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You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

blog.jim-nielsen.com

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Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#291

Post by pixl97 »

madaxe_again wrote: post #231
daniel_reetz wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm. The experiences that changed and benefited me most were least predictable. As a result, I try to manage experiences less, and choose the unknown more. But in the spirit of what you've said, I try to avoid doing dumb, damaging, or boring things twice.

I just got into the habit of saying “yes” to pretty much anything. It has taken me on some wild rides indeed, and I am richer in spirit for it. It forged the bond between my wife and me - “shall we do a road trip across Eurasia?”, she idly asked, expecting at the very most a “maybe” - instead I grasped that nettle and applied for visas that day. Six weeks of utterly madcap adventure ensued. Since, I’ve found myself i…

Isn't this also just a form of survivorship bias? You wouldn't be posting this from prison for example.

Maybe at the end of the day simple platitudes only work for the lucky.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#292

Post by scop »

8bitme wrote: post #290

> the goal of a book isn’t to get to the last page, it’s to expand your thinking. I would apply this to fiction books too. Some people consider reading fiction books a waste of time. But fiction books too can expand your mind by exploring ideas that may not be possible in non-fiction books or exploring the same ideas but in a way that non-fiction books cannot achieve easily or at all.

I exclusively read nonfiction until I had a traumatic event happen to me. After that, I read fiction nonstop for several years. Fiction was the only thing that could help me process it. (Note: not escape the trauma, but help me process it. Nonfiction was too clean, black-and-white, etc. Too simple. Fiction presented a world of uncertainty and doubt that I could live through and thus reflect upon the traumas I had undergone.)

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#293

Post by pixl97 »

FrustratedMonky wrote: post #276
b112 wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. Although as with anything, moderation is key. Not too much, or too little. Listening to 4 hours a day of Tiktok or Youtube boneheads, probably isn't all that good for the average person. (I'm not referring to intellectual videos, but instead just "some random person" that has amassed 10M followers because they .. well I don't know what they do, except market themselves well. Then start blathering on about lit…

Having watched a lot of educational and scientific videos, I'm beginning to think there are diminishing returns, and they can be just as addictive and non-valuable. Filling the day with any video's seems to have downsides.

I mean, then take ops advice one more step

>moderation is key. Not too much, or too little

Watching videos all day, even 'good' videos isn't moderation. Your physical body, therefore your mind suffers from lack of exercise.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#294

Post by pixl97 »

somenameforme wrote: post #173
Ekaros wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would agree that humans are pretty decent in tiny communities. Scaling beyond that they are absolutely unquestionably horrific monsters. Without any doubt. And those communities are not ready to punish their own community for those horrific deeds they comitted.

I take a slightly different perspective (while sharing a similar final perspective) on the community issue. Rather I think individual choice drives people to communities that they, at least broadly, align with. So you end up with communities that are not only overly permissive towards their own, but also overly critical of those outside of it. But then as those communities grow large enough divisions start to form ev…

>overly permissive towards their own, but also overly critical of those outside of it

aka: tribalism.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#295

Post by pixl97 »

robertlagrant wrote: post #257
pjerem wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Existence of mental illness or troubles makes me doubt that. What is free will when you are suffering from pathological procrastination, depression or addiction ? If you accept the fact that, like in addictions, your brain chemistry makes you smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol even when you know you’ll die from it and know it makes you miserable then how can you be convinced that you really control your normal behavio…

> If you accept the fact that, like in addictions, your brain chemistry makes you smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol even when you know you’ll die from it and know it makes you miserable then how can you be convinced that you really control your normal behaviors ? Your brain chemistry is part of this will, though. > science now knows that changing behavior is hard I don't think science knows things. And while changing…

>Your brain chemistry is part of this will, though.

But here's the thing, given enough knowledge that chemistry is deterministic.

Will seems to be one of those words we've created from deep ignorance, much like consciousness, and the more we learn about the world and ourselves the less our old views make sense.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#296

Post by Zambyte »

vasco wrote: post #260
pyinstallwoes wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry but that's bullshit. Advertising is carte blanche mind control. Markets and products can easily exist without advertising. In fact, they're better. You go to markets, and you have curators. Advertising outside of a market should be not only illegal but culturally frowned upon as a root ethic.

> Markets and products can easily exist without advertising Source needed - seeing I don't know any company that doesn't advertise in some shape or form. The ones that I found that claim they don't, actually do advertise and use the "we don't advertise" as further advertisements. By definition I think it'd be hard to find companies that truly don't advertise, so maybe you know of some that are successful but don't do…

I'm not a fan of Tesla but to give credit where it's due, I have never seen an advertisement from them. The closest thing I have seen is branded chargers, which is also a functional display of their brand (you need to know if you can use the charger or not).

There are also tons of small companies that have no advertising. Think one or few man shows that operate on word of mouth, and are not looking to grow.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#297

Post by al_borland »

freilanzer wrote: post #215
al_borland wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still write a fair amount, I just don’t write book reports. The environment I find comfortable for reading isn’t conducive to taking notes that would be needed for writing later. If there is a particular passages that really stands out I will note it down. I have a little collection of those (and other quotes) I sometimes read through.

I use a blank paper sheet as bookmark and carry a pen, so that I write down important notes from the book content on the bookmark. Afterwards the book is - ideally and dependent on the content - condensed to one sheet, that I can refer to later. It also helps with retaining the content.

I’ve tried this with an index card once and quickly filled it up. As I ran out of space I found myself question if someone was card worthy, which was a distraction.

I also tried writing in the margins on a book. I don’t like writing in the book due to it losing a lot of ability to shared after the fact, or if the book isn’t mine it’s a non-starter. That said, it was a very different experience, it was more like having a conversation with the author.

I may need to experiment more to try and find something that works.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#298

Post by Balgair »

8bitme wrote: post #290

> the goal of a book isn’t to get to the last page, it’s to expand your thinking. I would apply this to fiction books too. Some people consider reading fiction books a waste of time. But fiction books too can expand your mind by exploring ideas that may not be possible in non-fiction books or exploring the same ideas but in a way that non-fiction books cannot achieve easily or at all.

" In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you."

-Mortimer J Adler

I think this quote applies too.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#299

Post by fikama »

scyzoryk_xyz wrote: post #272
kieckerjan wrote: post #182

A corollary of this idea that also the bad stuff that you read leaves a trace, and not necessarily a good trace. To continue the food metaphor: like junk food there is junk reading and while it may satisfy some need it is all informational empty calories and transfats. Which brings up a subject I pondered many times: to go on an information diet. Any thoughts on that would be appreciated.

I applied the same thing to my media dieting - I have made a conscious effort to sort of curate and eliminate certain pages and news sources. This orange site I have mixed feelings about though.

Could you share? What are the media outlets that passed positively your elimination? And you are still using them?

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#300

Post by pixl97 »

082349872349872 wrote: post #141
sublinear wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the blog post necessarily supports this view. You still have your free will. Your past experiences also teach you what to ignore. You are free to do that to my comment. :)

> Your past experiences also teach you what to ignore. "Everyone learns from experience. The wise try to learn from other people's experience."

Other people's experience you witness, directly or via delayed medium, is your experience.
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