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Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests
41–50 of 193 posts
Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests
#42"Tout le malheur des hommes vient d’une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos dans une chambre." "All the unhappiness of men arises from a single fact, which is from not knowing how to stay at rest in a room." (Blaise Pascal, Pensées, 139) It is no coincidence that the word 'idle' means both 'doing nothing' and 'being worthless'. I could write out a longer comment with some more thoughts on the heal…
All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone. Blaise Pascal For another spin on it. That quote is brilliant and profound. Sad that thinking is regarded as an afflicting disease and our devices are the cure. I purposefully dedicate an hour to just do jack shit and be alone with my thoughts. ‘Oh you saw something in your mind? Relax it’s called an idea. Get used to them’
"The Belcerebons of Kakrafoon Kappa were sentenced to telepathy by a
Galactic Tribunal because the rest of the galaxy found peaceful
contemplation contemptuous." - HHGTTG
I often think smartphones were inflicted upon Earth by our alien neighbours to distract us and stop us ever getting off this rock.
Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
To pair with a book: blank paper and something to mark it with To pair with a stick, when old enough: a knife.
This is a good guide to follow with kids: https://www.fiftydangerousthings.com Our kid started with a knife when they were around 2 or 3. A dull-ish slightly serrated one first and graduated to an actual kitchen knife at 4. Got their first actual outdoor knife for their 5th birthday.
I got a Swiss army knife when I was maybe ten. I never really used it for anything. I've done lots of outdoors things but I've never quite understood why people find knives so useful.
Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests
#44There is some interesting discussion in the analysis portion of the paper that resonated deeply with me. >However, the fact that participants underestimated the potential task motivation during the thinking period may indicate that people avoid thinking not because it is aversive but because it is expected to be aversive. >Such an inaccurate expectation may lead people to unnecessarily avoid spending time thinking in…
Just did the same to my bookmark. In Smart Note Taking, the idea of focusing on what you are consuming for the purpose of learning and writing is constantly stressed. Namely, in reading something, how does this further my learning and/or writing? If it does, record a brief note of it. If it does not, consider, well, putting that away and moving back to something else.
Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests
#45"Tout le malheur des hommes vient d’une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos dans une chambre." "All the unhappiness of men arises from a single fact, which is from not knowing how to stay at rest in a room." (Blaise Pascal, Pensées, 139) It is no coincidence that the word 'idle' means both 'doing nothing' and 'being worthless'. I could write out a longer comment with some more thoughts on the heal…
Chambre would normally be translated as bedroom.
Not usually and definitely not in this context.
Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests
#46[deleted]
Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests
#47I found that a two week long vipassana meditation retreat was a great way to really come to appreciate being alone with your thoughts. I experienced a clarity of mind I pretty much never experienced in my life up to that point, mostly from spending two weeks of having no choice but to be alone with myself. It’s materially different than a 20 minute interlude of solitude/meditation (and also far more difficult both to make the time and to persist through it), but also very rewarding.
Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests
#48"Tout le malheur des hommes vient d’une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos dans une chambre." "All the unhappiness of men arises from a single fact, which is from not knowing how to stay at rest in a room." (Blaise Pascal, Pensées, 139) It is no coincidence that the word 'idle' means both 'doing nothing' and 'being worthless'. I could write out a longer comment with some more thoughts on the heal…
Most people today are still learning to control their emotions, and since emotions dont exist in a still form, such people have to keep talking or moving. Some people are mastering thoughts at the moment, and few are learning to use intuition.
The 1st kungfu panda movie shows a great allegory on these three stages. Po is a beginner: his emotions, by virtue of their momentum, keep Po making talk endlessly and make lots of random moves that summarily achieve nothing. Shifu has mastered emotions, and is mastering thoughts: he knows lots of tricks, but he isn't wise, precisely because he is too busy with the tricks. Oogway shows how to use mind properly: he is balancing on a stick of attention, perfectly still, and is waiting for the voice of intuition; only when a droplet of wisdom falls on him, he engages his mind and with a few precise moves turns that droplet into knowledge.
Great scientists can switch between the two modes. Good ones are too busy with symbolic trickery and never hear the voice of intuition.
Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests
#49As I grew older, there are certain things I have learned to enjoy more, such as slowness, inaction, loneliness, boredom. Boredom is typically the most controversial, so the reason here is that boredom first allows for moments you want out of, but also there's more: It expands the range of comfort zone of emotions and sets the ground floor of your emotions low enough that you can actually welcome more experiences as r…
Well as a hacker, boredom is the enemy and we’re always at war with boredom. For a hacker, boredom is a form of death.
This sounds like a quote from Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.
Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests
#50I did a one hour float tank session before. It’s very interesting and kinda hard experience being with only yourself floating in water for a full hour.
I've enjoyed sensory deprivation tanks like this, but to be perfectly honest, I feel like I can let my mind wander the same way when I wake up an hour before my alarm goes off and manage to resist picking up my phone.