Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

blog.jim-nielsen.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

371–380 of 466 posts

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

#371

Post by al_borland »

Zambyte wrote: post #350
al_borland wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 havin…

I have also not found a great way to take notes while reading books, but most of my reading is on my computer right now. That makes digital note taking the obvious choice, and space isn't really an issue in that case. My way of deciding what to take notes on is by simply asking myself: could I want to remember this in the future? If the answer is yes (it usually is if I even considered asking it) I make a note of it.…

I use Obsidian at work to organize and plan. When looking up ways to effectively use that I stumbled down the Zettelkasten rabbit hole. It’s a little too involved for my needs. It seems like it might be good if I was doing research to write a book, but is too involved for my daily life. I can see where taking and organizing the notes would turn into a hobby, which is enough of a problem for me already.

I’ve considered reading on the computer, maybe I should actually give it a try.

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

#372

Post by piloto_ciego »

dennis_moore wrote: post #177
piloto_ciego wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Diogenes answer would be to walk across the room and slap you: “if I didn’t chose to do it you cannot be angry at me.” That’s tongue and cheek sure, but the point I feel stands. Free will is certainly constrained, and our material and biological conditions do matter - there’s no amount I can will to make myself fly, but they are not necessarily as rigid of constraints as many would have you believe. We can overcom…

> “if I didn’t chose to do it you cannot be angry at me." Yes I can, because I didn't choose to be angry either.

But would anger be reasonable? Of course not.

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

#373

Post by soylentcola »

trsh wrote: post #367

This is a great way to frame a shift in perspective around what we consume, but just to add some nuance to this: not only should we be thoughtful about the content we consume in a similar way that we are thoughtful about the food we consume, but we should also be self compassionate. Sometimes we want to eat those Chicken 'n' Waffles, just like sometimes we go on a trashy TV show binge! It's just a small thing that se…

Even "comfort food" (or the equivalent) can expand and exercise your thought.

I read a ton of what even I consider "fluff". Science fiction, fantasy, mystery, adventure, horror. Novels that get unceremoniously lumped under "genre fare".

But even if the primary motivation is entertainment, I can honestly say that from a young age, reading lots of anything exposed me to new ideas, ways of thinking, and perspectives.

Even something as simple as spelling and vocabulary seem to come a lot easier, if only due to having seen so many words written out over time. I remember being a kid and never really having issues with spelling or knowing most words because I'd at least run across them already.

That's not to say reading more "serious" material is useless. It just isn't an either/or question.

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

#375

Post by Painsawman123 »

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.

one of the most popular things in modern society,'modern music' (whatever that means)is not different from 'junk food'.. 'Modern music' is to your brain what junk food is to your body! Modern music with its repetitive beats optimized to give you a brief 'dopamine' have a similar effect on your brain as junk food does on your body!! in the same way that junk food provides a quick burst of pleasure but lacks nutritional value, modern music offers instant gratification through repetitive beats and catchy melodies while offering little to no informational value to the brain . .... "junk food", "short videos", "porn" and "modern music" these things are all designed to give you a brief dopamine rush ;)

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

#376

Post by vasco »

nyokodo wrote: post #354
vasco wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine there's no free will. Whatever happens you'll end up crossing the road right now. In one example, you absent-mindedly cross the road. In another example a thought comes to you to get coffee, and you cross the road to get it. In another example you consider not getting coffee, and going to the park instead, but end up choosing coffee because you feel sluggish. If there's no free will, any amount of thinking be…

> You having an illusion of choice doesn't prove anything. It's not reasonable to assume one's experience is an illusion without sufficient evidence which is a bar you haven't crossed. Therefore your argument begs the question.

I didn't say so. I said that having choices to make presented to you, if there were no free will, would be a valid state of affairs. Since it's possible that choices are illusions, you need to address how the choices appear to prove there's free will, it's not enough to say you consider different choices before acting.

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

#377

Post by piloto_ciego »

vasco wrote: post #118
huygens6363 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sure what the point is? Why can’t I be angry? Surely you must see anger is and never will be rational (and also not free). My anger at your slapping is as much determined as your slapping. I see no problem. Free will arguments usually refer to these “justice requires freedom”-like arguments and I feel that’s not the case at all. You can punish, you can feel anger. It’s all included. You cannot separate reacti…

There's free will in the sense that the system is so chaotic and complex that it's impossible to predict for us now at current technology levels, maybe never possible to predict, but I don't see anything in science that would allow free will to be a thing. We're complex automata in the end.

I think this is a failure in imagination not a failure in science.

Still, all these free will deniers are basing their worldview on the (radical) assumption that.

1. Everything has a cause 2. Everything is explainable 3. physical matter is all there is 4. Science can describe literally everything about the universe 4a. Corollary - things that aren’t describable by science don’t exist

All of those claims are unfalsifiable at best and demonstrably false at worst (depending on how hard you squint). Science is effective for repeatable experiments, but that’s not a guarantee that there aren’t events that are one-and-done.

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

#378

Post by Blundermuffin »

y04nn wrote: post #25

Don't forget that you are the result of all the past sensory interactions that you experienced in your whole life, people you interacted with, books you read, advertisements, songs, news headlines, etc. Even if you think you don't remember them, at one point in your life it was processed by your brain and may have changed some posterior decisions you made, thus making you what you are now. Since I realized this, I am…

1) Love what you said here and ingesting this may have changed my outlook on things.

2) Couldn't help but think of this quote from Kamala Harris that has been of recent memery. :P

You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.

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

#379

Post by [deleted] »

Blundermuffin wrote: post #378
y04nn wrote: post #25

Don't forget that you are the result of all the past sensory interactions that you experienced in your whole life, people you interacted with, books you read, advertisements, songs, news headlines, etc. Even if you think you don't remember them, at one point in your life it was processed by your brain and may have changed some posterior decisions you made, thus making you what you are now. Since I realized this, I am…

1) Love what you said here and ingesting this may have changed my outlook on things. 2) Couldn't help but think of this quote from Kamala Harris that has been of recent memery. :P You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.

[deleted]

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

#380

Post by Eisenstein »

riskable wrote: post #325
skeeter2020 wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> I try to avoid doing dumb, damaging, or boring things twice. As a parent I tell my kids: "Make lots of mistakes. Learn from them and don't repeat them; avoid the fatal ones". Then I try to remember my own words before I chastize them for their multitude of dumb decisions (teenage boys)...

To be fair, you have avoided the fatal ones. So at the very least you're not a hypocrite.

If someone is a current smoker and they eventually die of lung cancer, would you say that they avoided the fatal decision up until they died?

I mean, in the long we are all dead, but we have to say that there can be ultimately fatal decisions made in which the person does not immediately die.

Post reply on HN