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

Ordinary Abundance

ordinaryabundance.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 203 posts

Re: Ordinary Abundance

#121

Post by Slow_Hand »

pibaker wrote: post #105

Just want to notice that the author is a part of the effective altruist cult. > I am an associate program officer in the Abundance and Growth Fund at Coefficient Giving, where I lead our grantmaking on Innovation Policy. In this role, I aim to identify and support efforts to safely accelerate scientific progress and innovation. I am motivated by the broader goals of improving scientific research, funding, institution…

And so… what?

Make a point or leave it be, rather than making vague innuendo about how we should disapprove of them.

Re: Ordinary Abundance

#122

Post by saturn8601 »

xnx wrote: post #3
carlgreene wrote: post #2

Hedonic adaptation really is something. I have been deeply trying to appreciate these modern marvels more and more, but it's hard. A hot shower, air almost 50 degrees cooler than the outside air coming out of my vents, communicating instantly thousands of miles away, it's all so easy to just forget and take for granted

We need a Netflix Chaos Monkey tool for modern life. Each week one modern convenience stops working for a day: indoor plumbing, air conditioning, electricity, wifi, automobile, air travel etc. after one day without, you will again appreciate those things for the next few years

I don't know about others...but thats just home ownership or life in general ha ha

Life is a series of maintenance tasks + a few moments of rest and happiness followed by death.

I think millenials like minimalism for many reasons but some may be the trauma of having clutter in their boomer parents home as well as the idea that each item is a liability. Each item needs a place to rest, possibly time spent maintaining and repairing it, and possibly energy in the form of electricity/fuel etc. Less items = less potential chaos.

I guess the very wealthy don't feel any of these issues since while they are still there money can handle dealing with the entropy. How I envy them sometimes.

Re: Ordinary Abundance

#123

Post by nradov »

techblueberry wrote: post #21
carlgreene wrote: post #2

Hedonic adaptation really is something. I have been deeply trying to appreciate these modern marvels more and more, but it's hard. A hot shower, air almost 50 degrees cooler than the outside air coming out of my vents, communicating instantly thousands of miles away, it's all so easy to just forget and take for granted

I feel like in discussions about nostalgia, there can be this default presentish reaction which talks about all of the things that are better But in the hedonic adaptation sense like - and comparisons are complicated - people aren’t by and large happier now (because of the hedonism this is sidestepping the argument of how well distributed it is, and I’m talking the past 50-100 years not compared to subsistence farmin…

Happiness doesn't matter. It's not a useful metric for anything important.

Re: Ordinary Abundance

#124

Post by abound »

To put a name on what a lot of folks in this thread are describing (I didn't see the term mentioned in the article): Negative Visualization [1].

Basically imagining living life without a given luxury (hot water, infinite music on tap, functioning eyesight, etc), really internalizing that feeling, and then practicing gratitude for the fact that you do indeed have that thing.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_visualization

Re: Ordinary Abundance

#126

Post by lanfeust6 »

pibaker wrote: post #105

Just want to notice that the author is a part of the effective altruist cult. > I am an associate program officer in the Abundance and Growth Fund at Coefficient Giving, where I lead our grantmaking on Innovation Policy. In this role, I aim to identify and support efforts to safely accelerate scientific progress and innovation. I am motivated by the broader goals of improving scientific research, funding, institution…

charitable giving is good, and aiming for efficacy from our charitable dollars is good.

Re: Ordinary Abundance

#127

Post by m463 »

carlgreene wrote: post #2

Hedonic adaptation really is something. I have been deeply trying to appreciate these modern marvels more and more, but it's hard. A hot shower, air almost 50 degrees cooler than the outside air coming out of my vents, communicating instantly thousands of miles away, it's all so easy to just forget and take for granted

What I hate is the folks who get in the middle of all of that and monetize things some new way.

Re: Ordinary Abundance

#128

Post by AgentOrange1234 »

carlgreene wrote: post #2

Hedonic adaptation really is something. I have been deeply trying to appreciate these modern marvels more and more, but it's hard. A hot shower, air almost 50 degrees cooler than the outside air coming out of my vents, communicating instantly thousands of miles away, it's all so easy to just forget and take for granted

It's so hard to stay in awe and wonder.

N months ago I was like, "OMG, claude code can work on this code base with me and like, understand it, and do high level things that I tell it, this is magic, how can this possibly even exist?"

Now I'm like, "OMG, I can't believe claude code still needs me to explain XYZ, why is it so incredibly limited..."

Re: Ordinary Abundance

#129

Post by m463 »

JeremyNT wrote: post #57
dachris wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I often say that everyone should be on a misery week once a year, where you live like our "ancestors". I.e. like my grandparents, who grew up in the 1920s on a farm, only 1 heated room, privy outside, no running water, limited food options, hard work each day. As my granny used to say to anyone with nostalgia: no, things were definitely not better back then. Misery week would greatly increase happiness for the rest o…

Even just going backpacking for a few days highlights it. Despite access to some modern amenities (maybe a lighter, or a camp stove, and some food you bought and took with you) it's humbling. Looking for water in the wilderness - even with access to maps - can be quite a challenge in and of itself!

lol a friend would go "camping" with his family and a few other families. They would all reserve the same group campsite every year.

When it would get near to the "camping" time my friend would be preparing giant battery banks, hotspots, and other tech with the right usb/hdmi cables and more...

Re: Ordinary Abundance

#130

Post by lanfeust6 »

palmotea wrote: post #98
lanfeust6 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you know anything about libertarian cranks, this doesn't make any sense and smacks of projection. They're not "satisfied with the status quo" qua political structure or economy. There's a value in gratitude and recognizing widespread improvements in QoL, in large part fuelled by growth in the past century, and taking advantage of state capacity. That's not tantamount to saying there are no issues today, let alone…

> If you know anything about libertarian cranks, this doesn't make any sense and smacks of projection. They're not "satisfied with the status quo" qua political structure or economy. I didn't say anything about "libertarian cranks." I've only first (and mainly) seen this line of thought in "libertarian/capitalist propaganda." And I think you can broadly break that propaganda down into (at least) two broad efforts, wi…

Tautologically, libertarian "propaganda" would be pushed by libertarian ideologues. You've revealed that you're conflating libertarian and "capitalist", so I take it that through your interpretation, any remotely pro-market sentiment is "libertarian propaganda" (like plain ol' Liberalism, or, suggesting that zoning reform i.e. the govt getting out of it's own way can improve housing affordability). After all, no one comes out and says "this is propaganda", and you're telegraphing your yardstick.

> Preventing movement from the status quo in a non-libertarian direction.

The fact that you think the status quo is somehow in line with libertarian ideology, as I helpfully hinted at, tells me you have no clue what you're talking about. Developed countries broadly exercise a Liberal democracy with mixed-market economy and substantial government spending and intervention, which has mostly gone up over time. That's something libertarians whine about, not boast about.

Post reply on HN