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Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)
51–60 of 217 posts
Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)
#52Our society isn't exactly set up for "doing nothing", either. If you're just sitting somewhere without doing anything, you might be loitering, you'll start getting funny looks if this goes on for extended periods of time. On the other hand, if you're sitting somewhere and you're smoking, or reading, none of that seems to happen. I wonder if we're uncomfortable with other people's ability to do nothing .
In 2002, on my way to work in I think Berkeley (definitely somewhere in the Bay Area), I noticed some beautiful echoes in the subway station, and I stopped walking, stood still, and listened. A staff member walked up and asked if I was okay. I said yes. Maybe I explained what I was doing, I don't remember. A few minutes later three paramedics appeared, forcibly strapped me to a gurney, and took me to a hospital. I pr…
That's exactly what people about to commit suicide do.
Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)
#53Curious if the study would have the same results today with the prevalence of Mindfulness meditation. Perhaps it's my predisposition since I've googled for it. But I see advertisements for Calm and Headspace. I think even on TV. I see "Mindfulness" centers, physical places to take classes and meditate. A whole commercial market has taken hold of this new interest of fighting back the confusion of modern life. My trou…
As someone that has regularly meditated for years now, I still wouldn’t say sitting alone with nothing to do is an enjoyable experience. You can turn it into an opportunity for meditation or other types of deep thinking, but that’s more like “work” than anything else.
Yeah that "enjoyable" state is kind of difficult to describe. My experience may be different than yours but for me it's an emptiness of being in tranquility with the chaos of my own thoughts. Only with deliberate practice. To me "work" does not mean suffering but directed concentration and discipline. If I accept my mistakes and imperfectness of that "work" the process to me is "enjoyable". But the "joy" is difficult here because it's not really that exact emotion.
Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
>substituting titillations for profound organic satisfactions, cleverness for wisdom, and jagged surprises for beauty... ...And porn for relationships and intimacy. If there's any modern ill that has exacerbated our inability to be comfortable with boredom (which is essentially inner loneliness) it's porn. It's an escape for loneliness and a terrible salve that leaves the intrinsic desires for intimacy and connection…
> [porn is] akin to drinking salt water to cure thirst. That's an exceptionally beautiful analogy.
There's a professor somewhere trying to prove that you can extend how long your pure water lasts by also drinking sea water; or something like that. Having trouble finding it right now.
Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)
#55Ever since reading Bertrand Russell's "The Conquest of Happiness", I've thought a lot about the importance of being able to sit inside my own head. One quote that I wrote down: > A life too full of excitement is an exhausting life, in which continually stronger stimuli are needed to give the thrill that has come to be thought an essential part of pleasure. A person accustomed to too much excitement is like a person w…
Exactly this. My #1 advice for new parents is that the most important thing for a parent in the long run is to make sure their children are bored out of their gourds regularly.
Kids need to have times when screen time has run out, there's nothing on TV and they have no hobbies on engagements to run to. Just time alone without any external inputs.
This is the point where creativity usually pops up. Kids should be able to play with anything around them.
Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)
#56I'm 27 years old and I don't have much purpose in life. am I'm kind of becoming desperate, to be honest. I have always thought about becoming a programmer but I don't know where to start. What programming language do you learn first? What languages and skills do you need to learn to become hire-able by a company?
It doesn't really matter what you learn, as long as you actually start, and keep up with it.
Doing something is better than doing nothing
Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)
#57Now if only I could bring myself to actually do something.
Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)
#58This study doesn't make much sense. If the question is whether people would rather study and interact with the world or just ruminate and narcissisticly contemplate their own thoughts, the answer should be obvious, unless you've met anyone who enjoys the idea of being buried alive. I bet fitness people would be fine with this short-term solitary confinement, because they're at least entertained by their own bodies.
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Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)
#59Our society isn't exactly set up for "doing nothing", either. If you're just sitting somewhere without doing anything, you might be loitering, you'll start getting funny looks if this goes on for extended periods of time. On the other hand, if you're sitting somewhere and you're smoking, or reading, none of that seems to happen. I wonder if we're uncomfortable with other people's ability to do nothing .
In 2002, on my way to work in I think Berkeley (definitely somewhere in the Bay Area), I noticed some beautiful echoes in the subway station, and I stopped walking, stood still, and listened. A staff member walked up and asked if I was okay. I said yes. Maybe I explained what I was doing, I don't remember. A few minutes later three paramedics appeared, forcibly strapped me to a gurney, and took me to a hospital. I pr…
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Re: Doing something is better than doing nothing for most people: study (2014)
#60The funniest part: "[The researchers] then asked, “Would they rather do an unpleasant activity than no activity at all?” ... Participants were given the same circumstances as most of the previous studies, with the added option of also administering a mild electric shock to themselves by pressing a button. Twelve of 18 men in the study gave themselves at least one electric shock during the study’s 15-minute “thinking”…
It's really fascinating to me as well that a lot of men would be that way. I understand "why" but for myself personally I can entertain my own thoughts alone for an extended period time. I've always been that way since I was young so the thought of shocking yourself because you're bored with your own thoughts still is an odd concept to me. How can you despise your own inner monologue that much? Is introspection really that unmasculine of a task to some men? Many people to me seem so focused on the present and engaging without considering possible outcomes before acting. It's one facet of humanity I still don't understand outside of justifying that it's another irrational thing humans do for the sake of irrationality.