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What should I do with my life?

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Re: What should I do with my life?

#21

Post by joeyo »

fnid2 wrote: post #11
euroclydon wrote: post #2

I think it's evil the amount of energy and resources that go into creating unnecessary desires in people in order to cultivate a consumer class. It's time to reap the benefits of our technological advancements, by working shorter weeks, finding less expensive ways to build shelter (houses), and becoming more proficient in local food generation.

Ways to do these things have been around for decades, but it's not in the interest of the producers of homes and employers to do them. Look into some of the inventions by R. Buckminster Fuller. He invented a house that cost thousands, easily transported, made of aluminum, and sturdy, but it never caught on. Probably because he didn't spend time marketing it, but the mobile home and large home manufacturing companies…

  Evolution contradicts the desire for smaller.
This is not strictly speaking true. There are ecosystems that favor smaller animals/traits. Islands, for example.

Re: What should I do with my life?

#22

Post by quickpost »

goatforce5 wrote: post #4

Oooh. Po Bronson is probably my favourite author. There's something about his writing style that pushes my buttons. It's probably worth nothing that he used to do a lot of writing for Wired magazine (eg http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/6.12/hotmale.html ) and his second novel, The First $20m Is Always The Hardest, was about a startup ( http://pobronson.com/index_first_20_million.htm ). His site has lots of excerpts…

I also loved Bombardiers. Great book that didn't get a lot of traction - highly recommend it for anyone considering a career in finance.

Re: What should I do with my life?

#23

Post by eavc »

euroclydon wrote: post #2

I think it's evil the amount of energy and resources that go into creating unnecessary desires in people in order to cultivate a consumer class. It's time to reap the benefits of our technological advancements, by working shorter weeks, finding less expensive ways to build shelter (houses), and becoming more proficient in local food generation.

I sympathize with this view, but the problem is, all it takes is someone else willing to work longer hours in the same role to make you undesirable as an employee.

Re: What should I do with my life?

#24

Post by goatforce5 »

quickpost wrote: post #22
goatforce5 wrote: post #4

Oooh. Po Bronson is probably my favourite author. There's something about his writing style that pushes my buttons. It's probably worth nothing that he used to do a lot of writing for Wired magazine (eg http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/6.12/hotmale.html ) and his second novel, The First $20m Is Always The Hardest, was about a startup ( http://pobronson.com/index_first_20_million.htm ). His site has lots of excerpts…

I also loved Bombardiers. Great book that didn't get a lot of traction - highly recommend it for anyone considering a career in finance.

It came out at the wrong time - people didn't want to believe that the financial industry was screwed up. If it got re-released now (or if someone finally made a movie of it) people would probably be more receptive.

Pointless anecdote: went to see him give a talk a few years back in London. I bought his new book, got him to sign it, and then whipped out my first edition hardback of Bombardiers that I picked up in Oz years previously. He seemed surprised(/touched) to see it, we had a little chat, and then he wrote a genuinely nice message in the book.

He's totally a class act.

Re: What should I do with my life?

#25

Post by lionhearted »

euroclydon wrote: post #2

I think it's evil the amount of energy and resources that go into creating unnecessary desires in people in order to cultivate a consumer class. It's time to reap the benefits of our technological advancements, by working shorter weeks, finding less expensive ways to build shelter (houses), and becoming more proficient in local food generation.

> It's time to reap the benefits of our technological advancements, by working shorter weeks, finding less expensive ways to build shelter (houses), and becoming more proficient in local food generation.

There's nothing stopping you from doing all those things right now. It'll take a little creativity, but they've all been done already in various places so you've got a blueprint on how to do it. For my part, I'm more interested in working lots of hours on really fascinating projects, taking shelter/housing in different places while staying mobile, and so I've got different goals. But you can go after yours right now - nothing is stopping you, in fact, they've all been done before so there's already a reasonable roadmap on how you can do it.

Re: What should I do with my life?

#26

Post by hugh3 »

fnid2 wrote: post #11
euroclydon wrote: post #2

I think it's evil the amount of energy and resources that go into creating unnecessary desires in people in order to cultivate a consumer class. It's time to reap the benefits of our technological advancements, by working shorter weeks, finding less expensive ways to build shelter (houses), and becoming more proficient in local food generation.

Ways to do these things have been around for decades, but it's not in the interest of the producers of homes and employers to do them. Look into some of the inventions by R. Buckminster Fuller. He invented a house that cost thousands, easily transported, made of aluminum, and sturdy, but it never caught on. Probably because he didn't spend time marketing it, but the mobile home and large home manufacturing companies…

Look into some of the inventions by R. Buckminster Fuller. He invented a house that cost thousands, easily transported, made of aluminum, and sturdy, but it never caught on. Probably because he didn't spend time marketing it, but the mobile home and large home manufacturing companies did.

Or else it didn't catch on because people didn't like living in them. I assume you're talking about this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymaxion_house

Evolution contradicts the desire for smaller. Consider Peacock tails, the longer they are and the fuller they are, the more likely they are to mate, because peahens like them -- even though rationally, they increase the likelihood of death to predator.

