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Four thousand weeks

leebyron.com

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Re: Four thousand weeks

#141

Post by bambax »

localghost3000 wrote: post #3

I’m impressed by the beauty of this site and sophistication of the UI. However I _hate_ this type of messaging that does nothing for you except make your mental health worse. I don’t want to think about how many weeks of life I have left! Inducing existential dread is NOT what any of us need to start living our lives more fully (which I assume is the intent of this site). You wanna zone out on YouTube? Go for it. Tha…

TFA is a little pompous and purports to give advice nobody asked for. The date selector at the beginning uses the super weird American format of month/day/year that nobody else uses. And, to the best of my knowledge, there is no "Charles Eisenstien", but a Charles Eisenstein (author of the first quote in the long, interminable scroll).

I'm not so sure life is short; but spending it reading self-help books and unsolicited advice is one sure way to waste time.

Re: Four thousand weeks

#142

Post by HL33tibCe7 »

lakeshastina wrote: post #60

There are a few ways people take such a message - yes, life is precious, be conscious of what we invest our time in. This part makes sense. Yet, it is worth asking, what makes for a meaning life? What makes the 4000 weeks worth it? For some, they chase wealth, power, career success, get one's name recognized, etc - these are milestones to be achieved. Things to accomplish. Others will say, such accomplishments are no…

> Human relationships are also similarly shallow, even if we seek social connection, the odds of it being reciprocated in the manner we value, or of it lasting when we need it, is low

This isn’t true

Re: Four thousand weeks

#143

Post by Dalewyn »

smallnix wrote: post #94
itsallinyahead wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you let the bad emotions and feelings do their business, instead of constantly trying to escape from them, you wouldn't be feeling this way. You, and many others in this modern world, remind of Dostoyevskian characters: neurotic, overly-emotional, busy buzzing around, the cause of all their own problems. No one can sit still in silence, alone with themselves -- they're always running away. There's always some emot…

Or consider this, a person that manages to take out a loan and then dies before repaying can cheat the bank.

Not necessarily; any guarantors and/or successors will have to deal with that outstanding debt.

Re: Four thousand weeks

#144

Post by loveparade »

lakeshastina wrote: post #60

There are a few ways people take such a message - yes, life is precious, be conscious of what we invest our time in. This part makes sense. Yet, it is worth asking, what makes for a meaning life? What makes the 4000 weeks worth it? For some, they chase wealth, power, career success, get one's name recognized, etc - these are milestones to be achieved. Things to accomplish. Others will say, such accomplishments are no…

> So what's my point? The point is, whatever pursuits we undertake with the belief out there that something that I accomplish, accumulate or experience will bring me happiness and fulfillment is a futile endeavor.

I recently came across a term for this. Telic vs. atelic activities [0]. Telic activities are things with some terminal state, e.g. a typical goal-oriented project, or something like the act of getting married.

Atelic activities are those activities where the continuous process is the goal. Certain types of learning, being a good parent, and so on.

The important thing to realize is that in most cases it's not the activity itself that defines whether it's atelic or telic, it's how we approach it. You can make "traveling the world" a very goal-oriented activity with a checklist that you must get through, or you can approach it as a continous lifelong project where the enjoyment is in figuring it out as you go.

I believe this distinction is also important for work. Making something telic, e.g. with an agile process, comes with the danger of taking the day-to-day enjoyment out of an activity such as programming that you would normally enjoy. Of course there must be some amount of planning, but I think we've pushed too far into the goal-oriented direction that makes people miserable.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telicity

Re: Four thousand weeks

#145

Post by peoplefromibiza »

HL33tibCe7 wrote: post #142
lakeshastina wrote: post #60

There are a few ways people take such a message - yes, life is precious, be conscious of what we invest our time in. This part makes sense. Yet, it is worth asking, what makes for a meaning life? What makes the 4000 weeks worth it? For some, they chase wealth, power, career success, get one's name recognized, etc - these are milestones to be achieved. Things to accomplish. Others will say, such accomplishments are no…

> Human relationships are also similarly shallow, even if we seek social connection, the odds of it being reciprocated in the manner we value, or of it lasting when we need it, is low This isn’t true

the chances of it happening are definitely low though.

almost everyone has some kind of long term connection with other people because we meet so many people in our modern lives.

but chances of "them being reciprocated in the manner we value, or of them lasting when we need it" are extremely low.

Many people don't even have a good relationship with their families or with their parents or with their kids.

It is also closely linked to aging.

The older we get, the fewer friends we have. According to a recent study by experts from Aalto University in Finland and the University of Oxford in England, our social network shrinks after we reach our mid-20s.

this is specific to Americans

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_au...

Re: Four thousand weeks

#146

Post by Tepix »

crucialfelix wrote: post #127
localghost3000 wrote: post #3

I’m impressed by the beauty of this site and sophistication of the UI. However I _hate_ this type of messaging that does nothing for you except make your mental health worse. I don’t want to think about how many weeks of life I have left! Inducing existential dread is NOT what any of us need to start living our lives more fully (which I assume is the intent of this site). You wanna zone out on YouTube? Go for it. Tha…

As soon as it asked my birth date I knew it would estimate my death date and I closed the tab.

So you're avoiding thinking about how much time you have left?

Re: Four thousand weeks

#147

Post by college_physics »

One of the oldest known songs is the song of Seikilos from ancient Greece. It goes like this in translation

> While you live, shine

> have no grief at all

> life exists only for a short while

> and time demands its toll.

Culture and social structures can mollify or exacerbate the problem of a sentient brain contemplating its demise but wont make it go away.

Once we accept that, it is an empirical problem to find which arrangements work for most of people most of the time.

A frequently proposed solution that underlies many philosophies and religions is ubuntu, "finding meaning through others": from family and friends to generic strangers on HN.

Re: Four thousand weeks

#148

Post by Kiro »

> In an ideal world the only person making decisions about your time is you. However this comes at a cost that’s not worth paying.

Big disagree on this. I'm so much happier now when I've started saying no to anything I don't want to do. What's the cost? Sure, I meet and bond with less people but doesn't really feel like a big loss. I'm happy being alone with a few good friends and family that respect my integrity and don't demand or expect me to do stuff I don't want.

Re: Four thousand weeks

#149

Post by kwhitefoot »

narrator wrote: post #105
p1esk wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did this for a few years and I’ve never read my diary since. I’m not sure I ever will, let alone anyone else. Thinking some more about it, it’s pretty clear I mostly did it for comments (livejournal.com).

If you kept your diary secret and wrote it for yourself, it would probably be more useful.

Writing it online where others can see it can make it easier to motivate yourself. At least for some people.

Re: Four thousand weeks

#150

Post by Kiro »

adenozine wrote: post #14

Unusable bc of scrolljacking. Latest Edge on latest iOS.

The whole point of the site is to use your scrollwheel to visualize it. It's beautiful and a warranted use of scrolljacking.
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