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Why are Adults so busy?

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Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#411

Post by dota_fanatic »

gglitch wrote: post #358
andai wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which system did you choose?

Emacs org-mode. You can write capture templates that populate the file of your choice with boilerplate of your specification, and you fill in the rest, and it's all tied to the keystroke of your choice. Then another keystroke of your choice pulls up lists of any or all of your captures, sorted chronologically or by category or both, and it's single keypresses to sort/resort into new categories. As with all things Ema…

Any chance you could share some of those templates / views, if possible? I've been learning Spacemacs, coming from Sublime + Vintageous, and it's been a blast, but I haven't cracked the org-mode nut quite yet. Email's in profile if you'd rather not be public about it. :)

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#412

Post by dwaltrip »

fit2rule wrote: post #79
jdimov10 wrote: post #13

The article doesn't really answer the question. It says adults are busy because they have too much stuff to do (duh..) But "why" is still a good question, and it remains unanswered. The answer is that, as we grow up, we tend to develop the belief that our well-being needs to be justified somehow. In other words, we start to believe that we are not by default worthy of living a good, joyful, care-free, abundant life..…

I think this is a wholly narcissistic point of view .. moreso, I believe that the reason adults are so busy is that they realize that none of the luxuries they've gained can be attained without the help of other people working for them and so in order to maintain a fair life, adults work just as hard as others need to - on average - in order to maintain civilized life. Where civilized life is defined in the regions b…

Not all luxuries are necessary or beneficial.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#413

Post by sapphireblue »

nradov wrote: post #266
sapphireblue wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also wonder how we manage to stay busy given that most home tasks (dishwashing, laundry, cleaning (roombas) and even cooking - see multicooker devices) are already automated, with "doing laundry" meaning merely loading and unloading the washing machine. I think you have a good point about idle time being gadgeted away. Also I think there is a tremendous potential in automation of physical labor (including remaining…

Dishwashers only save a little time. Most dishes still have to be rinsed in the sink first or else the leftover food plugs up the machine. And then putting away dishes takes just as much time. Doing laundry is a lot more than loading and unloading. If you have small children then you have to check everywhere for stains and apply something like Spray 'n Wash first. And then folding takes a lot of time. (There is a fol…

I think the problems you described could be solved if we made tiny adjustments to our lifestyles and environments to make it much easier for automated systems to navigate and interact with it. For example make a choice of not having rugs, having QR codes in rooms, having a track on the ladder in your home, etc. The clothing and dishes could be customized to faciliate handling as well.

It seems to me that western people have become too entrenched in their familiar lifestyle and it is too hard for current technology to adapt to it as is. And so we live in a status quo where a tiny rich minority can afford to hire human servants to do their chores while middle class can neither hire human servants nor buy robotic ones.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#414

Post by pravda »

nradov wrote: post #266
sapphireblue wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also wonder how we manage to stay busy given that most home tasks (dishwashing, laundry, cleaning (roombas) and even cooking - see multicooker devices) are already automated, with "doing laundry" meaning merely loading and unloading the washing machine. I think you have a good point about idle time being gadgeted away. Also I think there is a tremendous potential in automation of physical labor (including remaining…

Dishwashers only save a little time. Most dishes still have to be rinsed in the sink first or else the leftover food plugs up the machine. And then putting away dishes takes just as much time. Doing laundry is a lot more than loading and unloading. If you have small children then you have to check everywhere for stains and apply something like Spray 'n Wash first. And then folding takes a lot of time. (There is a fol…

>I've tried a couple of different Roombas. They simply don't work very well.

Your experience is much different from mine. I bought a Roomba, then bought another Roomba, because I realized I needed Roomba redundancy.

Could not imagine life without Roomba!

I don't have carpet and no rugs. On hard surfaces I find Roomba does a better job then manually sweeping. But maybe different with carpet.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#416

Post by dota_fanatic »

justinator wrote: post #397
anexprogrammer wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Self control vs £bns of advertising to give us new hangups and solutions. How's that working out for obesity?

