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The Animal Is Tired

robinhobb.com

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Re: The Animal Is Tired

#321

Post by snikeris »

Swizec wrote: post #146
dimitrios1 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is certainly a take . My children, one of the greatest sources of pure, unadulterated, innocent joy, are the only reason I believe there is still good in the world and thankful that this floating rock continues to revolve around the sun so I get to enjoy them. The stress of the children and the hard work is so minuscule in comparison.

Got a better explanation? I think it’s possible for both to be true. That kids give you unadulterated joy and also make you objectively worse off.

All of your ancestors raised children. We are machines, designed by nature to procreate.

The notion that one would be objectively better off by avoiding the very process that brought themself into being...seems unlikely to me.

Unless, we’re narrowly using the term “objectively better off” to mean what society seems to value: money, power, pleasure, etc. These things aren’t necessarily good for the organism in the way that having children is.

Re: The Animal Is Tired

#322

Post by joeberon »

Ensorceled wrote: post #276
blfr wrote: post #166

Better food, more exercise, more relaxation... but I also wonder if it would have made any difference. Yes. I'm only half OP's age but working out and eating well (well for me means much more) has made all the little aches I started to have in my 20s go away and made me much calmer, I can also sleep pretty much anywhere and at any time. More interestingly though, Me, and the animal I live inside. there is no animal y…

> there is no animal you live inside, this is not a meat vehicle for something else, your body is you, it's not some machine you merely inhabit. It always drives me crazy when people take the work of a poet or author literally and then pedantically hound any joy or meaning out of the words. The point is that humans are animals, treat your animal well.

It drives me crazy when people get so upset over any kind of comment too. Why not take it literally? That's a totally valid interpretation of the writing.

Also, it's entirely your perception that it is "hounding any joy and meaning out of the words". For me, the idea of myself and my body being inseparable is much more joyful than the original post, which paints the mind more like a mental prisoner trapped inside of an animals body.

I'll take the interpretation of the comment you replied to, thanks!

Re: The Animal Is Tired

#323

Post by joeberon »

sneak wrote: post #267
blfr wrote: post #166

Better food, more exercise, more relaxation... but I also wonder if it would have made any difference. Yes. I'm only half OP's age but working out and eating well (well for me means much more) has made all the little aches I started to have in my 20s go away and made me much calmer, I can also sleep pretty much anywhere and at any time. More interestingly though, Me, and the animal I live inside. there is no animal y…

> there is no animal you live inside, this is not a meat vehicle for something else, your body is you, it's not some machine you merely inhabit. I wonder how history will view such statements once we manage the ability to uncouple our humanity from our meat prisons.

Do you have any evidence to suspect such a thing will happen?

I think it is much more likely that the "ghost in the shell" kind of idea will be seen as much more antiquated, and that it will be widely accepted that the body, mind, and indeed wider world are not really separate.

Just because you read it in a science fiction book doesn't mean it reflects what will actually happen.

> once we manage the ability to uncouple our humanity from our meat prisons.

I wonder how history will view such statements once we realise that our humanity and our "meat prisons" are not two different things.

Re: The Animal Is Tired

#324

Post by mtalantikite »

rubicon33 wrote: post #118
DougN7 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This actually sounds quite a bit like depression. Some inexpensive meds can make a huge difference. I know from experience.

I have tried prozac. Unfortunately, it made my tiredness even worse almost immediately. Doctor said this would go away after I increased dosage, but I couldn't stick with it long enough to see this benefit. I've considered trying again but, it's a hard pill to swallow when the solution takes weeks to work, and in the meantime, you're suffering even more. If I had to be honest, I question whether I am scientifically "…

I was in a similar state when I was about 33. Burnt myself out coding for startups and really got bored of programming. Found I was doing a whole lot of things I didn’t really enjoy and putting off dealing with some internal issues (for example, a childhood trauma from drowning and the fear of swimming that came from that).

Not that what works for me would work for you, but one day at about 33 I made a commitment to myself that I’d find a path through my body. Not sure why it was that, but it intuitively felt right. I had one ego melting psychedelic experience, started working with a swimming coach, dedicated myself to a yoga practice, got back to daily seated meditation, went to therapy, and journaled every day (did The Artist’s Way workbook to start that habit, which I have mixed feelings about but journaling is transformative).

It wasn’t all at once, it started gradually, but it started with a commitment that I’d find a way in through my body. Things aren’t all great all the time — sometimes I really dread getting to a yoga mat to practice, or wake up not wanting to sit for meditation. And I definitely have existential lows. I just am much better equipped to deal with things now.

Your physical practice might (likely) look totally different than mine, but I do think there is one that will bring joy and transformation for everyone. Maybe it’s martial arts, maybe it’s strength training, maybe it’s running, maybe it’s dancing, maybe it’s doing something like Wim Hof cold exposure training. Who knows, for me it was Yoga, but I’d really recommend everyone find that thing that gets them working through the layers of their body. Your 37 year old self will thank you.

Re: The Animal Is Tired

#325

Post by dgfitz »

selykg wrote: post #282
SunlightEdge wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the risk of being downvoted I don't find Brandon Sanderson a very good fantasy writer. For me, The way of kings started well (even if the characters were all pretty 2-D) in book one. Interesting plot with it mixing ww1/dune computer game themes in a fantasy setting. But by book 3 it was an incredible chore to get through and I stopped after about 10% in. I even got bored reading the plot summary of the third book.…

Too bad you will never see the end of The King Killer Chronicles. It has been something like 10 years since the last book. Rothfuss is in the exact same situation as Martin for me. I won't buy any books of his until the series is complete. You may not like Sanderson's writing, but the man publishes books. He will get my money for anything he writes because I know I'm going to enjoy it (personally, I really enjoy his…

I absolutely inhaled the first two books by Rothfuss, couldn't put 'em down, this was last year. Then I read up on when the last book would come out, and saw it had been over 10 years between the 2nd book coming out and present day.

