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"Don't you dare waste your fucking time"

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Re: "Don't you dare waste your fucking time"

#71

Post by benmathes »

F_J_H wrote: post #20

Reminds me of "Instantes" by Jorge Luis Borges: If I were able to live my life anew, In the next I would try to commit more errors. I would not try to be so perfect, I would relax more. I would be more foolish than I've been, In fact, I would take few things seriously. I would be less hygienic. I would run more risks, take more vacations, contemplate more sunsets, climb more mountains, swim more rivers. I would go to…

That's it. I'm buying winter gear and going skiing again for the first time in 10 years. I'm a YSP-ie (s for Silly valley), damnit, not a broke-ass grad student anymore.

I miss the mountains.

Re: "Don't you dare waste your fucking time"

#72

Post by koningrobot »

keeptrying wrote: post #36

People have pointed out in this discussion that its hard to actually live a meaningful life. Especially in the US it can be hard to learn how to lead one. I've been delving into Buddhism over the last 5 months because of a family situation of mine that I have had to deal with and I think to be able to live a meaningful life all you have to do is help someone else who: 1. Really needs your help. 2. Can do nothing (by…

To have a kid is to create such a person who really needs your help, can do nothing in return, and needs help on a continual basis. This is a horrible thing to do! Not to mention that those created will most likely do the same thing in turn, reinforcing the vicious cycle.

You don't quite seem to be advising people to lead a meaningful life by having kids, but it's close. Your recommendation to help people in need who are already born, though, is sound.

Re: "Don't you dare waste your fucking time"

#74

Post by jongraehl »

zackattack wrote: post #41
anatoly wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry to butt in all pedantic, but I was unable to confirm that Borges wrote this poem (it's usually presented as a poem), and found a few online conversations where it's claimed it has been attributed to several different writers and is of uncertain authorship.

For some reason this comment bothers me, mostly because it's something that I do. I will often interrupt a beautiful moment with some irrelevant fact or correction. I notice that I always apologize for it, either politely like you did, or just in my head. Man to man, let's be honest, is it worth it?

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty" ... there sure are many who would rather believe some pretty fiction true, than appreciate that most of the best things we imagine aren't real.

The process by which I imagine attractive urban legends and inauthentic quotes being engineered is one of deliberate dishonesty (though of course some are honest errors), and it disgusts me. e.g. "you cannot fool all the people all the time, ..." - not Abraham Lincoln, "the price of liberty is eternal vigilance" - not Thomas Jefferson.

There's some step involved where a quoter thinks "this is beautiful/true; I want to share it" and then decides it would make more of a splash if it were branded with a Respected Name, and that repulses me.

Re: "Don't you dare waste your fucking time"

#75

Post by jongraehl »

wallflower wrote: post #40
scotth wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or realize that these moments are just part of a relationship's ebb and flow. To have someone die during the low point doesn't erase all the previous positive experiences.

I understand where you are coming from. But I think it is quite another thing to actually experience.

I have a hard time believing that she won't get over it. But who knows, people are crazy.

Re: "Don't you dare waste your fucking time"

#76

Post by F_J_H »

benmathes wrote: post #71
F_J_H wrote: post #20

Reminds me of "Instantes" by Jorge Luis Borges: If I were able to live my life anew, In the next I would try to commit more errors. I would not try to be so perfect, I would relax more. I would be more foolish than I've been, In fact, I would take few things seriously. I would be less hygienic. I would run more risks, take more vacations, contemplate more sunsets, climb more mountains, swim more rivers. I would go to…

That's it. I'm buying winter gear and going skiing again for the first time in 10 years. I'm a YSP-ie (s for Silly valley), damnit, not a broke-ass grad student anymore. I miss the mountains.

Awesome! I did something similar over the past 2 years - I bought a couple of motor bikes (one off-road and one dual sport) and decided to get back into riding since I enjoyed it so much as a kid. Just got back from a trip in the Baja an had a blast!

Last summer, I also took my Dad on a trip where we rented a couple of Harleys and rode the PCH from S.F. to L.A. and then back to S.F on a more inland route (btw I am so jealous of those of you living in CA!). I can’t believe I waited so long to get back into something I loved so much...should have done it years ago.

Re: "Don't you dare waste your fucking time"

#77

Post by kiddo »

tpyo wrote: post #51
mildweed wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then write essays that matter. Every assignment is an opportunity for greatness. The same is true after school too; every project is an opportunity for greatness.

That's what I usually try to do. It's the ones on literature that get me. There's not much to be said about a play by Shakespeare.

Are you serious? Not much to be said about a play by Shakespeare? Maybe you should try re-reading one.

Re: "Don't you dare waste your fucking time"

#78

Post by Evgeny »

illumin8 wrote: post #37
megamark16 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This might sound lame but for me it's Twitter. I'm back on Weight Watchers try to drop the 20 pounds I put over the holidays and new year, so I'm tweeting my weigh ins every Friday. I slipped up a little yesterday; everybody at work brought in their superbowl leftovers. But you can bet that I'm back on today, because I'd really like to have something positive to tweet about Friday, and "the whole world" is watching :…

If you really want to understand why it's difficult to lose weight, and "hack" your body like you hack on computers, I highly recommend a book called Ultrametabolism by Dr. Mark Hyman. In the last 3 months I've lost 20 pounds, just by doing mainly these 3 things: 1. Eat breakfast every day, and make sure it has protein. 2. Eat only whole grains and no refined flour, pasta, and avoid simple carbs. 3. Eat plenty of fat…

This is the diet that humans evolved on, whole grains, fresh vegetables, fruits, and lean meats.

I don't think that humans could evolve on whole grains because these only became available with the invention of agriculture sometime between 10 and 20 K years ago.

Also, some studies link the spread of agriculture to the huge drop in human health. That's why I personally removed all grains from my diet completely.

As for the rest of the post, I completely agree.

Edit: found a couple of links

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/03/paleopathology... http://www.environnement.ens.fr/perso/claessen/agriculture/m...

Re: "Don't you dare waste your fucking time"

#79

Post by scott_s »

Confusion wrote: post #68
scott_s wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As wallflower said, try experiencing it. You're giving a rational explanation that is probably correct. But emotions are not rational, and I know I would probably be devastated if that happened to me. (Then again, I don't get into shouting matches.)

You don't need to experience a particular kind of situation to know in what entirely different ways people can respond to situations. Moreover, I don't think of my comment as a 'rational explanation'. I don't just think you can think about a situation in multiple ways, I am sure that you should feel about a situation in multiple ways. Being able to see, and choosing to feel, the brightest side in each situation is th…

With time, sure. But even the first few years, I'd expect most people would feel bad about it. I don't see any cultural influence in that. It's how we work.

Re: "Don't you dare waste your fucking time"

#80

Post by Psyonic »

keeptrying wrote: post #28
philk wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very interesting point. I think one has to be aware of one's inbuilt limitations; it's not possible to be doing meaningful stuff all the time as you'll burn out. Hence it might be better to simply aim for a somewhat meaningful life; choose a goal you think is worthwhile and do something towards it every single day. Over time, if it's making progress and bringing you a measure of happiness you can slowly tweak your li…

Supporting an underpriveleged childs college education for 4 yeas in engineering or medical school is meaningful work. Its costs only $2000. Give a bit every month and your doing meaningful (really meaningful) work. http://www.ffe.org Whatever you do is meaningful as long as it helps someone.

Unless they go on to have a meaningful life, why is helping them meaningful? I don't mean to be argumentative, I'm just curious.
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