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I read a book that blew my mind a little

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Re: I read a book that blew my mind a little

#51

Post by [deleted] »

float4 wrote: post #43
boplicity wrote: post #32

>Of course, none of these desires relate in any way to your personal happiness or true desires. This is where it lost me. I can't agree with this statement. Many people are savvy enough to know that they're influenced by the people around them. The natural response, of course, is to choose the people in your life, as well as be aware of the pros and cons of having those people in your life. Most people who have a big…

René Girard is the man who worked out the theory of mimetism a couple decades ago, but he's not even mentioned here. If you want a proper explanation of mimetic theory, you should read some of his books. > Many people are savvy enough to know that they're influenced by the people around them Girard acknowledges that many people before him, e.g. Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, the Evangelists, were very aware of mimetic theo…

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Re: I read a book that blew my mind a little

#52

Post by davidivadavid »

softwaredoug wrote: post #48

I have wondered a lot recently about this too. Why do wee seek out drama and controversy when our lives have become so comfortable and easy? Why when scanning (social) media do we so easily fall for clickbait and ignore the intellectual topics? My theory is that comfortable people lack purpose. We intentionally seek drama and controversy because it's hard to bear the purposeless of life. Contentment is one of the har…

"All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone." — Blaise Pascal

P.S. Of course, most interesting stuff about humanity stems from the same problem...

Re: I read a book that blew my mind a little

#53

Post by FuckedCompany »

thundergolfer wrote: post #19

I've got very different politics to Peter Thiel, but I've long been interested in why he thinks what he thinks. I think he's the most honest and interesting billionaire around. The place to go seems to be Girard's Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World , but I'll need to take a holiday on a beach somewhere to have the headspace to get through its ~500 pages.

If you knew what the other billionaires really thought, you’d have very different politics to them, too.

Re: I read a book that blew my mind a little

#54

Post by davidivadavid »

alphabettsy wrote: post #50
gtirloni wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He said Peter "popularized" it, not invented.

He didn’t popularize it either.

He popularized it in tech circles where people all read from the same basket of 5 pop science books.

Re: I read a book that blew my mind a little

#55

Post by Rzor »

qq4 wrote: post #12

What is surprising about people wanting to fit in with one another? There is nothing new about monkey see monkey do.

It's one of those unseen realities (or banal platitudes as Foster Wallace said) of everyday life. How's the water, boys? said the old fish.

Re: I read a book that blew my mind a little

#56

Post by Jansen312 »

boplicity wrote: post #32

>Of course, none of these desires relate in any way to your personal happiness or true desires. This is where it lost me. I can't agree with this statement. Many people are savvy enough to know that they're influenced by the people around them. The natural response, of course, is to choose the people in your life, as well as be aware of the pros and cons of having those people in your life. Most people who have a big…

Diamond and black pearl are good example where "savvy" people want them because others do. Modern days, bitcoin and all those altcoins would be the same. One own happiness of these "savvy" people depends on how others perceive

Re: I read a book that blew my mind a little

#57

Post by the_jeremy »

Jugurtha wrote: post #2

That thread also blew my mind a bit. I do ask the question when I want something. "Why do I want this ?". Something that drew my attention to this phenomenon is all the ridiculous Hollywood movie scripts. It's always an unpopular teenager who'll then gain superpowers and impress people in his high-school, and everyone will ooh and aaah and take pictures and videos of him doing something 'cool', and the proverbial gir…

> almost certain those who write these either are virgins, or write them for virgins.

Come on. People like being liked. Even if it's superficially, in a way that wouldn't work if they get to know the "true you", it's fun to be respected. There are some caveats (most people don't want paparazzi-level fame, imposter syndrome sucks, etc.).

I like being the local bash expert in my peer group, even though realistically it just means more work for me because I have to help other people with weird shell problems. Competency is respected, and people like being respected.

Maybe you don't agree, but I don't think your opinions generalize.

Re: I read a book that blew my mind a little

#58

Post by the_jeremy »

bawolff wrote: post #39
guyzero wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a little subtler than that: peers don't just influence to do things, they influence you to want things.

That's still just the normal definition of peer pressure.

I think of peer pressure as doing something to conform or as something explicit your peer group wants you to do. If one of your friends gets a Tesla, they probably don't want you to get a Tesla. If everyone gets one, it doesn't make them stand out anymore, it's the new baseline.

Peer pressure is overweight friends subtly trying to prevent you from losing weight because it makes them feel more bad about their weight. Peer pressure is friends convincing you some trip or experience will be worth it and you should come with them. I don't think of peer pressure as keeping up with the Joneses (but you are right that we already have a phrase for this phenomenon).

Re: I read a book that blew my mind a little

#59

Post by trevyn »

sirdavidof wrote: post #7

It's often underappreciated how _hard_ it can be to tell why you want something. I've spent weeks thinking as rationally as I could about a decision, and with years of hindsight realised it was based mainly on what others wanted. If anyone feels they've solved this, I'd love to hear how.

You are a program optimized to increase human biomass.

That’s literally all that’s happening.

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