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How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

nytimes.com

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Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#91

Post by nimonian »

mrhappyunhappy wrote: post #18
FerretFred wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we unlearn how to simply sit and be bored Yup.. personally I somehow feel it's "wrong" that I sit there and do nothing on the rare occasion I get the opportunity.

There are times when I just want to sit or lay down and do nothing but my wife wont let me. When asked about her problem with this, she says it’s lazy not to do anything. Somehow doing nothing is wrong and everyone is conditioned to judge you for it.

It's funny how couples' attitudes to idleness can conflict like this. I spent a good few years at the beginning of my relationship with my now wife defending my right to not appear to be doing anything. It took a long time for us to understand each other, and I think the hardest thing was feeling judged for simply being oneself and not performing in some way. Being alone and idle is a huge part of what makes me me.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#92

Post by Cerium »

novaleaf wrote: post #77
agentultra wrote: post #60

Doing nothing is how I often stayed productive. I used to be able to stay and think about something for hours. If I encountered something difficult I would go for a walk or take a nap. Now that I've been forced, at work, to use Slack day in and out -- I feel like I can't spend 5 minutes without flipping to another window, checking this, checking that. It's counter productive and feels like torture. I get a hangover f…

somewhat similar: I used to occupy all my "down time" with podcasts or audiobooks. While mildly interesting, I found that it removes all "cognitive introspection" opportunities, so that the only time available for tat is when I'm trying to fall asleep (meaning I had trouble falling asleep!) So over the last few months I've stopped audiobooks and podcasts (I already don't watch TV). Kind of counter intuitively, I find…

Very interesting observation. I started listening to audiobooks during my commute and have had more trouble sleeping recently. I chalked it up to overall stress, but now that I think of it, I used to spend that time thinking.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#93

Post by filoleg »

novaleaf wrote: post #77
agentultra wrote: post #60

Doing nothing is how I often stayed productive. I used to be able to stay and think about something for hours. If I encountered something difficult I would go for a walk or take a nap. Now that I've been forced, at work, to use Slack day in and out -- I feel like I can't spend 5 minutes without flipping to another window, checking this, checking that. It's counter productive and feels like torture. I get a hangover f…

somewhat similar: I used to occupy all my "down time" with podcasts or audiobooks. While mildly interesting, I found that it removes all "cognitive introspection" opportunities, so that the only time available for tat is when I'm trying to fall asleep (meaning I had trouble falling asleep!) So over the last few months I've stopped audiobooks and podcasts (I already don't watch TV). Kind of counter intuitively, I find…

>I find this "REAL down time" combined with other physical activities such as jogging and a few minutes of gardening each day provides me with greater self-control.

I find it really interesting you mention gardening, because I've found that doing dishes has the same effect on me. I can just stand in front of the sink, wash the dishes, and introspect on things and let the mind wander. By the end of it, I get a dopamine hit from accomplishing a useful task with immediate visible results, as well as a relaxed state of mind.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#95

Post by sizzle »

threwawasy1228 wrote: post #71
superkuh wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The hardest part of doing nothing is learning to live with all the people who can't. Very true. Network effect doesn't only have effects online. I've missed out on quite a bit of real life socialization (friends, community, and business) because I never signed up for Facebook and refuse to carry a cell phone. At least in the last few years people are coming around on Facebook but I still get weird responses to not…

I think the more annoying part is being out in public, there is a vast decline in basic human interaction in places that are meant specifically for that purpose even. It is much harder to meet new people at a bar for example than it was even 5 years ago. The difference is dramatic. How are you supposed to meet strangers and have interesting conversation when they won't look up long enough to see that you are attempti…

Quite frankly, I wouldn't want to meet those people. I'm looking for the ones that do the opposite, greet you with a smile and can hold a conversation about anything effortlessly.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#96

Post by sizzle »

sweetheart wrote: post #2

I feel like the hardest part of learning to do nothing is getting over an initial period where your body and mind is trying to remember how to fill an hour of idle time without Instagram or Twitter or Facebook. I think after long periods of relying on these services to fill pockets of time that are otherwise hard to capitalize on, we unlearn how to simply sit and be bored. Like any form of rehabilitation, it takes ti…

Practicing mindfulness and meditation helps me redirect my energy towards less impulsivity and nagging thoughts of cheap dopamine sources (Facebook, Instagram etc)

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#97

Post by code_duck »

asdff wrote: post #90
code_duck wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I smoked cigars and cigarillos for some time and it’s essentially the same. Maybe worse - you can easily fill an hour with a cigar. No idea about chewing or snuff I suppose.

