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Nothing: Simply Do Nothing

usenothing.com

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Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing

#131

Post by javier123454321 »

tonymet wrote: post #123

Meditation and "thinking about nothing" are glamorized self-centeredness. Try thinking about "nothing" and you'll come to realize that you are just thinking about yourself, your feelings, your anxiety (and attempts to alleviate it), your need to escape from others, etc. What brought you to meditation in the first place? Stress, anxiety, resentment, insecurity. Instead of reconciliation, meditation brings more isolati…

I'll grant you this. Meditation in the modern secular context which is devoid of its philosophical undercurrent, done in absence of an experienced teacher that has achieved the goal can lead to the pitfalls you describe.

Meditation is a tool, and it can be pointed to many aims. Without the right aims, it can lead you to reinforce things you don't want to like you describe. It can also lead you to dissociate, or to exacerbate latent neurosis. However, it can also be a life affirming method for being more present and less hung up on the vicissitudes of the anxiety producing nature of an impermanent world. It takes wisdom to use it for the latter.

Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing

#132

Post by my_brain_saying »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #101
InDubioProRubio wrote: post #98

? Go for a walk. Walking is what our ancestors did, to go into "finding" modus. Find a route to water, find prey, find adversaries to find you and find out. Or at least find the way home. All senses get stimulated, a moving mind in a moving body. The great outdoors, fresh air, i shite being Scottish. If you have a problem you need to solve, but don't know how, just walk up to a overview point and look down on the pro…

I like to go for a run or a bike ride. On a walk, you can still carry and even use a phone, listen to a podcast or music, or have a conversation. When you're doing a workout, you might wear a watch, but otherwise it's a time when you can't really get distracted or interrupted by anything, you just move, observe, and think.

This is excellent advice. Spending 5 hours on a weekend cycling is extremely relaxing, not only because you are intensely using your body, but because you are completely and utterly distracted.

When I cycle, the first twenty kilometers are usually fairly painful: I am tired, I feel my knees, back, and muscles hurt, and am generally uncomfortable. After those twenty kilometers I enter a meditative, gelatinous phase, were I no longer really feel my body. I just ride. This is when I _think_; the same style of thinking I experience when lying, comfortably, in bed.

After maybe 60–90 kilometers (depending on my current fitness level), I enter the pain stage. This is when I start feeling my body again. Believe it or not, this is definitely the most therapeutic stage. This is when I cannot think. My mind stays blank, and I do — in a manner of speaking — nothing.

This lack of thought, meaning lack of stress, of worry, of hectic, etc., is what motivates me to go on 150 or 200 kilometer bike rides. You feel physically refreshed and exhausted. You feel that you were able to think in peace and purely, as well as having been void of all negative, stressful thoughts.

To anyone who has never tried an endurance sport like cycling: I highly recommend it. I started when I was 14, and it was one of the greatest decisions I ever made. It spared me hours of depression, fear, and stress. It also encouraged me to think and meditate in peace. I would not be the person I am today, if it were not for my dear high-school friend who showed me the world of cycling (as well as the world of communism; I owe much to this friend). Thank you.

Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing

#133

Post by tompark »

danbruc wrote: post #115

I am torn about the page having a scrollbar. It would be nice to be able to read the entire page without having to scroll. But you can not guarantee that anyway as the browser window might be arbitrarily small. It punishes you for not doing nothing and wanting to read the text which is the point. So maybe the page should actually ensure that there is always a scroll bar, place the statistics always below the fold.

Fwiw, you can cheat on mobile Safari by scrolling in reader mode, which doesn't reset the timer.

Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing

#134

Post by noncoml »

seadan83 wrote: post #124
InDubioProRubio wrote: post #98

? Go for a walk. Walking is what our ancestors did, to go into "finding" modus. Find a route to water, find prey, find adversaries to find you and find out. Or at least find the way home. All senses get stimulated, a moving mind in a moving body. The great outdoors, fresh air, i shite being Scottish. If you have a problem you need to solve, but don't know how, just walk up to a overview point and look down on the pro…

Interesting you mention walking as what our ancestors did. Until about 100 years ago, food and energy scarcity was the norm. Our ancestors would have been lean and would not have typically expended energy for just pure leisure. In other words, everyone was busy trying to not starve. There was plenty of physical activity in the day, lots of chores and things to do. I say this to demonstrate how un-adapted we are now f…

The peripatetic school of Aristotle. ~335BC

Take walks to stimulate the mind

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripatetic_school

Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing

#135

Post by Minor49er »

danbruc wrote: post #115

I am torn about the page having a scrollbar. It would be nice to be able to read the entire page without having to scroll. But you can not guarantee that anyway as the browser window might be arbitrarily small. It punishes you for not doing nothing and wanting to read the text which is the point. So maybe the page should actually ensure that there is always a scroll bar, place the statistics always below the fold.

