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Being Bored Is Good

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Re: Being Bored Is Good

#121

Post by vageli »

lm28469 wrote: post #69
soverance wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For a majority of people, their greatest and most satisfying achievement will be their children. This sentiment is grossly nauseating, to me. Having children is not an achievement. It may be satisfying and fulfilling, but it is in no way an "achievement". If your greatest contribution to the world is birthing a child, you have failed as a person.

> if your greatest achievement is continuing the specie and leaving a legacy you have failed. Ah ok. 99.9999% of people's life achievement die with them the second they pass away. If you don't make it to Bach's level of achievement you'll be forgotten instantly. Enjoy simple things, life is beautiful without setting bs goals, play music, draw, dance, do some woodwork, who cares you'll most likely suck at it compared…

> If you don't make it to Bach's level of achievement you'll be forgotten instantly. Enjoy simple things, life is beautiful without setting bs goals, play music, draw, dance, do some woodwork, who cares you'll most likely suck at it compared to the masters, just enjoy the process

My experience has been the complete opposite. There are teachers whose memory I still cherish to this day because of their tender yet firm touch in guiding my growth. That's just one example. People scarred by their parents play out their issues on other people, multiple people are affected in that case. There are many other examples of actions whose repercussions are felt long after the actor's death.

Re: Being Bored Is Good

#122

Post by daveslash »

Ididntdothis wrote: post #34
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…

“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. “ Where is this if I may ask? And how many sheep do you get to see? I wouldn’t mind doing that and take my camera.

Re: Where is this? -- Anza Borrego Desert State Park.

Re: How many sheep -- Depends on your count site; some people see zero, others see upwards of 40.

See this HN comment (from this same thread) for additional info. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20384971

Re: Being Bored Is Good

#124

Post by wnmurphy »

This is exactly in line with my own experience. I noticed that I had completely stopped thinking deeply and creatively as I used to, and it coincided with my use of social media as a mental "palate-cleanser" at work. I was filling all of my spare moments with the mental equivalent of processed snacks. Once I stopped, my mind returned to filling that void with deep thoughts and creativity.

I really think social media is altering our attention spans and changing our minds, for the worse.

Re: Being Bored Is Good

#125

Post by daveslash »

sylk wrote: post #61
daveslash wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a great KPBS piece from 3 years ago. https://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/jul/08/sheep-counting-anza-bo... This is a great KQED piece from 2 years ago. https://www.kqed.org/news/11550455/volunteers-brave-extremes... Edit: I'm happy to share and am available for further questions, but for anyone planning to visit the any parts of the Southern California desert during the summer, please please don't plan to go all ou…

How do I find more of these sort of events...? I'm in the midwest and would be honored to do something like this.

To be honest, I'm not sure how to find them. I somewhat fell into this one, but the term to search is "citizen science". https://www.citizenscience.gov/catalog has a catalog of Federal events. The one I do is more at the state level. There are also non-profits that often work closely with regional state and national parks.

Re: Being Bored Is Good

#126

Post by qwsxyh »

viburnum wrote: post #12

This weekend I was slogging through a book I had been meaning to read for ten years when I realized that twitter is actually more enjoyable than books.

I see this is downvoted for going against the HN narrative that Twitter is worse than Hitler.

Re: Being Bored Is Good

#127

Post by sergiotapia »

soverance wrote: post #47
ricardobeat wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I just don't understand how people can not feel lost if they don't create something that stems from their own selves For a majority of people, their greatest and most satisfying achievement will be their children. Nature doesn’t play around :)

> For a majority of people, their greatest and most satisfying achievement will be their children. This sentiment is grossly nauseating, to me. Having children is not an achievement. It may be satisfying and fulfilling, but it is in no way an "achievement". If your greatest contribution to the world is birthing a child, you have failed as a person.

Your statement is grossly nauseating to me. Your children are absolutely an achievement a testament to what kind of person you are.

Re: Being Bored Is Good

#128

Post by rorykoehler »

alxlaz wrote: post #107
warent wrote: post #91

> Modern music is a mirror image of the internet culture as well. Blasted with as many synth hooks and processed vocal melodies as possible. This seems a little bit like a fist-shaking "back in my day!" kind of judgemental statement. Music is a matter of taste and what you're approaching here doesn't relate to the topic.

The thing that makes it sound so much like a fist-shaking "back in my day" is that it reduces modern music to popular, heavily-promoted, commercially-successful popular music. There is money to be made out of superficial music, fit for consumption as a background to parties and dance, tailored for the least common denominator in terms of intellect. But that has always been the case; nostalgia aside, the "current" mus…

Music has never been better imo. It's just that there is more of it so you have to go looking. If you don't know how to do that or aren't interested enough to invest in it you're going to come to the fist shakers conclusion.

Re: Being Bored Is Good

#129

Post by [deleted] »

JudgeWapner wrote: post #118
alexbanks wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'll note that I did not say it made me awesome, nor did I suggest anyone else should do it. In fact, I even added the "(mis)fortune)" to point out the obvious negative aspect to my statement. I literally just said those factors got me to where I am today. I did not imply where I am now is better than an alternative.

I wonder if being ignored by your parents also made you this hostile?

[deleted]

Re: Being Bored Is Good

#130

Post by bduerst »

non-entity wrote: post #88
beat wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Demand, mostly, but I agree - it's especially expensive since it's a platform device that's exclusively locked to their marketplace.
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