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Being Bored Is Good

thewalrus.ca

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Re: Being Bored Is Good

#81

Post by bradhoffman »

growlist wrote: post #71

There is definitely too much sensation and information for me these days. When I was a kid and being a natural geek I had so little technical literature in the house that I used to pore over it. I'd read my computer magazines cover to cover until I virtually memorised the whole thing. These days, I don't even know where to start. It's terrifying! I'm moving to the country soon to get away from the overload.

This is a topic I've been pondering lately. Even looking around the internet for technical information/assistance has become harder due to all of the information that is now out there. How can we find sources or information that are truly meaningful and provide great value, rather than just mediocre or non at all?

Re: Being Bored Is Good

#82

Post by shados »

mruts wrote: post #79
shados wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely. I'll totally admit its my fault. But the fact is that 20-30 years ago, even though I had the same personality I have today, with the same weakness, it just wasn't a problem. A similar situation is with food in America. I'm from another country and had a pretty healthy weight. Then I moved to the US. All the weight again and associated health problems hit me like a truck. I didn't change as a person, but m…

Not to be harsh, but, like, that is your problem. I, for example, used to be addicted to heroin. If opiates had never been discovered, I guess I probably would have never had a problem with it. But that's a weak excuse. I'm glad I was shown my weakness, because now I am stronger for it. Change and distraction and temptation is an opportunity to truly understand our self. And with understanding comes power.

I probably made my point poorly. I'm not saying that things need to change to accommodate me. I'm saying that at a macro scale, it has an impact on people (and likely society) no matter how we look at it, because you can't fix everyone.

If we should do something about it or not is a completely different topic.

Re: Being Bored Is Good

#83

Post by shrimp_emoji »

growlist wrote: post #76
jokoon wrote: post #35

I often have this weird fear that I wont accomplish anything in my life like it is some sort of personal failure. Meanwhile I'm able to write about game ideas, code them, create some characters and story and background, even though it doesn't lead to anything since it's more of a hobby, but I fail to make it into a job. I love to think, create, try to design little things, and honestly that's the best pleasure I have…

Welcome to the wonderful globalised utopia of 2019 in which shared culture has been deliberately destroyed and genuine, wholesome, worthwhile, spiritually nourishing experiences and a sense of community are replaced with empty consumerism and anomie.

I've tried to get into anomie repeatedly. So many great programmers seem to love it, so I feel like it might help me code better. But I just can't do it. There's so little substance. It's as if the appeal of 99% of anomies is some pathetic, parainfatuatory relationship between the (male) viewer and the (female) characters, and the worldbuilding and story are total afterthoughts. And it's not even like they fully leverage the sexual appeal; it's just endless teasing and beating around the bush. It's very strange.

Re: Being Bored Is Good

#84

Post by bradhoffman »

gerbilly wrote: post #75

I'e been programming since the early eighties, and when I was zoned into it, my mom would have to call me 3 times for dinner. I would tell her I'd be there in two minutes, and to me what felt like two minutes, was really ten in real life. In those days, this kind of computer time dilation experience was pretty unique, and very few people had access to it. Now I find it funny to see that all of society seems to be tur…

So how do you keep yourself from become a "phone zombie"? Have you gone as far as to get rid of your smart phone? That is one thing I've heavily considered, but Spotify, Navigation, and High-quality photos are too hard to pass on.

Re: Being Bored Is Good

#85

Post by beat »

bduerst wrote: post #21
asdfman123 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find books are every bit as enjoyable. The problem is the first 30-50 pages are usually a slog, before I hit my "activation energy" and really get into it (or realize I don't like it). When I was less distracted, the slog was easier.

Don't read e-books on your phone. Not that you're doing that, but it's very difficult to do for reasons you're describing.

I carry a Kindle Paperwhite just for focused reading, but I also have a Kindle app on my phone, so I'll read books rather than obsessively checking email / social media / weather / omganything. I read different books on my phone thank on the Kindle, things that I can easily pick up and put down without having to shift the brain to a different gear. (Current phone read: Everything Is Fucked. Current Kindle read: War and Peace.)

