31–40 of 133 posts
One of the effects of society is to reduce the number of 'spoons' any person needs to 'spend' a day. This is probably a good argument against those who are anti-automation. As a more efficient automated society slowly lowers the 'minimum spoon bar' that is required for net contribution.
I work by effort/benefit ratio. Many programmers start ambitious projects with very high effort and low benefit, like e.g. a browser/os/videogame/library which they maintain at expense of their health and limited time. Low effort, small-scale projects with immediate benefit/utility are much less taxing on health and don't require constant maintenance. Unix way https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_philosophy#Do_One_Thin…
Not so sure about this... everyone has limited resources, time and energy being the biggest, finances usually a big one as well. How accutely you are aware of them perhaps depends on both your situation (such as having serious health issues that need attention) and what exactly you are trying to do with them.
Not taking your resources for granted is always helpful though. (Although someone else not sharing a resource doesn't necessarily make it worth more to me; e.g. I'm not happier to be able to walk specifically because someone else can't.)
When I was first learning to ride motorcycles I came across "A Twist of the Wrist" by Keith Code, which uses a similar analogy for attention. In this analogy, you have $10 worth of attention to spend. Maybe as a novice rider you spend $5 just coordinating steering, clutch, gears and brakes to keep the bike upright. You then spend $3 on navigating, which leaves you with only $2 left to pay attention to the traffic aro…
Fully departing from spoon theory, but sticking with money and motorcycles, this story was told to me by a friend of mine. This was a few decades ago and he was into racing Ducatis. The wise old man at the track was explaining how to go fast. The people in the garage that night didn’t seem to be getting it, so everyone got in the back of the Ford van they used for parts and the old man drove. “You have a dollar to sp…
> I explained that the difference in being sick and being healthy is having to make choices or to consciously think about things when the rest of the world doesn’t have to. The healthy have the luxury of a life without choices, a gift most people take for granted.
What choices do you mean? I'd say that healthy people have more freedom so they have more choices to make. When you come down to it health is about freedom. Freedom from preoccupying pain, constricting impairment, freedom to do whatever. Choices are a symptom of freedom. We must have a different definition somewhere in here. Haven't read the article yet. Edit: Having read the story, the spoons are a metaphor for unit…
A choice I might make is: will I go out for a short walk with the rest of the family? By doing so, I'll hurt even more, and will need to sleep when I get back - so extra pain for me, and the kids miss out on playing with me later for an hour or two.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What choices do you mean? I'd say that healthy people have more freedom so they have more choices to make. When you come down to it health is about freedom. Freedom from preoccupying pain, constricting impairment, freedom to do whatever. Choices are a symptom of freedom. We must have a different definition somewhere in here. Haven't read the article yet. Edit: Having read the story, the spoons are a metaphor for unit…
I have small fibre neuropathy in my arms and legs. I don't do the whole "spoons thing", but I do have to make spoon-style choices. A choice I might make is: will I go out for a short walk with the rest of the family? By doing so, I'll hurt even more, and will need to sleep when I get back - so extra pain for me, and the kids miss out on playing with me later for an hour or two.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fully departing from spoon theory, but sticking with money and motorcycles, this story was told to me by a friend of mine. This was a few decades ago and he was into racing Ducatis. The wise old man at the track was explaining how to go fast. The people in the garage that night didn’t seem to be getting it, so everyone got in the back of the Ford van they used for parts and the old man drove. “You have a dollar to sp…
You should always be either at the edge of your traction circle or at the full limit of one of your controls. Anything less is wasting time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell%27s_Angels:_The_Strange_a...
One of the effects of society is to reduce the number of 'spoons' any person needs to 'spend' a day. This is probably a good argument against those who are anti-automation. As a more efficient automated society slowly lowers the 'minimum spoon bar' that is required for net contribution.
I don't think this is true. I once spent some time at an Amish community, and I saw their elderly and sick all living relatively productive lives. They were cooking, cleaning, watching children, and performing other small tasks that made everyone's life a bit nicer. The only reason these "menial" jobs were available to them was the deliberate inefficiency of the Amish lifestyle.
If my elbow is broken, I can't cook efficiently. If it doesn't work correctly, same. If walking to the toilet saps my energy, I shouldn't be expected to do the same.
I should also now mention that elderly doesn't mean you are sick. Loads of folks are busy throughout old age. "sick" doesn't always mean you can't do anything, either, and I'm pretty sure the Amish communities take care of folks that can't.
"Most people start the day with unlimited amount of possibilities" I think the comments to this post testifies that no one has unlimited spoons. Most people struggle. Some more, some less.
Struggling is different: It takes some energy away, but for many, you can theoretically take away some struggle. Get a new car, have enough food and money, get over a temporary health condition. Get time to get over a divorce. There are curese for many struggles. The same things won't help someone with a chronic disease... who often have the same struggles as greater society on top of whatever illness they have.