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Maybe the default settings are too high

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Re: Maybe the default settings are too high

#111

Post by JKCalhoun »

snowwrestler wrote: post #108

This is why I re-read books. I’ve read the Lord of the Rings probably like 10 times. When I already know what’s going to happen it’s easier for me to slow down and appreciate the scenery along the way. Even later readings might reveal choices the author made; I can start to see how the story was constructed. I find this approach rewarding across most forms of media. There plenty of movies and music I’ve revisited ove…

When I was younger I also re-read The Lord of the Rings perhaps a dozen times. Each reading did seem to land differently—small details I had not noticed the first n times.

For some reason the first half of the first book appealed to me the most. I liked the leaving, the setting out on an adventure that you know not where it will lead you.

After Rivendell the hobbits no longer seemed to be driving.

Re: Maybe the default settings are too high

#112

Post by JKCalhoun »

danielodievich wrote: post #7

We read LOTR to our sons when they were little. It was likely the 6th time for me,and 3rd in English. Stupendous experience. The command of the English Tolkien had is sublime. Wish the movies didn't take so much liberty with Faramir.!!!

Yep, read LoTR to my daughters before the film came out. (Thankfully.)

As promising as Fellowship was, the films just kept going down hill—one after the other.

As the girls were growing up we worked through all the Harry Potter books, a half-dozen of the "colored Fairy" books (edited by Andrew Lang), plenty of Uncle Remus tales, the "Little House" books and a number of Sid Fleischman books…

Those were magical years. Only when homework arrived did the reading hour finally come to a close. :-(

Re: Maybe the default settings are too high

#113

Post by Yodel0914 »

neutronicus wrote: post #42
xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #39

> I’ve found reading aloud helpful for staying engaged — limiting myself to mouth-speed rather than eye-speed means I won’t rush, miss important details, and then lose interest, which has always been a problem for me. This worked for me... for a time. And then what happened surprised me (but maybe shouldn't have): I started zoning out and thinking about other things, missing important details, while reading aloud. Wi…

It's a capability with which having children will make you intimately familiar

I initially thought this was just a function of reading the same thing multiple times, but I’ve since had it happen many times when reading something completely new. Somehow my mind wanders and when I tune back in, not only am I reading clearly, I’m still doing the voicing for different characters. It’s so weird.

Re: Maybe the default settings are too high

#114

Post by Yodel0914 »

pitched wrote: post #3

It’s impossible to know if the content itself is worth the extra time and effort. Opportunity Cost is especially high in fiction. I agree that LotR should be on that list though.

I partially agree, but it depends on your objective function. If you’re optimising for the enjoyment of the experience of reading, you don’t need to know if the content is “worth it”; just read it slowly and if you’re not enjoying it, stop.

Re: Maybe the default settings are too high

#117

Post by jibal »

teekert wrote: post #103
Archelaos wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. Slow reading of HN comments also has its benefits.

I guess this person sees the same mental image as me: Tents with wet floor, moisture sucked into everything inside. A tent that’s been in a lake sounds like a throwaway to me. But maybe what you see as a tent is different from what I see. For me the story was also a bit weird. “Just take the tents out of the water”. Ok…

Even if that were true (and it obviously isn't), what then would be the point of expending tremendous time and energy to "dam it off and keep it dry"?

These are alternative ways to keep the tents dry ... which entails that they were never soaked in the first place.

> A tent that’s been in a lake

The tents were never in the lake. A few inches of the campsite was in the lake at high water.

> sounds like a throwaway to me

Do you have any experience with this? I've been on trips where tents and even sleeping bags ended up in a river. They don't dissolve ...they can be dried in the sun. And a tent with a wet floor can be wiped down.

> “Just take the tents out of the water”.

Those words don't appear anywhere. Try looking at the actual words and not just your mental images.

Re: Maybe the default settings are too high

#120

Post by travisjungroth »

macNchz wrote: post #107
irishcoffee wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My spouse and I dealt with this on our honeymoon. We were both working 50-80 hour weeks for months leading up to our trip. The first day we got to this all-inclusive resort we spent the whole time trying to min/max and be as efficient and calculated as possible. It was a stressful, miserable day. Day two we looked at each other, had an adult beverage with breakfast, and relaxed for the rest of the trip.

Growing up in a quaint rural town where high-powered people from NYC liked to "get away", this is very common situation, and the inability to disconnect and adopt a slower attitude was, IMO, the primary cause of friction between the weekenders and the locals. They would physically get away from the city, but were unable to mentally release the blend of Type-A competitive neuroses that helped them get ahead in the cit…

It’s like those animals that walk in little circles the size of their last pen.
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