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De-Brainrot Vacations

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Re: De-Brainrot Vacations

#141

Post by ChrisLTD »

ProllyInfamous wrote: post #122
poncho_romero wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a young person, I can at least anecdotally say the same thing is happening to people who, while older, ain't old yet.

>>We get wise too late... >>...and old too soon. >>–Danish Proverb ---- At early-forties, I don't think I count as "young" anymore. Definitely: growing up without a cell phone was beautiful. I still remember driving around semi-lost, using paper maps, quite fondly (I still print directions). My last partner (eight years my junior) "grew up on her cellphone" and it was just remarkable how fucked her brain was... at le…

Forties isn’t old. You might not have the energy reserves of a younger person, but you shouldn’t feel like your brain is mush.

Re: De-Brainrot Vacations

#143

Post by SupLockDef »

FinnLobsien wrote: post #18

I think the „my brain isn’t the same anymore“ sensation is pretty universal. Between addictive online media in our personal lives and AI at work, I think we’ve made mental effort largely optional. That must be a horrible thing. One of my favorite theories is the physical activity transition. In my grandparents‘ generation, physical movement became more optional as work shifted from manual labor to knowledge work or o…

We know already what's happening after decade of optional thinking: electing dumass Presidents, walking the same path than Germany about 100 years ago, cut scientific research, social nets, etc.

We know already what's happening with optional thinking.

Re: De-Brainrot Vacations

#144

Post by SjokoladeIsHare »

willy_k wrote: post #121
carlosjobim wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sleep is also a forced meditation, so we can't avoid processing information. But in a different way of course.

We can totally avoid (being conscious of) processing stuff during sleep too. Just take some SSRIs or smoke weed and you wake up in the next day. I think that that has more effect on people than people realize, dreaming is important but many people don’t experience that side of things any more.

> just sleep and wake up

This is my default experience. Falling asleep, then waking up an unknown amount of time later as if nothing happened. Maybe I don’t pay attention to my dreams

Re: De-Brainrot Vacations

#145

Post by cindyllm »

underlipton wrote: post #58
DanielVZ wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if always but probably there's a rise of anti-intellectualism in general since I'd say the 2000s. I remember being amazed by how intelligent adults were when I was little. Always doing cross-words, sudoku, reading books, discussing the classics, etc. But now those same adults don't read anything anymore, and just spend their time watching netflix on bed. The same adults that used to correct my vocabulary, gr…

I think the anti-intellectualism crisis gets mischaracterized. Common rejection of experts, academia, and empirical findings is certainly a part of it, but I tend to see more of an issue with targeted, self-serving ignorance, particularly among the elite. You have extremely intelligent and influential people balking at, say, the undeniable net benefits of universal healthcare, renewable energy investment, and cash pa…

[dead]

Re: De-Brainrot Vacations

#146

Post by harmoni-pet »

grehbies wrote: post #36

I used to read fairly voraciously as a child; nothing like the kids who could devour a Harry Potter book between sunrises, but a respectable "novel every 2-3 weeks", somewhat above my grade level. I can remember almost the exact instant I fell off: being dissatisfied with a particular turn in a YA novel in 9th grade, and the odd moments that had been filled with page-turning suddenly became designated for sketching a…

I noticed you listed all fiction here. Do you ever try reading nonfiction? You might just need something more concrete to hold your attention rather than fictitious characters in imaginary scenarios.

Another thing I suggest to lots of people is to try audiobooks. It's not the same as traditional reading, but it's way better than not reading at all. Sometimes I use a screen reader on my laptop and follow along with my eyes. I've noticed this allows me to read something for much longer and the comprehension feels stronger.

Also, I wouldn't worry about finishing books if that's hard for some people. If something doesn't hold your interest, there's no point in slogging through it just so you can earn your imaginary 'finished' trophy. Especially for fiction.

