> ... asked students to entertain themselves with nothing but their thoughts in an "unadorned room". Most said they found it hard to concentrate; half found it unpleasant or neutral at best
Wait, so half found it pleasant?
All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
201–210 of 468 posts
Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s still a random search for new information, distraction, entertainment.
Yes, but random search for information is not always a bad thing. There's a time for exploration.
I agree. HN is net positive for me over the many years I’ve been around. But if you want to cut social media, you probably should include HN ;)
Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#203Earlier quoted context omitted.
> the first thing we usually notice when we look honestly at ourselves Most people cannot achieve that level of objectivity or self-awareness. That is measurable.
I'm not convinced anyone is. Full objectivity is hindered by our minds ability to guess and rationalize. Personally I find all attempts at self-knowledge are just a constant game of trying to sieve truth from rationalization, and I go back and forth on which is which constantly. Ultimately I cannot tell the difference within myself, and I cannot trust that anyone else can either.
> Full objectivity is hindered by our minds ability to guess and rationalize.
One of the main claims of some meditative traditions is that with enough practice you get to experience the workings of the mind. Once you get to experience them directly, you can see that they're projections and you can see through them.
Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#204> people detest being made to spend six to 15 minutes in a room by themselves with nothing to do but think – even to the extent of being willing to give themselves mild electric shocks instead I must be weird, because I don't connect with this at all. I can easily spend hours in daydream, introspective pondering, world building, or creative thinking. Surely I'm not the only one that finds this article inapplicable?
But the point is to do nothing and have no thoughts.
If you are daydreaming you lost
Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#205Earlier quoted context omitted.
While I agree, I personally give HN a pass due to the fact that conversation is typically better here and the fact that it's technically focused.
It’s still a random search for new information, distraction, entertainment.
Isn't reading a book the same, by this definition? You could say that when picking up a book you do control the topic (while in social media it is others), but this is an illusion if you do not read that book for the second time.
Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
Perhaps thats is because ants and amoebas have to find food in a bid to continue thier existence. Its safe to asume that for them to be satiated (not just resting) is to die.
Yes! So one wonders if aboriginal foraging humans have a concept of enlightenment.
Indeed. I read a book called The Songlines which was about Australian aboriginals and nomadism in general. It qouted Pascal and proposed that the solution is to walk and to wander. That's what we are made for. The solution to the problem of sitting in a room is not to sit in a room!
Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
the day you can sit for hours without doing anything, you've attained the state of self-realization – self-love free from all conditions. The conditioned mind is no longer there, the thoughts no longer bombard you, the emotions no longer disturb you. You enjoy the deep peace, contentment and bliss of your infinite self. Then you can truly contemplate deeply on anything you feel important, then the deep mysteries of e…
> Then, you see the truth, of life, existence and the universe. Pretty words, but do they mean anything? For example, if I reach this state, will it be revealed to me why there is something rather than nothing? I think not, otherwise someone would have reported back with the answer already. I'm interested in meditation to learn more about my own body and mind, maybe improve my life somehow. But IMHO the discussions a…
Would you believe someone who reports back?
FWIW I have a friend who is deep into spirituality, still works at a FAANG but definitely feels like he can attain higher states of awareness in his meditations. I don’t see him active on social media, he leads a reasonably ascetic life and so on.
This person doesn’t have much success in making others believe. At best, he gets ‘hey, I am happy that you’re happy’ from folks like me, most feedback is around ‘mystic woo’. I have another friend deep in this world, but she balances it with real world and doesn’t really proselytize.
I think it is very much a catch 22. You won’t believe it unless you’re doing it. So if belief is required for you to give it a shot, that’s a non-starter.
I would say try it out and make up your own mind! What do you got to lose anyway - stay away from holy men who make you uncomfortable, start with books or YouTube!
Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#208Sorry for the morbid take, but the reason why we cannot sit quietly alone is to distract ourselves from our eventual demise.
Distraction from mortality is actually a recurring point of discussion in Pascal’s writing. “Distraction is the only thing that consoles us for miseries and yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries.”
In my opinion it's in fact the main point but I think this is partially lost in translation, divertissement meaning more than just distraction.
Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#209Yeh and to think society rewards extroverts as leaders but often introverts make the best leaders as in they take long periods of time to think alone and often avoid many pitfalls by doing so instead of moving fast and breaking everyone and everything along the way.
>introverts make the best leaders To be a good leader, you have to be willing to confront AND navigate conflict within a group setting in a productive manner that ultimately achieves an agreed upon goal. One of the defining traits of an introvert is avoiding conflict. Thus, no, introverts don't INHERENTLY make good leaders. If you've ever dealt with even a moderately diverse group of individuals due to their capabili…
> One of the defining traits of an introvert is avoiding conflict.
Where do you get this idea from? The introversion/extraversion scale is commonly taken to represent whether (and to which extent) one is energized by solitude and drained by socialization and vice versa. It has nothing to do with conflict avoidance.
As evidence for this, check out the Big Five personality model, one of the golden standards on this topic. There conflict avoidance is taken to be mostly related to the agreeableness factor, which is orthogonal to the extraversion factor.
Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#210I think people who can keep themselves mildly distracted with whatever, are in a far better position than someone who keeps "dwelling on the inside". It is very easy to say that "you don't need to believe your thoughts" , but is it practical (think inception)? In my experience, no. Needless to say, the thoughts and their impact differ from person to person. And unless we can prove that it is more likely to benefit than harm from these thoughts, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.