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Maybe you should learn something

marginalia.nu

41–50 of 218 posts

Re: Maybe you should learn something

#41

"have infants ricocheting around your home like screaming DVD logos, then you may want to put this ambition aside for now and deal with that instead" Even older kids... my 6 year old is jumping on the couch as I type this.. I like remote work but when I had to commute it was really nice to have that downtime built in to the day. I learned a lot of Dutch vocabulary on the train.

Children are not god for peace of mind and a life of liberty. I do not recommend anyone to have children, becaues of how negatively it affects your life, cost of living etc. It is basically just tying yourself down to the wheel of consumption, and in order to jutsify everything, all the struggle, push your hopes and aspirations to the next generation, and then letting them deal with it. If you are rich, you can get a…

This comment actually triggered something in me and I wanted to write a dismissive and condescending response but in the spirit of HN I’d like to try a different approach.

I’ve honestly never been able to understand this kind of thinking (uniformly ruling children as a negative because of the downsides), but I’d be curious to understand more about your perspective.

How do you weigh the joy and meaning many people find in having a family against the economic and time freedom costs?

Or the fact that societies do need to continue having children in order to: sustain economic growth, service their elderly population (that will be us in a few years to decades), maintain their armed forces, perpetuate their culture and values into the future, invest in scientific research, etc.

Are these not things you value? Or do you just see the tradeoff as not worth it?

Re: Maybe you should learn something

#42
I really like how the article focuses on rest and not doing the thing as a core part of learning.

How learning and doing aren't exactly the same and that you need to get back to it many times rather than doing a lot at once.

It's ofc nothing new and the same principle as for example spaced repetition.

Re: Maybe you should learn something

#43
One “trick” nowadays is to just do a thing for the sake of doing the thing. I draw. Not to post my drawings to social media, not to try to get income from paid commissions, but rather just to enjoy the act of drawing. It’s very liberating in a world where it feels like almost everything has to be in service of some kind of larger scheme.

Re: Maybe you should learn something

#44

"have infants ricocheting around your home like screaming DVD logos, then you may want to put this ambition aside for now and deal with that instead" Even older kids... my 6 year old is jumping on the couch as I type this.. I like remote work but when I had to commute it was really nice to have that downtime built in to the day. I learned a lot of Dutch vocabulary on the train.

Don’t be fooled, the first few years you get spoiled with “the first moments” of things. Then suddenly the “last moments” start creeping in, “the last nappy”, “the last car seat”, at first they seem like a god send but then they accumulate like an avalanche. One day you will pick them up and, and most likely neither of you will know it, but it will be the last time you ever do. Treasure everything, even the insanity.

I plan to keep lifting my kids everyday like Milo. Hopefully I can push off the last time I pick them up till they’re 30 or so.

Re: Maybe you should learn something

#45
post #27

I cannot deny the value of learning but there is a fact that learning can be a way of procrastination. This happens when the joy of learning overtake and diverge you from a goal. Nothing wrong about it, it is a time well spent. But I think there must be a balance as well

Learning is not just strictly studying.

I'd say most of the learning is done by actually doing.

Re: Maybe you should learn something

#46

"Learning anything is a long term project, and long term projects are necessary for building a sense of control over your circumstances. Almost nothing can be deliberately and meaningfully changed within the scope of a day, but in months, certainly years, a lot of things can be made to happen."

[flagged]

Can you share how AI helps here?

I am learning a bit of 3D modeling in Blender so I can mod games that I like (just for private use), I do get stuck sometimes on the silliest things and Blender docs don’t help, but neither did LLMs tbf when I tried to troubleshoot issues with them. I wonder how I can make it a bit less tedious.

Re: Maybe you should learn something

#47

I’ll chime in. I started learning to draw in my early twenties, couple hours a week. What helps a lot is joining a club, I’ve got a group in my town that just goes to a bar one night a week and draws and chats for 3 hours. Great way to ensure that you get at least a few hours of drawing in, even if your week is too busy for “practice”. It takes about 2-3 years of mild practice to get good enough that you’ll routinely…

And even if you don’t get all that good or turn it into a lifelong hobby, that just sounds fun.

Re: Maybe you should learn something

#48

One “trick” nowadays is to just do a thing for the sake of doing the thing. I draw. Not to post my drawings to social media, not to try to get income from paid commissions, but rather just to enjoy the act of drawing. It’s very liberating in a world where it feels like almost everything has to be in service of some kind of larger scheme.

I retired a few years ago and now do a slew of things (photography, robotics, 3D printing, etc.) entirely for myself. I'll start a project, have a blast learning/building, then simply move on to the next thing.

Learning for the sake of learning is one of my favorite things in life.

Re: Maybe you should learn something

#49
The education system is to blame.

Kids are conditioned to associate learning with a formal course with a tutor culminating in exams.

It's also intentional to segregate skills, if schools taught every child basic plumbing or car mechanics for example instead of spending a month teaching something that won't get used in life, there would be less job in those fields.

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