Re: De-Brainrot Vacations

#147

Post by brailsafe »

When I got fired a few months ago—which I'd somewhat anticipated since the CTO was becoming ever more temperamental—I took the money I'd aggressively not spent and decided to spend the summer doing things I enjoyed, letting the stages of grief subside, and letting myself get bored, instead of trying to force myself to AI this or that or even apply to more than a few jobs. I turned off my website that I wasn't doing anything with anyway, and I've been letting my brain churn on the prospect of leaving software entirely. I still don't feel confident that if I do spend the time trying to land another contract, that it'll be a fruitful endeavor, nor if I pursue something else, but I've got some great hiking done, spent lots of time with family and friends, and I'm glad I haven't wasted it while being mired in the swamp of anxiety that I presume a more Type A person would. It was cheap to buy this time, and it's better to buy it back when it can be spent doing physically adventurous things.

I may go back to applying for the few jobs around, or I might decide it's such an unlikely venture that I'll just see if I can meet someone on a hiring team at a climbing gym or something. Either way, I don't really care to spend much of it behind a screen until winter rolls around.

Re: De-Brainrot Vacations

#148

Post by tristor »

ProllyInfamous wrote: post #86
boudin wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have another suggestion which doesn't contradict yours. When I was younger I used to get bored way more often. I had to wait regularly during a week (e.g. for a bus, friend, appointment) or even at work as a software dev (e.g. compilation which used to take more time). This was also the case when doing some physical activities which didn't require lot of thoughts. Back then, before mobile phones with internet acces…

I have another suggestion which doesn't contradict yours: This is only a small part of it (tech addiction 24/7 via phone); certainly there is something bigger at play, here (e.g: "the brain isn't the same anymore;" agreed). I do not use email nor a cell phone (several years; outgoing landline, only), so I have more than enough time to ruminate (and read a few dozen books, annually) – and yet agree very much with OC's…

> It's like: everybody is just mentally exhausted, mortal.

Very much this. I think a lot of it is that the "slack" of our lives is being eliminated little bit by little bit to improve "productivity", and in so doing it is making life harder, mentally and physically, in ways that we don't really grasp because we're the frog being boiled. We are more "productive" and "efficient" than ever, but we're not happier or living better lives, and a lot of that I think is due to us eking out the last bit of gain for our work lives and leaving nothing left in the tank for when we aren't working.

This three day weekend, I only really felt like I could do things today, but now I have to go back to work tomorrow. Wouldn't it be great if I didn't need 2-3 days just to become a normal person again every time I don't have to work? Wouldn't it be great if I could use at least one day on the weekend every weekend to do something of personal interest rather than mental recovery in a fog?

Re: De-Brainrot Vacations

#149

Post by tristor »

tayo42 wrote: post #126
FinnLobsien wrote: post #18

I think the „my brain isn’t the same anymore“ sensation is pretty universal. Between addictive online media in our personal lives and AI at work, I think we’ve made mental effort largely optional. That must be a horrible thing. One of my favorite theories is the physical activity transition. In my grandparents‘ generation, physical movement became more optional as work shifted from manual labor to knowledge work or o…

If AI at work is rotting everyone's brain then it should be like a superpower to be unemployed. But that doesn't seem to be the case...

That's because the folks who are unemployed, unfortunately, are largely those who already were further down the curve. We're destroying the minds of those who were supposed to move society forward and gaining nothing elsewhere.

Re: De-Brainrot Vacations

#150

Post by piloto_ciego »

carlosjobim wrote: post #108
Folcon wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be the greatest irony if failing to manage the economic fallout of the coming AI revolution had a larger negative impact than the benefit it brings We might just run into the worst recession in history as the heavily skewed service economy quickly runs out of customers who can afford to pay for it

We're already several years into the worst economic depression in history. People aren't having children because they cannot afford a home. But it can get worse of course.

The kids thing isn’t an economic thing, read the paper about the iPhone basically being birth control…
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