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

theguardian.com

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

#351

Post by richajak »

gambiting wrote: post #237
wpietri wrote: post #228

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…

HN is addictive for me, similar to Instagram and TikTok for others.

business only policy, during 9-5. no news/socialmedia, cannot discuss irrelevant issues with my cofounder. Otherwise, I can go into rabbit holes for hours to research certain topic if my brain thinks that it is interesting.

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

#352

Post by Zelphyr »

idiocrat wrote: post #261

I know there is an activity center in the center of the brain, which randomly fires impulses in all different directions of the brain. It is keeping the brain from shutting down itself. Brain neurons are connected the way that a thought needs to start from somewhere. No induction/initiation - no involuntary thought. The associative thinking seem also to start as a cause of that activity center, when two or more rando…

Trying to not have a thought is one of, in not the biggest misconceptions about meditation. You can’t turn your brain off. It’s going to think. That’s what it does. The point is to notice those thoughts in a nonjudgmental way. See them for what they are: ephemeral and passing. Practicing that has a great many benefits, not least of which is an increased sense of well-being.

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

#353

Post by SyzygistSix »

hilbert42 wrote: post #235

"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…

>When I was at school one of the punishments was to be sent to stand in a corner and stare at the wall. It used to send some kids almost crazy but never bothered me much—all I had to do was to go into daydream mode to pass time away

Me as well. I wonder if it is the upside to having near-crippling ADHD.

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

#354

Post by pmoriarty »

tectonicfury wrote: post #312
state_less wrote: post #308

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.

"the Paradise I am talking about, you don't die after entering it"

Not every religion considers eternal life desirable. In some forms of Buddhism and Hinduism, for example, the ultimate goal is to leave the cycle of death and rebirth.. not in to paradise, but in to nothingness.

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

#355

Post by SyzygistSix »

d4nt wrote: post #267
hilbert42 wrote: post #235

"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…

I find it disturbing the way a trait that seems to be very common among humans is being framed as a problem. External stimulus means you’re with other humans that you can cooperate with. That you’re sharing stories and learning. That you’re hunting for food. That you’re building a shelter. All these things are necessary for survival. It seems possible that being sociable and industrious might well have been bread int…

Not everyone frames it in a judgemental fashion. Some people simply decide to see what happens when they decide to go outside their comfort zone. The tendency to not explore these spaces seems to be one of the reasons why they are occulted.

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

#356

Post by carapace »

"under the present brutal and primitive conditions on this planet, every person you meet should be regarded as one of the walking wounded. we have never seen a man or woman not slightly deranged by either anxiety or grief. we have never seen a totally sane human being."

― Robert Anton Wilson

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

#357

Post by pmoriarty »

pharke wrote: post #262
prox wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is worthy of mention that the Buddha was a prince, destined to be come king, yet his father tried to lock him up in his golden palace with nothing but entertainment. Eventually the prince does come into contact with suffering, and leads to him trying to find an end to suffering.

It is useful to add that even distraction and entertainment are suffering and unfulfilling in that they are impermanent, illusory and essentially devoid of meaning. All things have "equal taste", good or bad all comes to us through the senses which only produce a reflection of the world in our mind. Even our perception of our own inner world is an appearance of the same sort in consciousness. This shouldn't excuse in…

"It is useful to add that even distraction and entertainment are suffering and unfulfilling in that they are impermanent, illusory and essentially devoid of meaning."

This doesn't fully make sense to me.

Sure, at some point your pleasure will end, but do you have to judge something by its end? Why not judge it by its beginning or middle instead?

It's like saying "don't enjoy your meal, because at some point later you're going to get hungry".

That makes no sense to me.

Also, regarding the lack of meaning of distraction and entertainment, it's not like "nothingness" (which Buddhism tries to put in its place) has any meaning either. So I'm not sure why one should seek to put one meaningless thing in the place of another.

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

#358

Post by snarfy »

gambiting wrote: post #237
wpietri wrote: post #228

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…

When you first open hacker news, where are your eyes? Are they in the upper right, checking your comment score?

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

#359

Post by SyzygistSix »

samstave wrote: post #347
derwiki wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry to nit, but aren’t the podcasts distractions? And tangentially: I listen the the ambient album Weightless by Marconi Union when I want to think but also drown out outside noise.

Wow a 10 hour version... Thanks for the recommendation - Ill check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYnA9wWFHLI Downloading it with Youtube-DL - Sadly, I forgot my headphones at home and am about to board a plane...

Only 10 hours? Bull of Heaven laughs.

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

#360

Post by pmoriarty »

tectonicfury wrote: post #232
wcoenen wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then, you see the truth, of life, existence and the universe. Pretty words, but do they mean anything? For example, if I reach this state, will it be revealed to me why there is something rather than nothing? I think not, otherwise someone would have reported back with the answer already. I'm interested in meditation to learn more about my own body and mind, maybe improve my life somehow. But IMHO the discussions a…

That's basically how they con you into it. Using pretty words which appear to have "deeper" and "transcendental" meanings. They entice you with words like mystery, truth, existence, universe, but the TLDG (Too long didn't go) of this rabbit hole called meditation is (wading in) occult practices.

"the TLDG (Too long didn't go) of this rabbit hole called meditation is (wading in) occult practices"

What do the words "occult practices" mean to you? Do you consider them bad? If so, why?

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