It is hard for me to pinpoint what actually happened, but I felt happy just looking at the page for about a minute.
Nothing: Simply Do Nothing
171–180 of 202 posts
Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing
#172I dont think "doing nothing" is enough - the mind, at least mine, will often wander into ugly places if left truly alone. What I think is needed is a conscious & repeated effort of sustaining attention away from past or future and back to here & now
Yep, happens to me the instant I get bored or - do nothing.
Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing
#173Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What happens when I already have all the calorific or reproductive value I need? How would you even determine how much you need? You labor under the illusion that you're an intelligent being. Evolution does not care about "enough"... because there is no way to determine what "enough" is. What is enough today will not help you survive tomorrow's famine. Best stock up now. If you were so smart, you'd get that. What o…
Evolution has not solved the principal-agent problem. > What is enough today will not help you survive tomorrow's famine. Tomorrow's famine will be caused by you (read: those behaving as you describe) not knowing when enough is enough. Best preserve what we have, rather than waste it all in a frantic bid for number-goes-up.
> Tomorrow's famine will be caused by you
Possibly. Or maybe it will happen anyway.
> (read: those behaving as you describe)
That's mostly leftist moralizing on your part.
Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing
#174Earlier quoted context omitted.
Evolution has not solved the principal-agent problem. > What is enough today will not help you survive tomorrow's famine. Tomorrow's famine will be caused by you (read: those behaving as you describe) not knowing when enough is enough. Best preserve what we have, rather than waste it all in a frantic bid for number-goes-up.
> Tomorrow's famine will be caused by you Possibly. Or maybe it will happen anyway. > (read: those behaving as you describe) That's mostly leftist moralizing on your part.
Maybe it's moralizing, but I don't think it's wrong. I'm using the same model as you, after all, only I'm applying Kantian ethics instead of unconsidered egoism.
• If you wish yourself maximal reproductive fitness, then all humanity will be your descendants, and the next few centuries of all human interest is your interest.
• The iterated prisoner's dilemma is a classic economic argument, by which Tragedy of the Commons-type behaviours can be averted. (Garrett Hardin's 1968 paper is a load of nonsense.)
I'm not sure what would contrast my earlier "leftist moralizing", because I have absolutely no idea what a leftist is.
Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing
#175Sensory deprivation tanks are also great for this. No distractions or to-do's, just you and your thoughts for an hour.
Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing
#176Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you hunt for dinner in a cold winter? I appreciate your glibness, I was equally glib when I wrote "everyone"
Well, you put on your furs and go hunting. Tracking is easier in the snow. Or you stay in your shelter and eat some jerky. And, I'm not being glib - life was simple and you did what I said.
Okay, and when your feisty neighbors take all your jerky and have hunted all the animals that are not in hibernating - then what?
While "simple", that does not equate to abundant nor easy. Or, would you agree that there was plenty of abundance even during northern winters?
If there was such abundance, and things were as simple as hunting every now and then- why so many famines in history [1]? Surely any cause of famine could be remediated by going out and doing a little more hunting?
Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing
#177Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most of those names strike me as particularly affluent or benefitting from a rich sponsor. Which does not really contradict the original point that majority of the population were focused on survival.
"Yes, it wasn't as affordable in earlier times," Thinking in peace and quiet was indeed a luxury in past times. That doesn't mean there isn't a long tradition of walking if you needed to think. And that was the core point of OP - not that the majority was focused on survival, but that supposedly thinking and walking are a new relationship, previously impossible. And they really aren't. (Even as a subsistence farmer,…
> supposedly thinking and walking are a new relationship, previously impossible
Not quite, the relationship between walking and thinking is more salient now. Not previously impossible.
Note OP cites examples of walking that are all practical. Poetically OP states this as a way to "find" answers. That element of finding is no longer a necessity like it used, but arguably taking the time and the method are still important.
Quoting OP: " Walking is what our ancestors did, to go into "finding" modus. Find a route to water, find prey, find adversaries to find you and find out. Or at least find the way home."
My points are nuanced and being strawmanned.
(1) energy scarcity makes walking for leisure less attractive. Can't just pound a bag of chips.
(2) because of the necessity to be active, the time to think and be still was more baked into human lifestyle. Further making explicit intention to do nothing, quietly walk less needed.
(3) our current lifestyle tends to be the opposite of (1) & (2). We can readily get cookies (high calorie foods) and don't have movement baked in.
(4) humans are evolved for (1) & (2). That we are at (3), and are not adapted for that lifestyle, underscores why leisure walks would be more important now than ever before.
Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, you put on your furs and go hunting. Tracking is easier in the snow. Or you stay in your shelter and eat some jerky. And, I'm not being glib - life was simple and you did what I said.
Okay, and when your feisty neighbors take all your jerky and have hunted all the animals that are not in hibernating - then what? While "simple", that does not equate to abundant nor easy. Or, would you agree that there was plenty of abundance even during northern winters? If there was such abundance, and things were as simple as hunting every now and then- why so many famines in history [1]? Surely any cause of fami…
Simple doesn’t mean it’s easy or without risk
Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing
#180Sensory deprivation tanks are also great for this. No distractions or to-do's, just you and your thoughts for an hour.
Unless someone has a condition, I'd say that going out in nature and practicing doing nothing is more beneficial and low-tech.