Most of my friends work less than 40h a week, only those who don't get paid well work full-time.
Even a few who don't get much money try to get along with it by living in a shared flat before starting to work full-time.
The compelling case for working less
141–150 of 242 posts
Re: The compelling case for working less
#142I'm convinced that our decision for how much effort to exert on work is not governed by the rational part of our brain. It's part primal - fear of insecurity and belonging to a social structure - part ego - accomplishment as confirmation of existence and your salary as a concrete number to compare favorably to others - and part culture and habit. I also think overwork is a byproduct of a globally connected society. H…
I have a radically different thinking and I think it is related to culture and the country where you live. I rather prefer a strong health/education/housing umbrella where I have time to focus my energy in what I consider more important work than, for example, optimizing ads.
I agree that it's related to culture and country. The early northeastern U.S. settlers who survived the winters were the ones who did the most work preparing for winter. Today quantity of work is still important, but it isn't the determining factor in success.
Further, I think even the early settlers could have benefited from working smarter, not just harder. Indigenous Americans built shelters using mud and straw that insulated much better than settlers' houses, for example. Imitating the success of people already here might have saved lives.
Re: The compelling case for working less
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Humans are happy if they are relatively well off compared to what they know. This is super true. I've been congratulating myself all month on my new job, paying me BIG BUCKS, compared to my friends. Well, just found out an old friend of mine also found a new job, getting payed literally twice as much as me. Now I'm in a funk and it's irrational and stupid but I can't help but look at the same number in a totally di…
Oh the many ways in which one can make themselves unhappy. For me it's not about how much I earn, but the kind of things I get to do. The other day I've seen a trailer of a series on Netflix - Mars Generation, I think? I couldn't even finish it, because when I saw those kids doing the things I always wanted, it made me think about all similar realizations - that e.g. my university started doing things with rockets an…
It's not stupid and it's not irrational. What you're feeling is normal - the unfairness of other people given the chance to do what you would've liked to do. It's not their fault, but still.
Re: The compelling case for working less
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
It works, but no, it won't turn night into day. It's about making sure you take a moment to appreciate the good things you experience. It's about making an effort to not assume malice when there's a plausible positive or neutral explanation for someones behaviour. It's about the fact that if you smile at people and say good morning, they'll return the favour more often than if you frown and don't. It's about making p…
Okay, I can see that. That's what I try to do too. Altough I see these thinking habits as more of a short-term happiness boost than a tool for feeling satisfied with my life (which I would categorize as a more longer-lasting feeling, independent of my normal up/down mood-cycles).
> more of a short-term happiness boost than a tool for feeling satisfied with my life
The former can have quite an effect on the latter though. To take it to one extreme, if you're never happy you're not going to be satisfied with life. But more realistically if these habits often help you feel happy when otherwise you would've been less happy, then that's going to have a positive impact on how satisfied you are with life.
Re: The compelling case for working less
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
The most effective way to be unhappy - comparing yourself to others. Its far more satisfying to 'impress yourself', ie do better than you did before. I also like to remember that such comparisons are usually between your every day existance and their 'highlight reel'.
>Its far more satisfying to 'impress yourself' I find that this is something that sometimes sort of just happens to me, when I get aware of something I'm doing better now than, say, a year before. But, I never really consciously decide to do that, because then I find it just doesn't work. Like the cliché of standing in front of a mirror and saying to yourself "today is gonna be a good day" (Has that ever worked for a…
As pointed out on the most recent Hilarious World of Depression podcast episode, the positive affirmation in front of a mirror seems like it would never work, and many more people have realized that telling themselves really negative things about themselves works great--so why not give the opposite a shot?
Re: The compelling case for working less
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is not unique to humans. Check out: https://youtu.be/meiU6TxysCg It takes a lot of effort to learn not to resent accomplishments of people you’re “competing” with even if they’re friends and you’re not directly competing with them. It’s a learned behavior to feel good for them instead. There’s probably a selected reason for this, but it’s possible to overcome it (or at least be aware of its affect). It’s better…
I have this strange dichotomy where I am happy if my friends succeed, but I am also kind of happy if they don‘t. Seems like I learned to feel good for other people‘s accomplishments, but I haven‘t unlearned comparing myself to them, and feeling good if I accomplish something they do not.
