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The Dead Planet Theory

arealsociety.substack.com

71–80 of 86 posts

Re: The Dead Planet Theory

#71

Yes, doing the reading is good. In fact, I recommend the author do far more reading, so as not to buy into the false dichotomy of "main characters" vs "NPCs". People are far more complicated than that.

Agreed. The content is debatable, but the title "Dead planet" is one step away from calling most people "zombies" or NPCs.

If you reach that conclusion, it's a cue to look back and work out where you went wrong. And not to give offence unnecessarily.

Re: The Dead Planet Theory

#72
post #53

Now apply it to physical and mental health, arguably the most important foundation for everything in life.

If you're in a position to apply it, and not already applying it, this is excellent advice. (See how I just excluded 95%?)

I’d argue most folks can apply it. I’m in my late 30s and have two young children.

In order for me to exercise for 35 minutes undisturbed I wake at 4am.

For mental health I’ll prioritize short 10 minute outdoor walks throughout the day. I snooze work notifications, if the world burns down in those 10 minutes so be it.

This time is sacred to me. No time for alcohol, no time for processed foods.

The hardest piece is consistently getting 7hrs of sleep, this is much harder for parents with newborns.

There are folks in their 60s/70s exercising everyday, have abs, and can deadlift more than probably most of the population in their 20s/30s.

I used to prioritize everything else before physical and mental health. Everything clicked into place after fixing this.

Re: The Dead Planet Theory

#74
post #18

There are multiple points in the article, each of them probably deserving its own article. I want to focus on the two. One is the peer effect. Who you surround yourself with absolutely matters. This applies to the content consumption, and this applies to your surroundings too. This can be as simple as going to the library, having surrounded by other people working and researching is great, even if it's just schoolwor…

> it is simple, but not easy

Mom always taught me the polite way of saying this is that something is then 'straightforward'.

The matrix here is:

Steps are clear, but difficult to take > 'straightforward'

Steps are clear, but easy to take > 'trivial, easy, simple, etc'

Steps are unclear, but difficult to take > 'hard, impossible, non-trivial, etc'

Steps are unclear, but easy to take > 'should be a lark, non-obvious, etc'

Re: The Dead Planet Theory

#75
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're in a position to apply it, and not already applying it, this is excellent advice. (See how I just excluded 95%?)

I’d argue most folks can apply it. I’m in my late 30s and have two young children. In order for me to exercise for 35 minutes undisturbed I wake at 4am. For mental health I’ll prioritize short 10 minute outdoor walks throughout the day. I snooze work notifications, if the world burns down in those 10 minutes so be it. This time is sacred to me. No time for alcohol, no time for processed foods. The hardest piece is co…

Guessing you're in good health, have some control over your working hours, and are able to maintain a pretty clean sleep/wake cycle.

7 quality, consistent hours of sleep is plenty enough for most people, sure, but that means being able to shut your eyes at 9pm to get up at 4, which means having the discipline and energy to get ~everything necessary done by say 8. Avoiding alcohol def helps there.

People in their 60s/70s don't have kids to look after, and in many cases don't have to work full time. For those that make it to that age with themselves and their partner in adequate health, I agree daily exercise is a sound investment.

Re: The Dead Planet Theory

#76
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What sucks about HN in particular for this is that as soon as you start engaging with a thread you are very interested in, getting a lot of replies, etc, you are locked out of commenting due to the flame war rules. Then whenever you are unlocked again later in the day perhaps, you've forgotten all about that discussion and have moved on. Whatever potential discourse that was there nipped in the bud.

The more you comment the less the flamewar rules apply.

Oh interesting, then it basically looks for a higher rate of commenting than average.

If so, that's a clever design.

Re: The Dead Planet Theory

#77
post #74
post #18

There are multiple points in the article, each of them probably deserving its own article. I want to focus on the two. One is the peer effect. Who you surround yourself with absolutely matters. This applies to the content consumption, and this applies to your surroundings too. This can be as simple as going to the library, having surrounded by other people working and researching is great, even if it's just schoolwor…

> it is simple, but not easy Mom always taught me the polite way of saying this is that something is then 'straightforward'. The matrix here is: Steps are clear, but difficult to take > 'straightforward' Steps are clear, but easy to take > 'trivial, easy, simple, etc' Steps are unclear, but difficult to take > 'hard, impossible, non-trivial, etc' Steps are unclear, but easy to take > 'should be a lark, non-obvious, e…

Not sure I understand. What are the two axes?

Clarity and difficulty? If so what are examples?

- Clarity high, difficulty high: Iron Man

- Clarity high, difficulty low: online shopping

- Clarity low, difficulty low: ??

- Clarity low, difficulty high: starting a new business

Re: The Dead Planet Theory

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have an engineering degree and I can’t remember the difference since I have literally never needed either since school. Just like examples in the post it self, sure you can get better fast, but if no one cares why bother? Oh you got a bit better ELO in chess, nice, what now? Now your average friends don’t want to play you and you aren’t good enough to beat anyone at the chess club. So either you quit or you have to…

>> 99.9% of people couldn't tell you the difference between a derivative and a integral. > I have an engineering degree and I can’t remember the difference Really? I realized I forgot the mechanics of computing the closed-form solutions (like you, I used this type of calculus for maybe four years of my life), but the idea of derivatives being the rate of change stuck with me.

And integrals are the sum of things.

Re: The Dead Planet Theory

#79
This goes along perfectly with The Math Sorcerer videos (and book) I’ve been reading which boils down to a similar point: take action, that’s all you can do and the only thing that makes a difference.

Re: The Dead Planet Theory

#80
post #77
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it is simple, but not easy Mom always taught me the polite way of saying this is that something is then 'straightforward'. The matrix here is: Steps are clear, but difficult to take > 'straightforward' Steps are clear, but easy to take > 'trivial, easy, simple, etc' Steps are unclear, but difficult to take > 'hard, impossible, non-trivial, etc' Steps are unclear, but easy to take > 'should be a lark, non-obvious, e…

Not sure I understand. What are the two axes? Clarity and difficulty? If so what are examples? - Clarity high, difficulty high: Iron Man - Clarity high, difficulty low: online shopping - Clarity low, difficulty low: ?? - Clarity low, difficulty high: starting a new business

An example for clarity low, difficulty low might be making an app in an unfamiliar framework, or something like "organize that pile of boxes in the corner of my room".
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