Do whatever you can't stop thinking about • Hacker News Board

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#131

Post by qplex » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 5:53 PM UTC

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #24

mikestew wrote: post #13

The author is quoting someone else: “Because every minute spent doing something other than what you love most today is a minute you’re more likely to regret when you’re 80.” Depending on how literally one takes that, you’re going to be one sorry motherfucker when you’re old. I like taking a shit, but I don’t love it. But I gotta do it, my Yelp review on “taking a shit” notwithstanding. Personally, I quit being so spo…

> But I’ve also learned to love the mundane. There’s more to washing dishes than you think. When I was looking for an entry-level New York studio apartment four years ago, one thing I absolutely insisted on having was a dishwasher. Screw the overall size of the kitchen or the square footage of the apartment, or even whether I had a stove or an oven—I needed a dishwasher god damn it! My parents and a lot of my friends…

I bought rubber gloves and it completely changed the game for me.

Washing dishes is a zen-like experience. As the utensils, glassware, cups, plates and whatever pile up, you start to feel the itch to clean up the mess. As you finally get to it, you contemplate on what a pig you've been. And when the work is FINALLY done you can admire the cleanness. Then you say to yourself that you will only use ONE plate and ONE cup and wash them straight after, only to find yourself again in the same situation a couple of days later.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#132

Post by sonicxxg » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 5:55 PM UTC

Dansvidania wrote: post #47

What a simplistic way to put things in. You need to do a lot of things you do not love before you have the skills, the vision and the attitude to actually do what you love, and accomplish the goals you want to accomplish... As a millennial, I think this kind of attitude is the problem with our generation. I mean both simplifying things into instagram-quote-sized senteces like "always do what you love" and also convin…

Life is supposed to be simple, people overcomplicate things.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#133

Post by pferde » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 5:59 PM UTC

BossingAround wrote: post #81

caseymarquis wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to water that generalization down a bit: Unrealistic expectations and following/giving bad career advice are multigenerational human problems that have likely plagued humanity for millenia. I'd wager this problem began in earnest the moment humans started farming. Generational division is also nothing new. Please try to respond to the bad advice, and not provide generational troll bait. I'm not saying this w…

> Generational division is also nothing new. This is a person of generation X talking about a problem of the same generation (i.e. X). > Please don't respond to this if you disagree, just give it a down vote so the discussion stays on topic. Down vote trolls, not people you disagree with. Down voting for disagreeing leads to negative experience with the whole discussion platform.

I fully agree with you here, and think pg is utterly wrong in this regard. In the long term, it hurts everyone involved. With enough people downvoting to disagree and upvoting to agree, the community devolves to tribalism and echo chambers, and scarily shifts towards Youtube comment level of discourse.

Upvote or downvote comments, not people.

Upvote comments not because you agree with them, but because you feel they contribute to the topic at hand, for those who read the thread after you did. Especially if they make you stop even just for a few seconds and consider a new point of view, even if you end up discarding that point of view.

Downvote comments not because you disagree, but because they are of low quality (for various reasons) and a waste of time to read, given the topic at hand. Comments you disagree with can often seem that way, and it takes self-control and, shall I say, maturity, to see which is it.

Oh yes, and feel free to downvote this comment if you must, I did hijack the topic somewhat rudely here. :)

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#134

Post by leetcrew » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 6:01 PM UTC

danShumway wrote: post #76

jfkebwjsbx wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Washing dishes takes no time. If you were single, it definitely takes less time than putting and maintaining the diskwasher.

Really? Because I'm single, and I've done both, and the dishwasher is very clearly easier and faster to me. Maybe you have a secret dishwashing technique that I don't know? A decent dishwasher doesn't require much maintenance at all. And the very, very little that it does is generally a more interesting use of time than washing dishes is anyway. But I started using dishwashers maybe 5-6 years ago, and I can count on…

I'm single, and the only problem I have with dishwashers is that it takes about a week for me to actually fill it with dirty dishes. by that time, there tends to be a gross smell whenever I open the door. I also have only one of certain utensils that I need to use more than once a week. I know dishwashers are pretty efficient and it's probably less wasteful to just run a half full load than to clean plates by hand, but I have an irrational opposition to doing this.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#135

Post by nitrogen » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 6:10 PM UTC

leetcrew wrote: post #134

danShumway wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Because I'm single, and I've done both, and the dishwasher is very clearly easier and faster to me. Maybe you have a secret dishwashing technique that I don't know? A decent dishwasher doesn't require much maintenance at all. And the very, very little that it does is generally a more interesting use of time than washing dishes is anyway. But I started using dishwashers maybe 5-6 years ago, and I can count on…

I'm single, and the only problem I have with dishwashers is that it takes about a week for me to actually fill it with dirty dishes. by that time, there tends to be a gross smell whenever I open the door. I also have only one of certain utensils that I need to use more than once a week. I know dishwashers are pretty efficient and it's probably less wasteful to just run a half full load than to clean plates by hand, b…