I suppose it's better than feeling unhappy if they do succeed and unhappy if they don't.
Re: The compelling case for working less
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't competitiveness at the core of biological evolution and not something we have "evolved to"?
I don't understand the distinction. Competition is at the core of biological evolution and so we, like all living creatures, have evolved to be competitive.
Many living creatures have evolved to be co-operative (including humans). Some (like humans) are often individually competitive within a larger co-operative social system. Others (like ants, bees, mole rats, some shrimps, etc.) are individually altruistic and collectively eusocial or hypersocial. Evolution is competitive at a systematic, somewhat abstract level: traits that promote perpetuation of themselves given the environmental constrains tend to prosper, and if the pool of resources is limited, the prospering of some traits will probably be detrimental to the prospering of others.
The distinction is between competition in the sense of individuals or groups competing, over things that are often irrelevant with respect to evolution, vs the fundamental principle that given a set of environmental constraints and a limited pool of resources, an entity that can repeatedly propagate more effectively than others will tend towards a greater relative abundance.
The fact that many extremely successful species are not individually competitive proves that evolution does not require all winners to be individually competitive.
Re: The compelling case for working less
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Its far more satisfying to 'impress yourself' I find that this is something that sometimes sort of just happens to me, when I get aware of something I'm doing better now than, say, a year before. But, I never really consciously decide to do that, because then I find it just doesn't work. Like the cliché of standing in front of a mirror and saying to yourself "today is gonna be a good day" (Has that ever worked for a…
As pointed out on the most recent Hilarious World of Depression podcast episode, the positive affirmation in front of a mirror seems like it would never work, and many more people have realized that telling themselves really negative things about themselves works great--so why not give the opposite a shot?
I think this gets the causality wrong. I'd say you tell yourself negative things about you because you're already in a negative mindset. Similarly you're more likely to think positive thoughts when you are happy.
So I'd say rather than simply saying nice things, one should be conscious of when one is thinking negative thoughts and then try to see where they come from and then what can be done about it. Being honest with yourself is a big part of that and I think that's what many people have a hard time with. And of course: If you're happy, also try to notice and cherish that. (If you look in the discussion I've had with another poster in this comment-thread, we've talked a bit about this too)
Re: The compelling case for working less
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Humans are happy if they are relatively well off compared to what they know. This is super true. I've been congratulating myself all month on my new job, paying me BIG BUCKS, compared to my friends. Well, just found out an old friend of mine also found a new job, getting payed literally twice as much as me. Now I'm in a funk and it's irrational and stupid but I can't help but look at the same number in a totally di…
Age fixes that. Used to feel much the same. Now (approaching 50) I just couldn't give a shit anymore. A friend I've grown distant from over the last 4 years or so bought a 911 GT3 RS last year. And suddenly I hear from him. And I marvel at the waste. Purchases like that are meaningful on only two days - the day you buy it, and the day you sell it. I think a mid-20's me might've liked a car like that for the sex it co…
I don't see how cars get men sex, I must be doing it wrong. Sex from women, yes? Where and when does this take place?
I'm continuously amazed at how much people are willing to pay for fancy cars. You know there will always be someone, somewhere with something fancier, right? So why bother? Luxury is a concept that is sold to us. Nice cars are great, it's just that there's no end to the pursuit. Same thing with yachts, only worse.
Have you seen what a used BMW 7-series fetches? Those things drop in value like a rock! Porsches seem to hold their value due to being semi-exotic and sought after by the next bigger sucker. You could buy a GT3, "own" it a couple of years, then sell it for most or more of its original price. Very few cars are like that, however.
Anyways, people should spend their money how they want. It's just that you can't buy your way to happiness.
Re: The compelling case for working less
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you are trying to be precise, no, there are worse things. Poke out your own eye with a finger, for example.
I don't think most people can actually do that. In theory people can do all kinds of things, but each person in this universe is constrained by all kinds of things like instinct, resources, and what they actually experience etc. So, among the things 75% of the people alive today might actually do, browsing Facebook might actually be the worst. Depending on your value system.
You're kidding, right? How about smoking? Alcoholism? Sexual harassment? Stealing? Lying? Cheating? I can keep going.
Facebook is waaaay down the list.