321–330 of 468 posts
"Modern humans spend virtually no time on "inward-directed thought", and not solely because we're too busy: in one US survey, 95% of adults said they'd found time for a leisure activity in the previous 24 hours, but 83% said they'd spent zero time just thinking." I think Pascal was correct because at least those people I know well enough to discuss such matters with tell me they don't spend much time thinking or cont…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 acc…
Why is it, that sitting alone will have me ruminating, thinking negative thoughts whereas when I'm moving my legs thoughts seem to be more positive or productive?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How helpful to have a person who knows nothing about my situation police my behaviors because of a vague congruence and an apparent desire to score internet points. No, for the purposes of what I'm doing, HN was not included in that. From my perspective, HN isn't really designed for addiction in the same way. No personalized, UAM-optimized algorithmic feed, no infinite river of small content bites, no rich mechanisms…
"From my perspective, HN isn't really designed for addiction in the same way." I mean, it's fine that you feel this way, and you are probably correct - it wasn't designed for it. But I suspect for a lot of us , me included, it serves that exact purpose. I post so that strangers on the internet read it and give me likes. I compulsively check my comments section on my account to see how many upvotes my comments have. E…
I realized the aforementioned, checking my points and who responded what to my thoughts. I actually made an adblock rule to block out my points. So I dont get that rush, because I realized that too, that everytime I arrive at HN, I just checked my points, and if it were more than before, I felt the rush. And I just knew it was bad, and that is not indeed what I come for to this site.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel I’m already in paradise, and I didn’t have die to get here.
You have to die one day in your paradise, and the Paradise I am talking about, you don't die after entering it.
Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
And I laid me down with a will.
Here he lies where he longed to be;
And the hunter home from the hill.
“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
Ecstasy. This dude knew how to meditate. A lot of people think meditation is just an exercise in patience and self discipline to stop the chatter of the mind, and that that is the end in itself. They are unaware of where meditation can lead. When the central channel (referred to as sushumna in yoga) is open and energy flows freely, you can feel ecstatic sensations in the centre of the brain as the upper centres becom…
What helps me is to walk, instead of sitting in a room. When I walk, my fidgety body is kept busy, and leaves my brain in peace, not even costing any brain-cpu cycles. Then, it is a lot harder to reach to your cellphone when you walk. So it helps me get rid of 2 major distractions, body and phone, with very little effort. Now I can think.
I think this has to be about the 'diffused mode' of the brain- they talked about in the course 'Learning How To Learn'- as opposed to the focused mode.
Just my interpretation (of the Pascal quote), beginning with the full quote. > When I have occasionally set myself to consider the different distractions of men, the pains and perils to which they expose themselves at court or in war, whence arise so many quarrels, passions, bold and often bad ventures, etc., I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly…
Thanks. I was reading this thread thinking that sitting alone with your thoughts does not necessarily bring you peace. It can often do the opposite. I take time and pray to God each morning. I find that this gives me peace. I feel better prepared to deal with the day when I pray. My routine is focused around praying the Lord's Prayer, as in the prayer Jesus taught. Praying this prayer over years has enabled some trut…
https://twitter.com/qikipedia/status/1011912022219509761
Research * citation needed.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
With all the sociological data we have now, it’s almost certain that Pascal’s wager has never been more true for those looking to lead a meaningful life.
Which deity do you pick in that case? There are many of them.
Yeh and to think society rewards extroverts as leaders but often introverts make the best leaders as in they take long periods of time to think alone and often avoid many pitfalls by doing so instead of moving fast and breaking everyone and everything along the way.
It's even worse: some societies reward quick thinking and shun deep thinking.
Mostly the English-speaking societies, people can even become unsettled or giggle if they see someone staring at a wall, deep in though.