Wow, he eats a whole onion at dinner every day? That seems like a lot of onion to eat! I wonder how he cooks his onion.
I would assume it's fried or cooked with his other food. Eating a whole onion is pretty hard on the stomach.
I’ve had the same supper for 10 years
101–110 of 780 posts
Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years
#102Here's an interesting thought experiment – would you (and everyone else here) have the same reaction to this article if it was written by a North Korean farmer who was perfectly happy with life being in the exact same situation as this Welsh one? Would he still be "enlightened" and "content" or brainwashed, oppressed and a victim of propaganda?
I have been listening to an audio book, Man’s Search for Meaning, written by Viktor E. Frankl a neurologist, psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor.
Like many books written of experiences involving extreme suffering and trauma it’s extremely powerful and I tend to have to stop just to contemplate and dwell on certain passages or just sentences. I like your “thought experiment” as it’s not unlike how I go about reflecting on these kinds of books.
Frankl talks about being on a train being moved from one camp to another, and upon seeing there were no chimneys at this new camp there was a silent celebration among the prisoners. For whatever inhumane reason, that night the newly arrived prisoners were made to stand (I believe naked) throughout the whole night in the freezing cold. Yet they were all still greatful not to be at Auschwitz or another camp with chimneys. There is a separate passage where he describes the types of prisoners, the last he describes are those who had lost all meaning, spirit and would walk up to and grab the electric fence.
I can’t tell you how much heart it gives me to think of the human spirit in these conditions that can’t be broken. It’s very similar to some of the slave narratives I read, and on occasion coming across passages with descriptions of slaves on a plantation celebrating the opportunity to sing and dance together around a fire at night. I have shared with others I wish if push came to shove I’d have that type of spirit, to your point about brainwashing, I’ve received similar responses that I am romanticizing it and even that my mental impressions reflect racism, but The reality is I could have pointed to many other counter examples from my readings like the prisoners that lost meaning and grabbed the fence, but for better or worse that doesn’t lift my spirits and it’s not the examples I tend to pass on.
I often ask myself what I think I would do in a camp or on a plantation, what actions would make me the most proud and if I would have the courage and spirit to make them, but I never pretend to know what I would actually do and I’d never once judged the actions of any of them...even the most deplorable acts, like the prisoners that worked on behalf of the guards for the slightest of comforts. Even more challenging is trying to put myself in the shoes of some young German or Southerner born into and inheriting the evils of these situations, it’s a lot easier to say what I hope I would do, but just the same I have to admit no one knows what they would do, after all how many people do you really encounter that are willing to go against the grain rather than fall in line much less when it means death?
Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
What negsibe health effects? Plenty of people live isolated lives and enjoy it.
Social isolation is, on a population level, associated with poor health outcomes. The data shows this most strongly in the elderly, but it’s true at all ages. Of course, certain individuals may enjoy and thrive in isolated environments. https://www.cdc.gov/aging/publications/features/lonely-older...
I was saying that there are people who live long lives in relative isolation. People in rural parts of the US and places like Alaska.
Frankly, I believe those types of studies rreally about happiness with ones social life, not about ones social life relative to others. But that's just my take.
Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years
#104Here's an interesting thought experiment – would you (and everyone else here) have the same reaction to this article if it was written by a North Korean farmer who was perfectly happy with life being in the exact same situation as this Welsh one? Would he still be "enlightened" and "content" or brainwashed, oppressed and a victim of propaganda?
> two pieces of fish, one big onion, an egg, baked beans and a few biscuits at the end. For lunch I have a pear, an orange and four sandwiches with paste. But I allow myself a bit more variety; I’ll sometimes have soup if it’s cold.
This would be a great meal for a North Korean farmer. If I read this same article by a North Korean farmer, it would either involve a different food listed, or they'd probably be lying about being a North Korean farmer.
> A UN assessment found North Koreans had been surviving on just 300g (10.5 oz) of food a day so far this year.
Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
What negsibe health effects? Plenty of people live isolated lives and enjoy it.
Or think they enjoy it. People can fool themselves in many ways. There are however negative health effects, and have been studied quite well.
Are there studies that actually show that? It seem to me that lower life expectancy might be true in some cases but not all. I think it's mostly tied to ones enjoyment of being alone (more relative than absolute). Sure some people would not fare well, bit I fo believe other can be truly happy and do fair well. I know a guy in his 70s that lives pretty remotely in Alaska (and have you ever read one man's wilderness). I'm not saying it's for everyone. I am saying that it's essentially stereotyping to say it not for anyone.
Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years
#106No mutton, no malvern?
Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years
#107This is the kind of person who has a wifi password like welcome2007
He's probably happier than your arrogant little self
Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years
#108Wow, he eats a whole onion at dinner every day? That seems like a lot of onion to eat! I wonder how he cooks his onion.
Onions are quite nice to eat raw like an apple. The perfect combination of spicy and sweet.
Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Where do you live where you _have_ been leaving your home for non-essential reasons? I recognize that different countries have had differing levels of effect from COVID, but I'm not aware of any that hasn't had at least _some_ impact.
The US. While many businesses (especially restaurants) shuttered in 2020, most retail businesses reopened rather quickly though usually with a limited capacity (Home Depot, a massive store, was permitting something crazy small like 200 people in at a time here last spring and early summer). Hiking trails and state parks in CO opened up by late spring or summer 2020. Restaurants and bars were really the places most im…
Many schools in the US also went remote. I think indoor dining/bars and schools are the things that were significantly restricted more than a few weeks in the US.
(work from home isn't really comparable to those I think; I worked from home for months and liked it, and I think for people that don't like it, it still isn't as impactful as the restrictions for restaurants and schools)
Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are there outside places to hike outside? That might be a healthy and safe. Frankly it doesn’t sound healthy to not leave home but you aren’t the only one who’s been shut in for a year. Millions of people.
[Removed by myself to obey voting result of being a bad post. Please do not beat the posts' corpse any further :) Thank you.]
Deleting all your comments after there are replies is a shitty thing to do.