Re: Being Bored Is Good

#86

Post by john___matrix »

brootstrap wrote: post #10
stcredzero wrote: post #6

If it weren't for the crushing boredom of the suburbs when I was a child, I might not have learned how to program computers. I would never have thought so much about spaceships. The original Star Wars trilogy wouldn't have been nearly as cool to discover. I also play traditional music, though boredom wasn't part of my discovering that. However, silence was a big part of traditional music, in the past. You need empty…

Modern music is a mirror image of the internet culture as well. Blasted with as many synth hooks and processed vocal melodies as possible. I was recently turned onto this band called Wand. If you want to feel some delicious space in a song, check out Scarecrow by Wand. The video is amazingly simple too. The constant bombardment of shit is so real though. I want to spend time with my wife and kid. Sometimes it's hard…

Thanks for the heads up on Wand, just given them a listen and definitely some lovely music to get into a zone.

Re: Being Bored Is Good

#87

Post by non-entity »

sergiotapia wrote: post #22
daveslash wrote: post #2

I was so bored this past weekend, and it was great. Every year I volunteer to backpack into the desert mountains of Southern California, sit in one spot for 3 full days, and count all of the Bighorn Sheep that I see. There's typically a total of an hour of excitement each day, and the rest is just sitting, staring at a mountainside. No cell reception, no human made structures visible, just two other people there with…

Humans were built like this. We must spend time going back to our ape surroundings. Give yourself at least an hour to walk through wilderness with no music, no celphone, just walk and take nature in. God is in nature.

I would absolutely love to take a few hours to relax stroll through a remote peaceful strip of nature or land, but the problem is it all either:

- a public park with too many people / other distractions

- and individuals private property

- a corporations private / leased property

Re: Being Bored Is Good

#88

Post by non-entity »

beat wrote: post #85
bduerst wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't read e-books on your phone. Not that you're doing that, but it's very difficult to do for reasons you're describing.

I carry a Kindle Paperwhite just for focused reading, but I also have a Kindle app on my phone, so I'll read books rather than obsessively checking email / social media / weather / omganything. I read different books on my phone thank on the Kindle, things that I can easily pick up and put down without having to shift the brain to a different gear. (Current phone read: Everything Is Fucked . Current Kindle read: War…

It's still crazy to me the paperwhites are more expensive than Amazon's Fire Tablets

Re: Being Bored Is Good

#89

Post by ElatedOwl »

jokoon wrote: post #35

I often have this weird fear that I wont accomplish anything in my life like it is some sort of personal failure. Meanwhile I'm able to write about game ideas, code them, create some characters and story and background, even though it doesn't lead to anything since it's more of a hobby, but I fail to make it into a job. I love to think, create, try to design little things, and honestly that's the best pleasure I have…

>I often have this weird fear that I wont accomplish anything in my life like it is some sort of personal failure.

Completing a big project, setting a new weight lifting or running PR only leaves me feeling empty. I've come to realize fulfillment, for me at least, is in the journey; accomplishment is merely a memento.

Re: Being Bored Is Good

#90

Post by colechristensen »

bored wrote: post #80
colechristensen wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is also a theory that attention "disorders" are an adaptation or variation in novelty seeking. i.e. some people are just more wired for novelty seeking Having a population with varied amount of attention seeking seems beneficial for finding the "optimum" for the local environment. Too much novelty seeking and the seekers will all get eaten by bears and starve because they fail to do what is known good. Too litt…

This sounds like group selection

Group selection is largely discredited, of course.

But! Richard Dawkin's selfish gene theories go the other way and argue for natural selection working on the gene-level instead of the individual level.

It seems like group selection but it is more like population dynamics and selection pressures for traits in a population. If a gene becomes too prevalent in a population it's advantages become disadvantages and an individual has less chance of surviving. If it is too scarce, an individual has a large advantage and a higher chance of surviving and passing the gene on.

It would be limited to traits where the phenotype results in more successful competition with the same species.

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