever I am watching. I use Twitter a lot, but I follow people who mostly don't replicate the news. I try to follow people that say interesting things. I read Hacker News a lot, but there is the explicitly idea to not…

I would like to echo WhatsApp groups as a news source. I don't own a TV, don't do twitter and keep Facebook for the odd monthly visit. WhatsApp groups keep informed. The best group is my the one made up of people who went to same boarding school. What's great about this group is you get both sides of the story without anyone leaving in huff. Somewhere down the middle is the real news. I find you can't have similarly discussions out in the open.

Re: Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

#118

Post by dang »

bananamerica wrote: post #46
dorkwood wrote: post #6

Nick Cave, on writer's block: "My advice to you is to change your basic relationship to songwriting. You are not the ‘Great Creator’ of your songs, you are simply their servant, and the songs will come to you when you have adequately prepared yourself to receive them. They are not inside you, unable to get out; rather, they are outside of you, unable to get in." https://www.theredhandfiles.com/do-u-have-any-spare-lyr…

I cannot fathom how this metaphysics would help me at all. And I’m both religious and a film major/screenwriter.

It might be more helpful to call it a metaphor. Metaphors can be powerful for reframing one's thinking, dropping limiting assumptions, even reorienting how the body relates to a habitual activity.
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