Modern Minimalism • Hacker News Board

Re: Modern Minimalism

#21

Post by marrs » Fri, Oct 11, 2013, 8:38 AM UTC

pm wrote: post #19

jpswade wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sweat isn't what makes you smell, it's stale sweat that smells. Anywhere that bacteria and fungus can grow is going to harbour germs. Tackle those places and you won't smell.

Tackle those places with what?

Hot water will suffice

Re: Modern Minimalism

#22

Post by bartligthart » Fri, Oct 11, 2013, 8:39 AM UTC

milonguero wrote: post #11

this is just stupid. my body creates so much sweat and oil. probably more than a litre evey week. there is no world without soap for me. i would itch and smell so bad that i wouldn't have friends.

When I was traveling in Asia I didn't use any soap or shampoo for a month. My hair didn't smell and it felt the most healthy I've ever felt.

Re: Modern Minimalism

#23

Post by NhanH » Fri, Oct 11, 2013, 8:42 AM UTC

stiff wrote: post #15

Minimalism or not, I would like to expand on one of the points - most cosmetics in wide circulation today are really terrible. If you look up their ingredients and look at chemical properties of those, it's all about optimizing the technological process to be as cheap as possible and producing short-term pleasant sensations for the customer, health considerations being completely absent. Basically it's an example of…

I think many people actually believe (and specifically use for the reason) that using cosmetics product would be useful for them in the long run: reduce wrinkle, aging etc. As I have no knowledge on this, can anyone weight in?

Re: Modern Minimalism

#24

Post by milonguero » Fri, Oct 11, 2013, 8:42 AM UTC

bartligthart wrote: post #22

milonguero wrote: post #11

this is just stupid. my body creates so much sweat and oil. probably more than a litre evey week. there is no world without soap for me. i would itch and smell so bad that i wouldn't have friends.

When I was traveling in Asia I didn't use any soap or shampoo for a month. My hair didn't smell and it felt the most healthy I've ever felt.

you must be from north of europe. with a skin that doesn't create oil.

Re: Modern Minimalism

#25

Post by theboywho » Fri, Oct 11, 2013, 8:44 AM UTC

It's funny how people who say they are minimalists start listing the things they don't have in the "physical" life arguing they are not needed. But then, they have an iCloud account, a twitter, facebook, flickr, instagram, reddit, gmail, you name it account. How about a minimalist virtual life too, where all you have is an email account? an e-minimalist?

I think a minimalist life should be more about "using" less (and accomplishing more) than about plain raw "owning" less.

Re: Modern Minimalism

#26

Post by adamnemecek » Fri, Oct 11, 2013, 8:44 AM UTC

m23io wrote: post #13

Wait... is this a parody? Please tell me it's satire. A "minimalist" shouldn't need a fucking smartphone and laptop.

But if he didn't have a laptop, he could not post on his tumblr and you would be deprived of these nuggets of life wisdom. Is that really what you want?

Re: Modern Minimalism

#27

Post by Sarien » Fri, Oct 11, 2013, 8:45 AM UTC

adamnemecek wrote: post #3

Ugh, not this holier-than-thou minimalism meme again.

I have tons of possessions and when I don't feel like it I just don't maintain them! Guess what, plants aside my possessions don't give a shit and I have just the same time gain.

Re: Modern Minimalism

#28

Post by interstitial » Fri, Oct 11, 2013, 8:45 AM UTC

bnegreve wrote: post #7

> I have an 11-inch Macbook Air and an iPhone 5. No other devices. For some reason, I knew this was going to pop up somewhere in the list. Smartphones are arguably one of the biggest gadget of the century. And they can be used to watch TV, movies, read news, books, as GPS, as game device and so on. So why iPhone and no soap?

I know several ego-minimalists. They never post anything online, ever. No facebook, no twitter, nada. No one online knows just how hip they are on the inside.

Re: Modern Minimalism

#29

Post by bnegreve » Fri, Oct 11, 2013, 8:45 AM UTC

milonguero wrote: post #12

bnegreve wrote: post #7

> I have an 11-inch Macbook Air and an iPhone 5. No other devices. For some reason, I knew this was going to pop up somewhere in the list. Smartphones are arguably one of the biggest gadget of the century. And they can be used to watch TV, movies, read news, books, as GPS, as game device and so on. So why iPhone and no soap?

hipster logic 101

Creating temporary accounts to post harsh comments is also something that I have hard time to understand.

Re: Modern Minimalism

#30

Post by LaGrange » Fri, Oct 11, 2013, 8:46 AM UTC

stiff wrote: post #15

Minimalism or not, I would like to expand on one of the points - most cosmetics in wide circulation today are really terrible. If you look up their ingredients and look at chemical properties of those, it's all about optimizing the technological process to be as cheap as possible and producing short-term pleasant sensations for the customer, health considerations being completely absent. Basically it's an example of…

Actually, I recently tried to verify the claims about horrible consequences of SLS from anything other than semi-conspiracy-theory sites. I might have missed something, but what I've found was boiled down to it being pretty much a non-issue. What it did turn out, though, is that we use too high doses of soaps and shampoos in general, and they are actually intended to be used in minuscule amounts.

Also, "byproduct of petroleum distillation!" is the new "unnatural!" is the new "if got intended X to Y, he would Z!".