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Maladaptive Frugality

herbertlui.net

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Re: Maladaptive Frugality

#21

Post by letmevoteplease »

catcowcostume wrote: post #11
arjie wrote: post #8

A wife is a useful thing to have in this respect, not because they tend to profligacy, but because this kind of thing is much easier to detect and fix in someone close to you than in yourself. Both my wife and I have lived frugal lives at various times[0] and I feel much happier with the degree of spending we have now. I'm reminded of the intelligent corvids in Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Memory where the sum of…

Just a reminder that since a couple of centuries ago in most Western societies, wives are not "things" anymore, but rather human beings on the same level as husbands.

This usage is fine. "A dependable friend is a rare thing to find."

Re: Maladaptive Frugality

#22

Post by letmevoteplease »

kranner wrote: post #14
catcowcostume wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a reminder that since a couple of centuries ago in most Western societies, wives are not "things" anymore, but rather human beings on the same level as husbands.

"... tend to profligacy" was really bothering me as well, until I figured OP probably meant "tend" as in 'take care of', and not 'inclined to have'.

No, "tend" means "incline" here, but the normal grammatical reading of the sentence does not suggest wives have profligate tendencies.

Re: Maladaptive Frugality

#25

Post by wiseowise »

Barrin92 wrote: post #15
lmm wrote: post #6

I think of this kind of thing whenever HN commenters complain about how some TODO app is using 300Mb of memory or has 700 dependencies.

>HN commenters complain about how some TODO app is using 300Mb of memory or has 700 dependencies. yes because as we've learned this year nothing bad ever happens when you have hundreds of dependencies we're living in an obese society, metaphorically and literally, we should put everyone through a decade of whatever the equivalent of playing ping pong with a spoon is in every domain of life. Being concerned with too m…

> we're living in an obese society, metaphorically and literally, we should put everyone through a decade of whatever the equivalent of playing ping pong with a spoon is in every domain of life.

What’s stopping you? Go ahead, live in a trailer and wash once a year.

Re: Maladaptive Frugality

#26

Post by wiseowise »

komali2 wrote: post #18

> I plan to have fun spending my money in the future, so it’s time to start practicing now. The most optimal thing to do in our world is to pick an age, say, 60, and until your 60th birthday, maximize your suffering via frugality to just under the tolerable limit so as to maximize your potential for compound interest. This leaves you with the most freedom and opportunity during the most fun part of your life, when yo…

> The most optimal thing to do in our world is to pick an age, say, 60, and until your 60th birthday, maximize your suffering via frugality to just under the tolerable limit so as to maximize your potential for compound interest. This leaves you with the most freedom and opportunity during the most fun part of your life, when you no longer have to sell your labor and can do whatever you want.

This is the most depressing thing I’ve read in a while.

Re: Maladaptive Frugality

#28

Post by komali2 »

wiseowise wrote: post #26
komali2 wrote: post #18

> I plan to have fun spending my money in the future, so it’s time to start practicing now. The most optimal thing to do in our world is to pick an age, say, 60, and until your 60th birthday, maximize your suffering via frugality to just under the tolerable limit so as to maximize your potential for compound interest. This leaves you with the most freedom and opportunity during the most fun part of your life, when yo…

> The most optimal thing to do in our world is to pick an age, say, 60, and until your 60th birthday, maximize your suffering via frugality to just under the tolerable limit so as to maximize your potential for compound interest. This leaves you with the most freedom and opportunity during the most fun part of your life, when you no longer have to sell your labor and can do whatever you want. This is the most depress…

You don't have to act optimally according to the current system, I don't. My concern is many seem to try to act optimally without understanding how depressing the reality of its incentives are.

Re: Maladaptive Frugality

#29

Post by throwatdem12311 »

wiseowise wrote: post #24

[flagged]

Put poor people in prison for having children then?

Should we mandate IUDs for all women and require abortions for “accidents”?

Mandatory vasectomies for every man and only reverse it when they are rich enough? Or perhaps we chemically castrate them once they hit puberty?

What’s your preference?

Re: Maladaptive Frugality

#30

Post by vi_sextus_vi »

chromacity wrote: post #4

Most people in the US are pulled into living on credit straight out of school. You get a student loan, then a car loan, then a credit card, then a mortgage. You finance vacations, appliances, kitchen remodels, smartphones - mostly to keep up with friends and coworkers who finance their lifestyles too. A lot of people are in non-stop debt from the age of 18 to 55, if not longer. By most estimates, only about 10-20% of…

(EDITED)

Otoh, have a few friends in tech (and high finance) who need to be told "dude, we'd be better off if you worked less hard"

(Sorry.. I grew up deprived of data teaching me that "Schlep quickly compounds into Interesting Times")

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