This kind of crazy peacock behaviour is the exception rather than the rule among animals, though, which is why peacocks are so noteworthy. If pigeons had vast feathered tails too you might have a point.

Similarly, it takes a lot of "strength" to maintain a large expensive home and accumulate a lot of unnecessary stuff and the chicks dig it. A guy with a fast car, excessive spending, and flashy clothes will go home from the bar with a girl before the geek with meek clothes and spending way below his means -- even if he is 1000x smarter than the flashy guy.

You sound very convinced that intelligence is what women should be selecting for, rather than being one of many traits that is nice to have in a potential partner.

Personally I'd work hard to live in a big fancy house and drive a cool fast car even if there were no women in the world, because I just like 'em.

Re: What should I do with my life?

#27

Post by mortenjorck »

tjr wrote: post #20
billswift wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

False dichotomy. If you start taking responsibility one step earlier, you realize it is your responsibility not to let yourself get put in that position, that is, to an extent, you chose to let him put that gun to your head.

Ostensibly, yes, but it was the other person's choice to produce the gun and raise it. To ensure total avoidance of such situations, you would have to make sure you never come into contact with any armed Pringles advertisers, and since you never know for sure who or where they are, you would have to live your life in complete physical solitude.

This is probably one of the wilder hypothetical tangents I've read in awhile.

Re: What should I do with my life?

#28

Post by Psyonic »

hugh3 wrote: post #26
fnid2 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ways to do these things have been around for decades, but it's not in the interest of the producers of homes and employers to do them. Look into some of the inventions by R. Buckminster Fuller. He invented a house that cost thousands, easily transported, made of aluminum, and sturdy, but it never caught on. Probably because he didn't spend time marketing it, but the mobile home and large home manufacturing companies…

Look into some of the inventions by R. Buckminster Fuller. He invented a house that cost thousands, easily transported, made of aluminum, and sturdy, but it never caught on. Probably because he didn't spend time marketing it, but the mobile home and large home manufacturing companies did. Or else it didn't catch on because people didn't like living in them. I assume you're talking about this: http://en.wikipedia.org/…

At least you think you would. I'm not saying you're wrong, or that I know you better than you know yourself (I definitely don't), but sometimes its hard to separate what you "like" from what is culturally sexually driven. Or rephrased, why do you like them? How did that come to pass? They came from the culture, which values them for reasons that benefit sexual reproduction, etc. If that wasn't an issue, society likely wouldn't value them, they'd stop being a status symbol, and you may no longer "just like them."

We all like to think our personal likes and desires are entirely our own creation, but this is a fantasy.

Edit: the fast car you still might like, as it has utility (getting places quickly), but a house beyond a reasonable size has little utility beyond status.

Re: What should I do with my life?

#29

Post by uspatentpending »

fnid2 wrote: post #11
euroclydon wrote: post #2

I think it's evil the amount of energy and resources that go into creating unnecessary desires in people in order to cultivate a consumer class. It's time to reap the benefits of our technological advancements, by working shorter weeks, finding less expensive ways to build shelter (houses), and becoming more proficient in local food generation.

Ways to do these things have been around for decades, but it's not in the interest of the producers of homes and employers to do them. Look into some of the inventions by R. Buckminster Fuller. He invented a house that cost thousands, easily transported, made of aluminum, and sturdy, but it never caught on. Probably because he didn't spend time marketing it, but the mobile home and large home manufacturing companies…

tl;dr -- Evolutionary forces are far more complex and do not always select for strength over intelligence.

Evolution != bigger && stronger. If this were true, why aren't there still brontosaurus-sized creatures on land?

The truth is evolution selects the best adaptation for the specific ecosystem. Depending on the ecosystem, this could mean all sorts of adaptations, including more advanced intelligence and less advanced physical prowess, which is what happened with humans.

Your assertion that it takes too much time to evaluate intelligence is also not realistic. People spend years selecting mates, and there is nothing wrong with this. The average lifespan is 72-76 years and a good portion of that is fertile. We have plenty of time to select a mate and still have children to progress the genes.

Re: What should I do with my life?

#30

Post by Psyonic »

theorique wrote: post #15
fnid2 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ways to do these things have been around for decades, but it's not in the interest of the producers of homes and employers to do them. Look into some of the inventions by R. Buckminster Fuller. He invented a house that cost thousands, easily transported, made of aluminum, and sturdy, but it never caught on. Probably because he didn't spend time marketing it, but the mobile home and large home manufacturing companies…

"A guy with a fast car, excessive spending, and flashy clothes will go home from the bar with a girl before the geek with meek clothes and spending way below his means -- even if he is 1000x smarter than the flashy guy. It simply takes too long to evaluate intelligence and that increased time to analyze the male by the female means the males could die." This presupposes that women are selecting specifically for intel…

Women heavily select for intelligence when choosing egg donors. Eggs from high SAT donors go for many times more than normal. Then again, choosing an egg donor is much more cerebral than choosing a man. Not nearly as hormonal as sex.
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