> In Jenner’s century it killed an estimated four hundred thousand Europeans a year.
I don't think that number is correct…
Ordinary Abundance
191–200 of 203 posts
Re: Ordinary Abundance
#192For the last year I've been on well water for the first time in my life. High iron, manganese and iron bacteria - safe, but tasted eggy and ruined shower heads, dishwashers, clothes, washing machine, kettles... I just finished installing a whole-house filter & softener system and everyone is delighted. I told my kids that once a month we're going to serve untreated well-water with dinner, so we stay grateful for it.
I like this form of parenting. Make your life better for your kids, but reintroduce some challenge so that they learn to appreciate the comforts of life.
Also good preparation for when they live on their own and may not have as nice a place as you've provided for them as kids.
Re: Ordinary Abundance
#193I can’t imagine ever affording such a nice apartment.
The fanciness is mostly decorations, which can cost a huge amount but don't have to, especially if you buy secondhand.
Re: Ordinary Abundance
#194.. and I want more for myself and everyone else. And I don't feel bad about it. In fact, degrowthers can pound sand and cry about it. There is power in controlling people through upheaval and degrowth. I delight when those self-serving revolutionaries FAIL.
Do you have another earth or two in your back pocket? I'm not saying degrowth is the answer, but continual growth is just not feasible.
Re: Ordinary Abundance
#195Hedonic adaptation really is something. I have been deeply trying to appreciate these modern marvels more and more, but it's hard. A hot shower, air almost 50 degrees cooler than the outside air coming out of my vents, communicating instantly thousands of miles away, it's all so easy to just forget and take for granted
> air almost 50 degrees cooler
You mean Fahreneit, of course.
Re: Ordinary Abundance
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're projecting. EAs are people interested in EA. That there might be overlap with some "transhumanists" (which is no crime as far as anyone is concerned) has no bearing.
I'm not projecting. It's literally what the community is founded on. If you don't like the association, take it up with the group. Effective Altruism is in of itself a philosophy developed by charlatans that refuse to engage in the tradition that preceded it by about 2500 years.
No, it isn't - https://www.effectivealtruism.org/
Says so right there. If you want to argue otherwise, provide a source. As it stands you're just making things up.
> Effective Altruism is in of itself a philosophy developed by charlatans that refuse to engage in the tradition that preceded it by about 2500 years.
You're not communicating anything of substance, and I expect you can't. If there's a problem with EA in itself, it should be pretty damn easy to coherently point it out. There's nothing complicated about it: a) they value charity, b) they value maximal efficacy from a charitable dollar, c) they value taking the time to understand the impacts of various charities and prioritizing what matters to you
I'm not sure what "tradition" you're alluding to here, but if you plainly mean charity-giving and volunteering, the opposite is true. They give, while the average person doesn't.
I have a feeling you find it uncomfortable to confront some of these questions, and so it just feels better to make EA out to be some boogeyman. That way you can content yourself with not changing your habits. Am I getting warm?
Re: Ordinary Abundance
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not projecting. It's literally what the community is founded on. If you don't like the association, take it up with the group. Effective Altruism is in of itself a philosophy developed by charlatans that refuse to engage in the tradition that preceded it by about 2500 years.
No, it isn't - https://www.effectivealtruism.org/ Says so right there. If you want to argue otherwise, provide a source. As it stands you're just making things up. > Effective Altruism is in of itself a philosophy developed by charlatans that refuse to engage in the tradition that preceded it by about 2500 years. You're not communicating anything of substance, and I expect you can't. If there's a problem with EA in i…
You seem to be obsessed with making things about me. That's you projecting your insecurities.
If you need religion, I'm not going to stop you.
Also, you're condescending tone at the end is adorable. Very cute. Mommmmy nooo you got meee. I'm sowwwyyyy
Re: Ordinary Abundance
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know about others...but thats just home ownership or life in general ha ha Life is a series of maintenance tasks + a few moments of rest and happiness followed by death. I think millenials like minimalism for many reasons but some may be the trauma of having clutter in their boomer parents home as well as the idea that each item is a liability. Each item needs a place to rest, possibly time spent maintaining…
The living experience you're describing might be annoying but it's not actual trauma. I think some younger people are too quick to use that word and it trivializes real trauma.
Maybe 'negative lived experience' is a better word? Im trying to describe an uncomfortable situation during their upbringing that has imprinted an aversion to that style in their minds.
Re: Ordinary Abundance
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's possible to mistakenly think you've solved a problem when you've actually made the situation worse, of course, and that's just plainly a bad thing. It's important to be able to identify specific things which we thought were solutions but were actually new worse problems, and roll them back if possible. [0] But that's not really what the hedonic treadmill refers to! The hedonic treadmill is referring to the fact…
> The hedonic treadmill is referring to the fact that, when a problem is solved, the level of pleasure or happiness individuals experience reportedly quickly returns to the pre-solution baseline. That is not a fact or objective truth or even historical, that is a hypothesis and a theory. And the distinction matters. It is not in fact true that all people in all setups and classes and historical periods and periods of…
>Overall peoples happiness go up and down.
Not by much. I seem to remember some research that compared lottery winners to double amputees. Within a short period both groups had reverted to similar levels of happiness.
>I could go on ... the inequality and accumulation of power is threatening to make most of us all worst off and it is not because we got spoiled by hedonistic treadmill.
There isn't much individuals can do about that outside of polling day. What they can do though is start comparing their lives to their grandparents rather than the Kardashians.
Re: Ordinary Abundance
#200I can eat better than a king, every day.
Especially if you eat mindfully rather than stuffing your face to get it over with like many people seem to. I can eat like an Indian even though I'm in the UK: fresh vegetables every day and all the spices you can imagine. Meanwhile many people are still eating barely better than Shackleton's men stuck on the ice for months on end.
It's fascinating to see what people buy in the supermarket and how much it costs them. There is very little fruit and veg in the typical trolley.