(Disclosure: I am Andrew) This is a project to help with some personal growth, not really a "I'm better" or "everyone should be like me." It is just something I did. It taught me amazing things.
My brother, currently running a non-profit abroad, utilizes a similar lifestyle. Everything he owns he can fit into his small backpack. I learned a ton from him about the benefits of mobility--something I would have thought the lean, mobile startup crowd here on HN would've related to more. Attachments--to belongings or business plans are a source of strength but are also over emphasized. I admire what you've done an…
Ah, that's perfect! It shouldn't be called a minimalist lifestyle; it should be called a mobile lifestyle.
I'd disagree, simply because you could take that to the extreme. Does he own the water he drinks, the air he breathes, the life he lives through? As far as I can see, we're talking strictly in physical items.
Then let's talk about items that were once physical. He owns some music. He owns some movies. He owns lots of documents. et cetera.
We can take that further. If clumps of data that make up a "file" is a possession, what about the thousands of executable and library files that make up his operating system? He may not use the calculator or chess game, but his computer surely comes with that. What about every bit that make those up?
We need a clear line or this gets silly, and I think physical possessions is a clear enough line.
I think you're right about words describing styles being flexible but wrong given the amount of flexibility you expect and the examples you've given. Minimalism, in every example I can think of, has a context. What you've described is a minimalist percussion exhibition and a minimalist recording. If you asked some people to describe those two things I expect you would get some similar thoughts. The focus is on the re…
Did you actually mean to say that traveling the world on an airplane with a backpack is not minimalist, but driving around the country in a classic VW Bug - a fossil-fueled vehicle which is considerably less efficient per passenger-mile than a passenger jet - is minimalist? That driving around on a publicly-funded, continuously-maintained network of asphalt doesn't constitute "pushing consumption off onto others"? On…
By the example I do not mean driving around the country but keeping owned objects down to a manageable amount where moving easily is possible. But that will turn into an uninteresting side topic as -internet- discussion sometimes does. I have a habit of looking for ways for people to agree and what assumptions are causing disagreement. I believe I've accurately described your initial disagreement with detrich as a difference of assumptions about a definition. To me minimalism is keeping the number of chunks one has to consider low enough so up and moving to another city, by car or plane, is easy. (I can't find that Trio's song. But I'm not sure you mentioned it before either.)
In this picture as well as many other such collections, one thing that stands out to me is the fact that no one has any food. The idea put forth here is to keep in ones life only "absolutely necessary" things, ostensibly as a reaction to consumerism, but when creating lists of absolute necessities, somehow food and shelter do not make the cut. How is this possible? My view is that this "reaction to consumerism" is ac…
Well written critique, much better that the up voted one that is just mean.
My brother, currently running a non-profit abroad, utilizes a similar lifestyle. Everything he owns he can fit into his small backpack. I learned a ton from him about the benefits of mobility--something I would have thought the lean, mobile startup crowd here on HN would've related to more. Attachments--to belongings or business plans are a source of strength but are also over emphasized. I admire what you've done an…
Ah, that's perfect! It shouldn't be called a minimalist lifestyle; it should be called a mobile lifestyle.
that's pretty good. source? with a wish-list like that what do they need alms for? I couldn't live without a toothbrush though.
The list mentioned is repeated here: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/ariyesako/layguid... I've heard this list other places too but don't have a source. The four requisites mentioned on that page are what I typically think of.
toothpaste and toothbrush are definitely medical then, as a dentist definitely is in the field of medicine, and if you don't use them your teeth rot and fall out. oral-B is definitely a medical brand. "warding off disease" simply and clearly covers this, then. Thanks for the informative link.
You make the guy sound like Pol Pot rather than a dude who just lives out of a suit case. Your post is at least keeping with the theme that has been prevalent over the past few days, HN is just mean now.
Indeed. Self-righteous, ill-humored, unconsidered, and mean. Hopefully it's just a phase.
And intolerant as well. Let the guy live like this, if he wants, and write about it. Why are HNers feeling so attacked by that?
He's not claiming that everyone else is doing it wrong, is he? Even though I like owning stuff and wouldn't give it up easily, I find his idea of minimization intruiging.