Then I started reading about Patrick Rothfuss. I don't think I'll ever read the 3rd book if he ever does actually write it. Yes write, all indications are he hasn't written a page. I have lost whatever respect I have had for the guy. If he has a legitimate reason as to why he has kept his "fans" waiting for over a decade, he should say it. This reasoning is bullshit. [1] I would 100% understand if he said something like "I'm under a lot of pressure and I have anxiety and writers block" or something to that effect. Nope, he just completely checked out.

Maybe I'll read the Wikipedia summary if it ever exists.

[1] https://winteriscoming.net/2020/12/04/patrick-rothfuss-expla...

Re: The Animal Is Tired

#326

Post by joeberon »

Sargos wrote: post #320
sneak wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there is no animal you live inside, this is not a meat vehicle for something else, your body is you, it's not some machine you merely inhabit. I wonder how history will view such statements once we manage the ability to uncouple our humanity from our meat prisons.

Much of our humanity and ability to reason comes from our gut flora and various other parts of our body. Every year we learn a bit more about this complex relationship and how the brain is just one part of our consciousness and not the "CPU" as we used to believe so I become less convinced that we will achieve some kind of Matrix style integration within my lifetime. For what it's worth it seems most likely that we w…

And since our gut flora influences our mind so much, and since our mind influences our body so much (see the physical effects of stress), we can't really consider what _happens_ to our body to be separate from our mind either. If our body and mind are intimately linked, so are our minds and the food we eat. Personally I think that the distinction between those things is just some conventional idea we have that enables our interaction with the world. Does nature itself imply an inherent separation and cutoff point between the body and mind, and thus the mind and the entire universe?

Re: The Animal Is Tired

#327

Post by spyrefused »

climb_stealth wrote: post #61
autarch wrote: post #33

Robin Hobb is one of my favorite authors. Her masterwork is a series of series (four trilogies and a quadrology) known as The Realm of the Elderlings. She published the first trilogy, which begins with Assassin's Apprentice, starting in 1995. I saw the books when they first came out and I assumed from the title and the cover that it would be a cheesy fantasy by the numbers, so I never bought it. But I kept hearing ab…

Aw man, I just started a comment saying how this sounds really promising and was going to ask about it. Turns out I have actually read them. I might have to read them all again. I would recommend them as well. I'm a big fan of the Malazan series as well. I still think of the hair jacket when I come across someone with a smelly jacket and it never fails to crack me up. My recommendation for epic fantasy that is a bit…

Of the last few years, the author I have enjoyed the most has undoubtedly been Joe Abercrombie, especially "The First Law".

Re: The Animal Is Tired

#328

Post by bun_at_work »

rubicon33 wrote: post #2

70? My animal is only 33 and is very tired. Writing this as it lays in bed, 3 in the afternoon, because even a standard chair sounds more exhausting to it. It seems to have no motivation or energy to do much besides lay here. If I force it, it will get stuff done but at a huge cost. It will yearn the entire time to just lay back down. It's interest in things seems to be fading quickly. What desire it used to have to…

You've probably heard it before, but exercise will help. It does so much good for mental and physical health, it's basically mandatory.

After that, removing dopamine feedback loops (browsing the internet, social media, etc.) will help tremendously with motivation.

After reading a number of books on psychology and behavior it has become clear that the adaptability of humans works for and against us. If you browse the internet you adapt to that type of mental effort, where fast, shallow patterns of thought and action are rewarded. Alternatively, reading books, exercising, working on hobby projects, etc, all train you to subdue the desire for immediate gratification, in favor of future gratification, which is more healthy and rewarding.

Re: The Animal Is Tired

#329

Post by kaidon »

andykx wrote: post #171
01100011 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? In my 30s I felt on top of the world. Enough wisdom to put my knowledge to good use and a fit body that only had the occasional ache. Everything went downhill around 42 though. Eyesight, hearing, processing speed, memory, sleep apnea, weight gain, hair loss, ED... I have to be on some combination of marijuana to sleep and modafinil to wake up. Exercise helps but the gains fade fast so it's basically a 10% tax…

Exercise is probably the best thing you can do to improve your longevity. I don't have a source, but I don't think this is a controversial idea. Even long walks can help (though as someone who lives in the middle of nowhere, I can understand if this is not possible). I'm only 28, but I find that long walks on the treadmill (with my laptop in front of me, while I'm working) can really make me feel a lot better. I do h…

I used to love excercise -- but a decade of power-lifting at the gym and going hard from 25-36 has destroyed my back/shoulders/hips... everything. Have been enjoying the longest streak of sciatica-free pain for the last 8 months since gyms have been locked down due to COVID. Still get out and walk lots, but I really wish I had been far more moderate with excercise when I was younger.

Re: The Animal Is Tired

#330

Post by vaughandroid »

SunlightEdge wrote: post #312
selykg wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too bad you will never see the end of The King Killer Chronicles. It has been something like 10 years since the last book. Rothfuss is in the exact same situation as Martin for me. I won't buy any books of his until the series is complete. You may not like Sanderson's writing, but the man publishes books. He will get my money for anything he writes because I know I'm going to enjoy it (personally, I really enjoy his…

Unfortunately, I agree with you. The stone door I've almost given up on. And I was reading GOT way before it became famous on TV. Again stopped expecting a new book. He's passed away now. But I did quite like the British fantasy writer David Gemell. He knocked out books too. His books are violent and personally I like dark and gritty.

"Personally I like dark and gritty." On the offchance you haven't given Joe Abercrombie a try, you really ought to.
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