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Hello, me. It's been a while

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Re: Hello, me. It's been a while

#201

Post by embedding-shape »

D-Machine wrote: post #165
embedding-shape wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It seems most people today have headphones on all the time. I don't understand it. I'm not sure, but it would seem people hate their own voice? Depends on the location maybe too? I think in big cities I see more people with headphones on when they're out and about (which makes sense, cities tends to be noisy and not in the interesting way like nature is), compared to in the small town I live in now, where most peop…

I see a lot of people walking around in the city with headphones, and I always find it concerning. These people have huge issues with situational awareness: they can't hear faster walkers approaching from behind, often don't notice suspicious or erratic behaviour from the local flavour until far too late, and IMO are simply incapable of properly anticipating things like increased engine roars as a driver guns it tryi…

I dunno, usually they seem to have good enough. I'm not sure what the risk is for "faster walkers approaching from behind" but where I live, it's the etiquette that it's the responsibility of the one passing to make sure to not bother the passee, it's not up to them to make sure you don't walk into them. The other points just seem over the top cautious as well, but maybe I'm too European to understand the constant stress and threats that seems typical in the US and similar places.

I'm fairly sure people are aware about the fact that they're missing a whole sense + some situational awareness when they're wearing headphones and walk around :)

Re: Hello, me. It's been a while

#202

Post by Eddonarth »

deinonychus wrote: post #193
Hugsbox wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is me, but for smoke breaks at work. Half the time I don't need the cigarette, I just need the change of scenery to break up the day.

i'm quitting smoking and kind of nervous about what it's going to be like taking breaks without having the excuse of a cigarette to get up and stretch my legs and get fresh air. i bought one of those xteink pocket-sized ereaders and i'm thinking maybe carrying that with me outside and reading for a few minutes will be an ok simulation, along with a nicotine lozenge.

I quit smoking in February (cold turkey, no lozenge or anything). And I replaced my smoking breaks with walking around the block either at the office or at home. Sometimes I listen to an audiobook, sometimes I just walk with no other stimulus besides a cold bottle of water. I've been really enjoying it, almost as much as smoking a cigarette :)

Re: Hello, me. It's been a while

#203

Post by bayindirh »

jasode wrote: post #132
igleria wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My non expert and personal opinion is that multitasking for a long time is not a free lunch and could lead to burnout for most people

>multitasking for a long time is not a free lunch The multitasking I was talking about was combining a mindless repetitive task that has low cognitive demands such as walking on a treadmill, yardwork raking leaves, driving on non-descript boring roads ... with listening to a podcast about whatever topics are interesting. The mind is engaged while the hands and feet doing the work are on autopilot. In those cases, it…

> In those cases, it can be a "free lunch" in the sense that the curiosity-seeking mind got fed while whatever physical task that needed to get done also got done with less procrastination and dread.

The interesting thing is, exercise is more effective and beneficial when brain is focused on what body is doing, i.e. doing mindful exercise is more beneficial than giving brain a pacifier while body is doing something else.

On the "procrastination & dread": The brain has a daily limit on hard concentration. From my personal experience (during my Ph.D.) it tops around four hours most. I also find staying put very useful and beneficial, because after stuffing too much information into it, your brain needs to sift through and filter it. Also I find myself refining my previous ideas while staying put and doing nothing maybe except writing down what I'm refining or journaling.

You can create brain fatigue, fog or plain burnout by trying to make it run flat our all day long. Let it rest, reset and restore. You'll have much more happier.

Re: Hello, me. It's been a while

#204

Post by D-Machine »

embedding-shape wrote: post #201
D-Machine wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see a lot of people walking around in the city with headphones, and I always find it concerning. These people have huge issues with situational awareness: they can't hear faster walkers approaching from behind, often don't notice suspicious or erratic behaviour from the local flavour until far too late, and IMO are simply incapable of properly anticipating things like increased engine roars as a driver guns it tryi…

I dunno, usually they seem to have good enough. I'm not sure what the risk is for "faster walkers approaching from behind" but where I live, it's the etiquette that it's the responsibility of the one passing to make sure to not bother the passee, it's not up to them to make sure you don't walk into them. The other points just seem over the top cautious as well, but maybe I'm too European to understand the constant st…

I'm in downtown Toronto, and there are plenty of (very quiet) electric cars, all sorts of quiet e-bikes and other electric personal transportation devices (scooters, e-unicycles) and other things (roller blades, bikes, skateboards) where often the only sound is the noise of the wheels on the sidewalk / pavement making a quiet hiss / rumble. I do a lot of walking, and headphone people are often (but not always) quite clueless about these things approaching. Granted, those other people aren't supposed to be where people are walking, but they regularly are, sadly.

Passing isn't something that is only the responsibility of the passer, that of course is absurd. Most people don't walk on the very edge of a path, but slightly off from the center (or in the shade close to the buildings if hot, or far from the street if puddles and raining, and etc), and you may also be carrying things that make you take up a lot of space.

