Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 468 posts

Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)

#121

Post by fy20 »

Maybe I'm just weird, but I actually quite like being able to sit alone with my thoughts. Sometimes the thoughts are not good, but most of the times its just about something that's been troubling me and I haven't figured out what the solution is. When I was in education I had to take a 1 hour bus each way for 8 years, before we had the whole internet in our pockets, so maybe thats why.

I do actually meditate as well, but the meditation I do is where you try to be thoughtless, not to ponder whatever thoughts are on your mind.

Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)

#123

Post by brigandish »

Aeolun wrote: post #115
jacksonlango wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the opinion of an amateur, but I think this is where "skillful effort" comes into play. A retreat like that will be less strenuous if you already have a daily meditation practice. I wouldn't describe a weeklong meditation retreat as the "extreme" side of the Buddha's middle way. That would be more like starving yourself in asceticism. With the right practice/preparation (IE a few months of daily hour-long sit…

> IE a few months of daily hour-long sits Maybe it’s a difference of perspective, but what you describe as practice already sounds pretty extreme to me.

Most people sit all day looking at a screen, then they spend a large part of their free time also sitting to watch TV series (generally ~40 minutes long) and films (~90 to 120 minutes long) so spending 1 hr sitting without a distraction hardly seems extreme in comparison, though I wouldn't call it particularly useful. Like physical exercise, you'll probably get more benefit from many, smaller but intense reps than large one off attempts.

Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)

#124

Post by sova »

hn_asker wrote: post #122

Pascal was tongue-in-cheek alluding to the ability to deeply analyze problems. In any case, solutions are often better with human interaction. I like to think of Bourbaki as an example.

quite presumptuous, what if he meant the actual ability to sit in a room ?

Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)

#126

Post by tectonicfury »

pmoriarty wrote: post #54
codechicago277 wrote: post #50

This quote comes from Blaise Pascal's Pensées, accessible here. "That is why we like noise and activity so much. That is why imprisonment is such a horrific punishment. That is why the pleasure of being alone is incomprehensible. That is, in fact, the main joy of the condition of kingship, because people are constantly trying to amuse kings and provide them with all sorts of distraction.—The king is surrounded by peo…

Just a bit more on why Pascal thought even a king is unhappy when he thinks about himself: Whatever condition we picture to ourselves, if we muster all the good things which it is possible to possess, royalty is the finest position in the world. Yet, when we imagine a king attended with every pleasure he can feel, if he be without diversion, and be left to consider and reflect on what he is, this feeble happiness wil…

As a Muslim, I pray five times a day, and of late I have begun to perform it "better", as in unshackling myself from worldly thoughts and other mental distractions. I attach zero importance to them and I remind myself that this صلاة (prayer) that I am doing alone deserves any importance, to the exclusion of all others. Thoughts used to come to me to try and induce panic in me, but overtime they have become so feeble that I am no longer aware of them.

And talking about the kings, one of the pious said : “If the kings and the children of the kings knew what [felicity] we are in, they would fight us over it with their swords.”

Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)

#127

Post by pantelisk »

onecommentman wrote: post #65

“You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.” - Franz Kafka

I was looking at this quote for a long time. I forgot who it was from, and only remembered it paraphrased. Thank you.

To also contribute to the discussion. I often joke that it takes effort to mess things up. You could instead lay on the beach enjoy the evening breeze than putting in that effort. So before you delve into that process, take a step back and think carefully what you want out of it.

I like long walks accompanied by music (ambient music). Walking can be a deeply meditative experience, just pick terrain that won't give you trouble (no high traffic streets, no steep hills etc) and just go. Walk until your body starts doing it mechanically, and don't focus on the destination nor in search of stimuli. Maybe because walking exerts energy, it can be more effective than just sitting or laying down - when you are really energetic and not tired. Maybe because the scenery changes and it acts as a context switch to our minds.

It has been both effective as a form of emotion regulation, coming up with novel solutions, and just feeling more in sync with myself.

Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)

#128

Post by jacksonlango »

joe_the_user wrote: post #114
jacksonlango wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the opinion of an amateur, but I think this is where "skillful effort" comes into play. A retreat like that will be less strenuous if you already have a daily meditation practice. I wouldn't describe a weeklong meditation retreat as the "extreme" side of the Buddha's middle way. That would be more like starving yourself in asceticism. With the right practice/preparation (IE a few months of daily hour-long sit…

Yeah, the point isn't that any given thing is hard but that throwing yourself into the practice that's really extreme for you might not be the best to start mindfulness. In Qi Dao, our approach is based not on going beyond a person's comfort zone but extending their comfort zone.

Got it, yeah, I would definitely agree.

Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)

#129

Post by [deleted] »

copperx wrote: post #51
MattGaiser wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have heard that a couple times as well and all but once it has been mocking. There is almost a built in anti intellectualism to some people.

rtpg above has hit the nail on the head. Mocking someone for climbing the wrong ladder isn't necessarily anti intellectualism.

[deleted]

Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)

#130

Post by Bakary »

manigandham wrote: post #82
rtpg wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The person's point is likely that you spent a lot of energy on something that probably doesn't matter. This might be subjective, of course, but it is possible to think about something for longer than you should. Navel-gazing isn't a virtue. Though ideally you probably want to be with people who think that the same stuff is important.

Longer than you should? There is no such thing. Of course it's possible to spend thought without resulting in any new discoveries but that's not really a problem because thoughts are interconnected and build upon each other to create better mental models for other situations. It doesn't matter how petty or insignificant the topic is, it's the act of thinking deeply about something that's important. Anyway, I understa…

>It doesn't matter how petty or insignificant the topic is, it's the act of thinking deeply about something that's important.

That concept is not clear to me at least. There is a limited physical aspect to life and there are steep opportunity costs

Post reply on HN