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Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests

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Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests

#91

Post by pschuegr »

xcambar wrote: post #19

As 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…

Insightful comment, thanks. Finding better ways to frame things is an important tool.

Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests

#92

Post by Kaze404 »

chadlavi wrote: post #5
dexwiz wrote: post #3

I wonder how much of the current anxiety wave that seems to have stricken Millennials and Gen Z is because they have no idea how to be alone with their thoughts. Anecdotally, I have heard a great many jokes about needing a distraction due to negative internal discourse. Like if they are left alone for more than 5 minutes by themselves, they will inevitably spiral into depression. I have people in my life that need a…

Well, that and the world is a pretty terrible place. Think about it for too long and you'll get pretty depressed.

This comment is filled with replies from obviously privileged people. I’m very glad there’s people who can look at the world and still think it’s more good than bad, and I sure hope those are the majority, but that’s simply not the case for everyone. Some people unfortunately live with fear not because they read too many news, but simply because the world is hostile to them, and we have to acknowledge that as well.

Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests

#93

Post by zw7 »

jahewson wrote: post #81
gofreddygo wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That phenomenon is very real in my personal case. Unfortunately the ideas go away by the time i get hold of pen and paper after the shower. Possible solutions to this are welcome.

I had one of these for a while, water proof: https://www.amazon.com/Aqua-Notes-Water-Proof-Note/dp/B01AS5...

Nice! I've been wanting something to take notes on in the shower and this looks perfect.

Are you able to share your thoughts on how well it worked? I don't trust Amazon reviews.

Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests

#94

Post by neither_color »

jerlam wrote: post #31

There's also the long-standing idea that people come up with great/interesting ideas while in the shower (so much that it's an internet meme), and that's attributed to the shower being one of the few places where you don't have media or electronics trying to capture your attention.

I sometimes drive without any music/podcasts/radio on and get the same effects as shower thoughts. The mind is good at promising things when you dont have to follow through with them immediately.

Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests

#95

Post by presentation »

thewarrior wrote: post #53
presentation wrote: post #47

I 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…

How did the experience change you in the long term

A few things

- I have a better awareness of how I’m feeling in general. This let’s me not wallow in my lows and really enjoy my highs

- I found a formulaic way that I can calm my mind - useful when I’m restless but want to sleep, stressed out and avoiding work, just want to think rationally about something, etc

- I feel just generally more open and flexible as a result of noticing how my emotions influence my thoughts.

Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests

#96

Post by marttt »

nonrandomstring wrote: post #42
liberia wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I also liked the digital watches quote:

"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea...

This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movement of small green pieces of paper, which was odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

And so the problem remained; lots of people were mean, and most of them were miserable, even the ones with digital watches."

Douglas Adams seems strangely forgotten these days (or is he, in the UK?), considering how great he really was. It would be extremely interesting to hear his thoughts or spinoffs on the climate crisis.

Then again, he did offer many straightforward solutions, though, e.g.:

"FOOT WARRIOR: Do not panic! Lay Down your arms. We just want you to relax and enjoy your shoes."

Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests

#97

Post by marttt »

lazide wrote: post #59
anvandare wrote: post #15

"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…

Good luck with young kids!

I think young kids are much more OK with boredom than adults, at least up to a certain age. The whole idea of "boredom = bad" is, IMO, a cultural meme. In the course of time, kids are simply taught to think this way.

Before going to the kindergarten, our firstborn was fine with "doing nothing". He rarely questioned it. As soon as the first months there were passed, he started complaining about "boredom" at home -- obviously, either other kids or the teacher had brought this meme up. He is 2nd grade now, and with some success, we teach him to think that boredom is OK and a source of unexpected, inspiring ideas.

I think kids are fine as long as you don't completely forget the right buttons.

Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests

#98

Post by fullshark »

dQw4w9WgXcQ wrote: post #17
theshrike79 wrote: post #11

I've said this a thousand times and will repeat it until I die: The #1 job for a parent is to make sure their children are bored out of their minds regularly. Take away the sources of easy serotonin (usually the smartphone), either by taking the kid outside without it or whatever works for you. For example if you're on a 20 minute car ride as a family, the kids don't need to be on their smart device every second of t…

100%. A book, a backyard and a stick is all kids need. For each birthday they get an additional book and stick.

Spare the rod spoil the child?

Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests

#99

Post by tapanjk »

nisa wrote: post #89
dexwiz wrote: post #3

I wonder how much of the current anxiety wave that seems to have stricken Millennials and Gen Z is because they have no idea how to be alone with their thoughts. Anecdotally, I have heard a great many jokes about needing a distraction due to negative internal discourse. Like if they are left alone for more than 5 minutes by themselves, they will inevitably spiral into depression. I have people in my life that need a…

Not being poor or in debt also helps quite a bit. Having a perspective and not being stuck in jobs that will never pay a house no matter what you do might also help. Having successful parents also helps, otherwise it's difficult to read all the subtle social cues that make a difference. Never felt as anxious and isolated as when hanging around with privileged art students. Subjectively society got a lot more focused…

> Never felt as anxious and isolated as when hanging around with privileged art students.

I am picking up a broad brush but bear with me for the moment. It is likely that half -- if not more -- of those 'privileged art students' felt anxious and isolated in spite of their positive demeanor. If privilege alone was a solution for general well-being, we would not have as many rich and famous people struggling to keep it straight. Don't get me wrong, privilege helps a lot, but may not be enough.

Growing up, I thought that if only my family had more money, I would feel much better. Now, I think that my anxiety is caused by other things such as lack of control over my schedule, uncertainty about the future, and feeling of stuckness in the job (even if it is well paid). On the other hand, knowing that I have multiple options for gainful employment and having the ability to work on things that I care about -- brings me joy and satisfaction.

In short, just having the ability to walk away from a situation is calming and joy-inducing. It does not matter whether that situation is good or bad, all that matters is that I have options.

Re: Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests

#100

Post by fastball »

silentsea90 wrote: post #86
quickthrower2 wrote: post #79

My anecdotal experience is this is good thing to do. But I am addicted to devices, especially HN, Reddit and a game I won't mention because I don't want to get you addicted to it too. I think you can get a lot of joy by letting your mind wander! It may not be productive (like an Eureka moment), but it can be fun, it can also remembering to do something you would have otherwise not thought about.

It takes a fair bit to go from hearing about a game to being addicted to it. What game is it?

My money is on one of the classic HN-crowd time-sinks: KSP, Factorio, EVE Online, Stardew Valley, Rimworld, etc.

edit: can't believe I almost forgot Universal Paperclips

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