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Ask HN: Are we all burned out?

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Re: Ask HN: Are we all burned out?

#81

Post by pitched »

gaudat wrote: post #13
owenpalmer wrote: post #6

Get off your phone. Get off the news. They're doing nothing for you. Jump in some cold water. Feel reality for what it is. Don't use any products that simulate dopamine (phone, tv, video games, junk food), they're killing you from the inside.

Seconded getting off the news or your phone. I learned to embrace blissful ignorance.

“ The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.” — Thomas Jefferson

I don’t think blissful ignorance is the right way to think of it. I think the news (and social media) today is the same as it’s always been. Don’t cut yourself off but don’t take any of it too seriously.

Re: Ask HN: Are we all burned out?

#82

Post by princevegeta89 »

owenpalmer wrote: post #6

Get off your phone. Get off the news. They're doing nothing for you. Jump in some cold water. Feel reality for what it is. Don't use any products that simulate dopamine (phone, tv, video games, junk food), they're killing you from the inside.

I agree with getting off the news. Every morning when I wake up, I check the news and run into a bunch of fresh, disturbingly sad news items involving some disgusting, pathetic psychopaths that upsets my entire mood.

I started to avoid looking at any sort of news and felt better. I know that we need to have a positive outlook, but the level of disturbances seem to get me these days. I urge you to try it out as well

Re: Ask HN: Are we all burned out?

#83

Post by [deleted] »

humanistbot wrote: post #8
sn0w_crash wrote: post #3

No, I don’t want to sound cold but I’m sorry to say… this is called “life.” Our parents had tough times, and their parents had tough times, and so on throughout history. People have dealt with famines, wars, oppression, economic struggles, disease and death for thousands of years. I’m not suggesting the feelings of burnout aren’t real. I’m just saying that every generation experiences some level of hardship and it’s…

> Our parents had tough times, and their parents had tough times, and so on throughout history. US baby boomers had the best luck to be born in a time of massive prosperity, and opportunities have been steadily declining since then. My father didn't go to college and worked construction. He didn't own the company, just manual labor. He could pay the mortgage on a nice house in the suburbs and support a family on one…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Are we all burned out?

#84

Post by dominotw »

owenpalmer wrote: post #6

Get off your phone. Get off the news. They're doing nothing for you. Jump in some cold water. Feel reality for what it is. Don't use any products that simulate dopamine (phone, tv, video games, junk food), they're killing you from the inside.

Thats like telling obese person 'get off bad food' . Everyone already knows that.

Re: Ask HN: Are we all burned out?

#85

Post by noir_lord »

gaudat wrote: post #13
owenpalmer wrote: post #6

Get off your phone. Get off the news. They're doing nothing for you. Jump in some cold water. Feel reality for what it is. Don't use any products that simulate dopamine (phone, tv, video games, junk food), they're killing you from the inside.

Seconded getting off the news or your phone. I learned to embrace blissful ignorance.

I read the news once a day, I read Reuters because it’s an Wire service it’s less biased, slanted towards bullshit (less not zero).

Been great for my mental health.

Re: Ask HN: Are we all burned out?

#86

Post by rglover »

You don't. A succinct lyric that helped me eliminate the stigma in my mind around not "being into it" all the time:

> It's oh so sad to be happy all the time.

> Autolux - Selectallcopy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vth-n34LK8E)

Society, in general, is a mirage. Most people are insane and insanity is contagious. After 2.5 years of non-stop insanity and some variant of psychological abuse, it's not only okay to feel how you do, but should be expected.

A short read that helped me to realize and accept this is Awareness by Anthony DeMello [1]

FWIW: Don't let the world get you down. Look at your desire to consume content as a phase that needs to pass like a thunderstorm and enjoy the rain.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Awareness-Opportunities-Reality-Antho...

Re: Ask HN: Are we all burned out?

#87

Post by jrochkind1 »

I just wanna talk about the irony of a HN thread, where a large portion of people probably make money by making things people use or look at on their phone, that is mostly people saying "the problem is your phone, get off it".

What are we all doing?

To flip it around, if we're all spending our time making things we believe contribute to harming people, yeah I think that would burn you out.

Re: Ask HN: Are we all burned out?

#88

Post by comboy »

sudden_dystopia wrote: post #21
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #14

> All I want to do is look at my phone and consume more content This will contribute to and/or perpetuate your burnout. If you're overwhelmed and burned out, the last thing you need is to spend more time in front of screens and more time consuming endless streams of content. News content and outrage bait is especially bad at burning people out. It's easy to spend 30 minutes on Reddit or Twitter and feel like the worl…

Yea but that doesn’t solve the problem that the world IS crumbling around us. Putin is backed into a corner, how does that not end in WW3 if we continue on this path?

I recommend reading some history books and reading less news.

I mean that sincerely, but it sounds snarky. Nuclear weapons has been around for like 80 years and influenced global peace. News optimization function is for you to want more of it. The world is constantly changing. If you want to worry about things you have close to zero chance to influence you have so many better options - singulary, bio engineering, self replicating nano bots, great filter, windows 11, climate.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Harari is a fun read, much better than news (which btw, are really hard to come by if you would like to get some insight about what's happening and not just be fed propaganda - kind of disappointing how much there is of it on our side)

Re: Ask HN: Are we all burned out?

#89

Post by goldenchrome »

You’ve taken on the world’s problems by mistake.

- Covid has a nearly 100% survival rate. Have you or someone close to you been mortally affected? Most people I know have not been affected at all.

- The war in Ukraine is happening in Ukraine. Are you near Ukraine?

- Employment rates are very high and the job market is still hot. Are you actually affected by the macroeconomic factors?

Focus on your kid. Focus on yourself. Don’t worry about the world.

Re: Ask HN: Are we all burned out?

#90

Post by Buttons840 »

sudden_dystopia wrote: post #21
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #14

> All I want to do is look at my phone and consume more content This will contribute to and/or perpetuate your burnout. If you're overwhelmed and burned out, the last thing you need is to spend more time in front of screens and more time consuming endless streams of content. News content and outrage bait is especially bad at burning people out. It's easy to spend 30 minutes on Reddit or Twitter and feel like the worl…

Yea but that doesn’t solve the problem that the world IS crumbling around us. Putin is backed into a corner, how does that not end in WW3 if we continue on this path?

The nukes may or may not fall, but the optimal course for most people is the same. If the nukes are coming, turn off the news, enjoy the life you have left. If the nukes are not coming, turn off the news, enjoy the life you have left.

(Some limited time catching up on the news before voting is both acceptable and sufficient.)

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