I think it's important to realize that advertising is mostly lying. Once you realize that, you can be a much more careful purchaser of $stuff. Sure it takes time to figure out what you really need/want, but you've got a lifetime to do so. What is real, what is just some myth you've been following to make sense of the world (which does NOT make sense?) Sometimes you've gotta jump and latch onto another myth. > How's t…

Unfortunately, just because you know something is a lie, doesn't mean that that kills its power, especially if it was a very convincing, detailed, life-like lie. Our wetware isn't so advanced (simple?) as that; the consequences of sensory input on the subconscious are varied and complex.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#417

Post by nradov »

sapphireblue wrote: post #413
nradov wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dishwashers only save a little time. Most dishes still have to be rinsed in the sink first or else the leftover food plugs up the machine. And then putting away dishes takes just as much time. Doing laundry is a lot more than loading and unloading. If you have small children then you have to check everywhere for stains and apply something like Spray 'n Wash first. And then folding takes a lot of time. (There is a fol…

I think the problems you described could be solved if we made tiny adjustments to our lifestyles and environments to make it much easier for automated systems to navigate and interact with it. For example make a choice of not having rugs, having QR codes in rooms, having a track on the ladder in your home, etc. The clothing and dishes could be customized to faciliate handling as well. It seems to me that western peop…

I don't want to live in a world without rugs.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#418

Post by sapphireblue »

nradov wrote: post #417
sapphireblue wrote: post #413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the problems you described could be solved if we made tiny adjustments to our lifestyles and environments to make it much easier for automated systems to navigate and interact with it. For example make a choice of not having rugs, having QR codes in rooms, having a track on the ladder in your home, etc. The clothing and dishes could be customized to faciliate handling as well. It seems to me that western peop…

I don't want to live in a world without rugs.

Maybe it is possible to design a robot-friendly rug or a rug-friendly robot locomotion mechanics!

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#419

Post by Asooka »

anexprogrammer wrote: post #359
justinator wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So track record says whatever future inventions bring us > to save time, work (and chores) will expand to fill time > available, and we'll be even more fragmented, with even > more stuff. Well then, just don't buy the stuff! Exercise some self-control.

Self control vs £bns of advertising to give us new hangups and solutions. How's that working out for obesity?

Once you've been a functioning adult for long enough you realise the kind of trap advertising is and how you just don't need much stuff. Or not even that you don't need much stuff, the fact that stuff is a liability you have to take care of. Food for example - you can make things that take time, if you like... or you can buy chicken breast and frozen vegetables, throw them in a pan, cook food for a whole week in half an hour tops while you do other things. Is it bland? Yes. Does it cover all macros? Yes. Does it cover all micronutrients and vitamins? That's what Centrum &al. are for. Or maybe buy soylent - it's even blander, but even quicker. With age, my stomach is getting more and more upset at food that isn't sufficiently bland anyway, so it isn't a big loss.

Your apartment should be small enough that you can clean it quickly. If it's big, I hope you are living with a spouse and children. Also, get the parents to live with you and help with the children, that's how it's been done for centuries. That's pretty much the purpose of grandparents anyway.

It's a double-edged sword, I understand. Bigger social groups means less individual freedom in house matters, but more time for personal ones. There's a balance there to be found according to everyone's needs. However, it's not "living completely alone and doing everything by yourself". You can, but it's a miserable existence with way too much time taken by upkeep.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#420

Post by Programmatic »

branchless wrote: post #400
Tenhundfeld wrote: post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure it's different in different markets, different countries, etc. That said, I know several people who own multiple homes and lease them out. They often barely break even with mortgage payments, maintenance, dealing with deadbeat tenants, etc. Sure, once a house is paid off, they have a nice source of income, but they're taking a decent amount of risk having so much of their money tied up in such a limited numb…

> They often barely break even with mortgage payments, maintenance, dealing with deadbeat tenants, etc. Sure, once a house is paid off, they have a nice source of income So they get several hundred K for very little work that anyone could do. There is no risk with the central bank land ramping. In urban areas they are limiting supply, forcing up prices and taking labour. If someone does very little work and gets seve…

If it was free money, everybody would be doing it. If it has no downsides, what's stopping you?
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