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Tips for a Better Life

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101–110 of 488 posts

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#101

> 11. Cooking pollutes the air. Opening windows for a few minutes after cooking can dramatically improve air quality. I was shocked when I got a smart air-purifier and it would send severe warnings when I was cooking. Especially in winter with windows closed for the entire day, my air quality would stay low for extended periods after cooking. Make sure you open a window for a few minutes even if it's cold outside.

I need to test my home air quality while cooking, but I've found that running the bathroom exhaust fan helps.

Also, most central HVAC system already recirculate air (albeit quite slowly). Most residential living rooms have an ACPH (air changes per hour) of around 6-8.

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#102

I think the compassion section has the most wisdom in it, especially the reasoning behind the recommendation: 82. Call your parents when you think of them, tell your friends when you love them. 83. Compliment people more. Many people have trouble thinking of themselves as smart, or pretty, or kind, unless told by someone else. You can help them out. 84. If somebody is undergoing group criticism, the tribal part in yo…

91. don't buy XRP but in seriousness, I think it is easier to apply these rules to people you know than strangers. Look how often people lose patience with each other online. >85. Cultivate compassion for those less intelligent than you. Many people, through no fault of their own, can’t handle forms, scammers, or complex situations. Be kind to them because the world is not. Interestingly, being smart does not protect…

It's not just about being smart/dumb, it's also about being trusting and agreeable. I think falling prey to the occasional (hopefully not life-destroying) deception is part of the cost of being an easy to work with and trusting person. There are people who will take advantage of you, but most won't. On the balance, this leads to better relationships and a better life. OTOH you can be cynical and questioning of every persons' motives, and that can make many normal interactions exhausting, at work and in social contexts. It can add an edge to you that most people do not like.

The ideal would be to have perfect, instant judgement of character, knowing when to be open or closed with people in various contexts. That's the hardest of all, and comes from having great parents/mentors and making lots of mistakes.

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe this was good advice in 2015. This is terrible advice in 2020. Reddit is astro-turfed up to it's eyeballs and the parts that aren't are people with little to no experience in niche X giving generally bad and nuance-free advice on niche X. The more niches you develop proficiency in the more you will see this.

What would be a better advice?

Google/DDG/Bing it and read some forum threads. Sure you can't get people to spoon feed you answers that way but do you really want to be spoon fed by people who don't actually know anything?

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#104
> If your work is done on a computer, get a second monitor. Less time navigating between windows means more time for thinking.

I don't agree. Use a virtual desktop instead and switch workspaces with a keyboard shortcut.

I'm currently using 9 workspaces, and monitors couldn't ever beat that UX.

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#105

There's some real gems mixed in with some fairly mundane stuff. I would summarize the good stuff like this: Try to understand how evolution works, because you are a product of it. What you like to eat, what you like to do, who you want to hang out with, why you feel good or bad when {situations} happens. But don't be a slave to it. Yes, there is a pressure to be the alpha male. Yes, you will get angry when people che…

Alternatively, realize that repressing that urge to be an alpha male because that's the current high-brow societal pressure is isomorphic to being a gay guy in the closet ;)

You clearly have zero idea what it is to be a true "alpha" male. The societal stigma you alluded to is levied on toxic assholes.

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#106
This blog post is the hipster version of those IG/FB click bait posts on the same subject. Very shallow content, disappointed this made to first page on HN

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about being guilty or not being guilty. For worse, the police in the US have become (or are perceived to be) generally antagonistic towards the communities they police. It's not a universal truth, but it is a common truth. Just like you wouldn't volunteer everything to a rival in the office, you don't volunteer everything to someone who has the authority to arrest or fine you. Especially when they know all t…

Exactly. US centric. If you trust that the policeman is a well trained professional there to serve you and with only your best interest in mind, why would you be scared to talk to them? To put it another way: if a policeman isn’t the best (safest, most informed, whatever...) person to talk to among hundreds of strangers you could talk to, isn’t that a sign that the police force in question has failed completely?

> If you trust that the policeman is a well trained professional there to serve you

They're not. In any country, that is fundamentally not the purpose of police.

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#108
post #49

As an introvert, so level of becoming an extrovert has helped me. E.g. dating and the getting married, learning to dance and weight lifting, which helped with the dating and getting married. Also, Toastmasters got me comfortable speaking my mind. I also try to achieve my goals in the easiest, most direct way. E.g. ask for a raise instead of wait to be given one, find the fastest way to finish the degree, use online d…

"become Catholic to end the despair" - could you elaborate?

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people value that they can get stuff done for themselves. I've grown up helping with various renovations around our home (floor tiling, wallpapers, building kitchen furniture etc), and they are fond memories and it makes a difference to how you feel living in a place. I know today mobility and renting is everything, but there is quite a distinct feel of living in actually your own place that you've worked on ove…

> If you eliminate all hassle, you could just as much pay people to live instead of you. There are still a lot of things to do even if you have eliminated all the hassles. Singing, writing, learning a new language, surfing, volunteering as a firefighter, just to name a few. I get it. Some people likes fixing stuff, building stuff with their hands, and it's perfectly interesting to them. At the same time, it's not tha…

> volunteering as a firefighter

This seems like exactly the case where I would apply the "There's a professional for that" maxim.

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#110
76. After a breakup, cease all contact as soon as practical. The potential for drama is endless, and the potential for a good friendship is negligible.

Lol. Or don't date people who you wouldn't be friends with if it weren't for the sexual attraction.

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