The fact that you describe the act of missing a site's self-described "pointless statistics" as "punishment" screams volumes about our current state. The point is to do what it says, which may involve not even looking at the screen whatsoever

"There is no reward for lingering. Just the pleasure of simple being."

If you're looking for something that rewards you for doing nothing on the other hand, your favorite IRC server probably has an #idleRPG channel to join

Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing

#136

Post by groby_b »

seadan83 wrote: post #124
InDubioProRubio wrote: post #98

? Go for a walk. Walking is what our ancestors did, to go into "finding" modus. Find a route to water, find prey, find adversaries to find you and find out. Or at least find the way home. All senses get stimulated, a moving mind in a moving body. The great outdoors, fresh air, i shite being Scottish. If you have a problem you need to solve, but don't know how, just walk up to a overview point and look down on the pro…

Interesting you mention walking as what our ancestors did. Until about 100 years ago, food and energy scarcity was the norm. Our ancestors would have been lean and would not have typically expended energy for just pure leisure. In other words, everyone was busy trying to not starve. There was plenty of physical activity in the day, lots of chores and things to do. I say this to demonstrate how un-adapted we are now f…

Thoreau, Humboldt, Goethe, Descartes. da Vinci, St. Francis of Assisi, Hildegard of Bingen, Li Bai, Seneca, Socrates

Yes, it wasn't as affordable in earlier times, but thinking and walking have been closely associated for millenia.

Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing

#137

Post by 0cf8612b2e1e »

groby_b wrote: post #136
seadan83 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting you mention walking as what our ancestors did. Until about 100 years ago, food and energy scarcity was the norm. Our ancestors would have been lean and would not have typically expended energy for just pure leisure. In other words, everyone was busy trying to not starve. There was plenty of physical activity in the day, lots of chores and things to do. I say this to demonstrate how un-adapted we are now f…

Thoreau, Humboldt, Goethe, Descartes. da Vinci, St. Francis of Assisi, Hildegard of Bingen, Li Bai, Seneca, Socrates Yes, it wasn't as affordable in earlier times, but thinking and walking have been closely associated for millenia.

Most of those names strike me as particularly affluent or benefitting from a rich sponsor. Which does not really contradict the original point that majority of the population were focused on survival.

Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing

#138

Post by tonymet »

javier123454321 wrote: post #131
tonymet wrote: post #123

Meditation and "thinking about nothing" are glamorized self-centeredness. Try thinking about "nothing" and you'll come to realize that you are just thinking about yourself, your feelings, your anxiety (and attempts to alleviate it), your need to escape from others, etc. What brought you to meditation in the first place? Stress, anxiety, resentment, insecurity. Instead of reconciliation, meditation brings more isolati…

I'll grant you this. Meditation in the modern secular context which is devoid of its philosophical undercurrent, done in absence of an experienced teacher that has achieved the goal can lead to the pitfalls you describe. Meditation is a tool, and it can be pointed to many aims. Without the right aims, it can lead you to reinforce things you don't want to like you describe. It can also lead you to dissociate, or to ex…

I agree. I am referring to "pop" meditation, "mindfulness", clinical meditation, what you get at workplaces -- i.e. the "thinking about nothing" meditation promoted by this webpage.

I'm calling attention to value, virtue, beauty, etc. Someone who is telling you that prayer is bad while meditation is good, or that religion is bad while secular mindfulness is good -- they are telling you to focus on yourself instead of something or someone else.

Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing

#139

Post by nativeit »

seadan83 wrote: post #124
InDubioProRubio wrote: post #98

? Go for a walk. Walking is what our ancestors did, to go into "finding" modus. Find a route to water, find prey, find adversaries to find you and find out. Or at least find the way home. All senses get stimulated, a moving mind in a moving body. The great outdoors, fresh air, i shite being Scottish. If you have a problem you need to solve, but don't know how, just walk up to a overview point and look down on the pro…

Interesting you mention walking as what our ancestors did. Until about 100 years ago, food and energy scarcity was the norm. Our ancestors would have been lean and would not have typically expended energy for just pure leisure. In other words, everyone was busy trying to not starve. There was plenty of physical activity in the day, lots of chores and things to do. I say this to demonstrate how un-adapted we are now f…

“We’re here on this Earth to fart around, don’t let anybody tell you different.”

~ Kurt Vonnegut

Re: Nothing: Simply Do Nothing

#140

Post by 331c8c71 »

InDubioProRubio wrote: post #98

? Go for a walk. Walking is what our ancestors did, to go into "finding" modus. Find a route to water, find prey, find adversaries to find you and find out. Or at least find the way home. All senses get stimulated, a moving mind in a moving body. The great outdoors, fresh air, i shite being Scottish. If you have a problem you need to solve, but don't know how, just walk up to a overview point and look down on the pro…

Maybe walking will work for me when I am older but it is not intense enough now. Cycling seems to be perfect as the scenery changes much faster and there is more opportunity to challenge myself (;
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