People I know who've quit dip did it by making themselves sick, packing a huge lip and swallowing instead of spitting. Usually ends in puke. Now just a whiff of the stuff makes them gag.

For me, the catalyst was that I lived in a place with an average temperature well below 0°C, and then I realized that my cats smelled like ashtrays because I smoked inside.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#98

Post by tsumnia »

This may be a different idea to "doing nothing", but when I teach labs, I explicitly do not get on the computer while students are working. Instead, I literally just stand there looking for students to ask me questions.

I've noticed that whenever I would start working on grades, or assignments, or whatever, students would never ask for help unless it was dire. When I was at attention, while it wasn't constant, I found myself helping students more. Over time, I've assumed it is because they don't want to "bother" me or break my concentration. However, when all I am doing is waiting for them to ask a question, I seemed to get more activity.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#99

Post by tylerdunkel »

maxxxxx wrote: post #51
eswat wrote: post #20

An office building nearby renovated their ground floor with a new food court. Great idea but they also added a semi-circle of TVs all tuned on CBC News that pretty much looks over most of the seating and the food stalls. It’s hard to avoid. Easy enough to modify the environment on our phones and desktops but it’s more inconvenient to avoid IRL distractions.

It really should be made illegal to put TVs and other noise making devices into the public space. I don’t understand why it’s acceptable to put that stuff everywhere. It’s basically visual and auditory littering, not much different from throwing away trash.

how is the lobby of an office building "public space"? its private space owned by that company...

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#100

Post by hypertexthero »

John Cleese, in his wonderful [lecture][1] on creativity:

> So, you’ve arranged to take no calls, you’ve closed your door, you’ve sat down somewhere comfortable, take a couple of deep breaths and if you’re anything like me, after you’ve pondered some problem that you want to turn into an opportunity for about 90 seconds, you find yourself thinking “Oh I forgot I’ve got to call Jim… oh, and I must tell Tina that I need the report on Wednesday and not Thursday which means I must move my lunch with Joe and Damn! I haven’t called St. Paul’s about getting Joe’s daughter an interview and I must pop out this afternoon to get Will’s birthday present and those plants need watering and none of my pencils are sharpened and Right! I’ve got too much to do, so I’m going to start by sorting out my paper clips and then I shall make 27 phone calls and I’ll do some thinking tomorrow when I’ve got everything out of the way.”

> Because, as we all know, it’s easier to do trivial things that are urgent than it is to do important things that are not urgent, like thinking.

> And it’s also easier to do little things we know we can do, than to start on big things that we’re not so sure about.

> So when I say create an oasis of quiet know that when you have, your mind will pretty soon start racing again. But you’re not going to take that very seriously, you just sit there (for a bit) tolerating the racing and the slight anxiety that comes with that, and after a time your mind will quiet down again.

> Now, because it takes some time for your mind to quiet down it’s absolutely no use arranging a “space/time oasis” lasting 30 minutes, because just as you’re getting quieter and getting into the open mode you have to stop and that is very deeply frustrating. So you must allow yourself a good chunk of time. I’d suggest about an hour and a half. Then after you’ve gotten to the open mode, you’ll have about an hour left for something to happen, if you’re lucky.

> But don’t put a whole morning aside. My experience is that after about an hour-and-a-half you need a break. So it’s far better to do an hour-and-a-half now and then an hour-and-a-half next Thursday and maybe an hour-and-a-half the week after that, than to fix one four-and-a-half hour session now.

By the way, today is the 500th anniversary of the death of one of the greatest human beings in history at doing a lot by spending time ”doing nothing”, i.e., observing, drawing, and thinking: [Leonardo da vinci][2]! Have not seen a Google Doodle, or anything on Apple’s homepage, marking the occasion, which makes me think we need more creative people in charge in the world, to counter-balance the business suits.

[1]: https://youtu.be/Pb5oIIPO62g?t=977

[2]: https://www.simongriffee.com/notebook/leonardo-da-vinci-500-...

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