You could also get extra of the critical utensils. The price of, say, a second or third spatula might be covered by the time saved by a dishwasher.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#136

Post by oh_sigh » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 6:11 PM UTC

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #24

mikestew wrote: post #13

The author is quoting someone else: “Because every minute spent doing something other than what you love most today is a minute you’re more likely to regret when you’re 80.” Depending on how literally one takes that, you’re going to be one sorry motherfucker when you’re old. I like taking a shit, but I don’t love it. But I gotta do it, my Yelp review on “taking a shit” notwithstanding. Personally, I quit being so spo…

> But I’ve also learned to love the mundane. There’s more to washing dishes than you think. When I was looking for an entry-level New York studio apartment four years ago, one thing I absolutely insisted on having was a dishwasher. Screw the overall size of the kitchen or the square footage of the apartment, or even whether I had a stove or an oven—I needed a dishwasher god damn it! My parents and a lot of my friends…

They make portable dishwashers that hook into your faucet. You could have had one for a few hundred bucks and also lived where you wanted.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#137

Post by Wowfunhappy » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 6:13 PM UTC

fulafel wrote: post #66

mikestew wrote: post #13

The author is quoting someone else: “Because every minute spent doing something other than what you love most today is a minute you’re more likely to regret when you’re 80.” Depending on how literally one takes that, you’re going to be one sorry motherfucker when you’re old. I like taking a shit, but I don’t love it. But I gotta do it, my Yelp review on “taking a shit” notwithstanding. Personally, I quit being so spo…

The 80 year old you you and the current you are two different people with different interests. Of course the future 80 year you would love it if you made every effort to make his life better, but the current you may value comfort more than going on terrifying adventures that make for amusing reminiscing if you survive them.

I'll add to this—I feel like 80-year-old me is just going to be pissed off that he's old. He might make various statements to rationalize his discontent, but those won't be the core issue.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#138

Post by Tade0 » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 6:13 PM UTC

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #24

mikestew wrote: post #13

The author is quoting someone else: “Because every minute spent doing something other than what you love most today is a minute you’re more likely to regret when you’re 80.” Depending on how literally one takes that, you’re going to be one sorry motherfucker when you’re old. I like taking a shit, but I don’t love it. But I gotta do it, my Yelp review on “taking a shit” notwithstanding. Personally, I quit being so spo…

> But I’ve also learned to love the mundane. There’s more to washing dishes than you think. When I was looking for an entry-level New York studio apartment four years ago, one thing I absolutely insisted on having was a dishwasher. Screw the overall size of the kitchen or the square footage of the apartment, or even whether I had a stove or an oven—I needed a dishwasher god damn it! My parents and a lot of my friends…

My point here is, there's a lot of ways to cut down on mundane tasks, and it's really worth prioritizing that effort over other concerns.

This is exactly the reason why we went and bought a Roomba. It doesn't clean as thoroughly as a human would, but it does it every day, and each time with the same robotic determination.

I currently have a more polished apartment than I ever cared for and at the same time am dedicating less time to keep it that way. What's not to love about that?

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#139

Post by 3fe9a03ccd14ca5 » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 6:13 PM UTC

mikestew wrote: post #13

The author is quoting someone else: “Because every minute spent doing something other than what you love most today is a minute you’re more likely to regret when you’re 80.” Depending on how literally one takes that, you’re going to be one sorry motherfucker when you’re old. I like taking a shit, but I don’t love it. But I gotta do it, my Yelp review on “taking a shit” notwithstanding. Personally, I quit being so spo…

> ”Because every minute spent doing something other than what you love most today is a minute you’re more likely to regret when you’re 80.”

You can learn to love what you do, no matter the task. You can foster love and appreciation with anything.

Learn first to love what you do, no matter the task.

Re: Do whatever you can't stop thinking about

#140

Post by luxuryballs » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 6:14 PM UTC

mikestew wrote: post #13

The author is quoting someone else: “Because every minute spent doing something other than what you love most today is a minute you’re more likely to regret when you’re 80.” Depending on how literally one takes that, you’re going to be one sorry motherfucker when you’re old. I like taking a shit, but I don’t love it. But I gotta do it, my Yelp review on “taking a shit” notwithstanding. Personally, I quit being so spo…

Reminds me of CS Lewis: “The sort of thrill a boy has at the first idea of flying will not go on when he has joined the R.A.F. and is really learning to fly. The thrill you feel on first seeing some delightful place dies away when you really go to live there. Does this mean it would be better not to learn to fly and not to live in the beautiful place? By no means. In both cases, if you go through with it, the dying away of the first thrill will be compensated for by a quieter and more lasting kind of interest. What is more (and I can hardly find words to tell you how important I think this), it is just the people who are ready to submit to the loss of the thrill and settle down to the sober interest, who are then most likely to meet new thrills in some quite different direction. The man who has learned to fly and becomes a good pilot will suddenly discover music; the man who has settled down to live in the beauty spot will discover gardening.”