So, in practice, as a walker, you do in fact have to be aware of people approaching from behind, at least, if you aren't an ass, because it is often kind (or even necessary) to move aside a bit to make passing easier / possible. Earphone people are some of the biggest assholes in these scenarios.

EDIT: But I fully agree that once you get out of the chaos of the downtown core, or likely plenty of other cities, this is probably just not really a meaningful problem / tradeoff.

Re: Hello, me. It's been a while

#205

Post by embedding-shape »

D-Machine wrote: post #204
embedding-shape wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno, usually they seem to have good enough. I'm not sure what the risk is for "faster walkers approaching from behind" but where I live, it's the etiquette that it's the responsibility of the one passing to make sure to not bother the passee, it's not up to them to make sure you don't walk into them. The other points just seem over the top cautious as well, but maybe I'm too European to understand the constant st…

I'm in downtown Toronto, and there are plenty of (very quiet) electric cars, all sorts of quiet e-bikes and other electric personal transportation devices (scooters, e-unicycles) and other things (roller blades, bikes, skateboards) where often the only sound is the noise of the wheels on the sidewalk / pavement making a quiet hiss / rumble. I do a lot of walking, and headphone people are often (but not always) quite…

> Passing isn't something that is only the responsibility of the passer, that of course is absurd. Most people don't walk on the very edge of a path,

Interesting difference between Canadians and Spanish people then, very interesting. Here it's expected you don't walk in the middle if you can, at least in metropolitan areas where people have very different walking speed. If you have to say something in order to pass the person, then the other person is already doing something wrong. Most people I see with headphones are indeed almost always walking very much on the sides, exactly so they are not in the way and don't need to be bothered.

> personal transportation devices (scooters, e-unicycles) and other things (roller blades, bikes, skateboards) where often the only sound is the noise of the wheels on the sidewalk / pavement making a quiet hiss / rumble

I guess this is a more practical difference, here all vehicles (including scooters, bicycles, and everything that doesn't have two meat legs) have dedicated streets/lanes, or use normal roads where cars go. None of those vehicles go at the same street/pavement where pedestrians go, so I don't think headphone-wearing pedestrians have to worry about the same thing as the Toronto people seemingly have to watch out for. You could walk blindfolded more or less in central Barcelona, and not get close to being hit by any bicycles or scooters. In fact, there are tons of blind people seemingly navigating the city just well :)

Hope you get more modern car-alternative infrastructure in the soon future! It helps a lot to separate a whole host of traffic you don't want with pedestrians, and is easily worth the investment.

Re: Hello, me. It's been a while

#206

Post by vladvasiliu »

artisinal wrote: post #176
KPGv2 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you did that in the USA, you would lose your appointment and possibly be billed for a no-show.

A bill for healthcare? Foreign concept in Europe.

Don't know about "Europe", but in France they're looking into setting up something similar for no-shows. Not sure where the law's at, but it's being considered at least.

Re: Hello, me. It's been a while

#207

Post by JK-Swizzle »

bayindirh wrote: post #203
jasode wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>multitasking for a long time is not a free lunch The multitasking I was talking about was combining a mindless repetitive task that has low cognitive demands such as walking on a treadmill, yardwork raking leaves, driving on non-descript boring roads ... with listening to a podcast about whatever topics are interesting. The mind is engaged while the hands and feet doing the work are on autopilot. In those cases, it…

> In those cases, it can be a "free lunch" in the sense that the curiosity-seeking mind got fed while whatever physical task that needed to get done also got done with less procrastination and dread. The interesting thing is, exercise is more effective and beneficial when brain is focused on what body is doing, i.e. doing mindful exercise is more beneficial than giving brain a pacifier while body is doing something e…

I had not heard that about mindful exercise before. Do you have a source with more information?

Re: Hello, me. It's been a while

#208

Post by inigyou »

embedding-shape wrote: post #136
inigyou wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Going exploring with a friend" sounds infinitely more constructive than doomscrolling.

I'm not sure it was, at least growing up country-side, it usually meant "getting up to no good" one way or another, because there is literally nothing else to do, eventually you've done all the "normal" stuff. Going to scare/play with the cows, find an axe and cut some trees down, throw branches at the neighbor kid without them seeing you, build snow-walls to fuck the cars, among other things were common activities,…

Still more constructive.

Re: Hello, me. It's been a while

#209

Post by dv35z »

ramijames wrote: post #190
monknomo wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

have you considered seeking treatment? I personally have had some spells like you are describing, and generally white knuckled through. I tried medication for the last one, and I'll be darned if it didn't work pretty well.

No job, no money, no healthcare.

Hey Rami - was trying to reach you through the form on your website, but I got errors. Contact me if you're interested in a fun, paid mission. // JRO

Re: Hello, me. It's been a while

#210

Post by maleldil »

gwbas1c wrote: post #191
stronglikedan wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't found noise cancelling headphones that don't cause pressure. And with Bose it's like some weird negative something sensation - like disturbingly quiet. I presume it's what those sound proof rooms feel like from what I've heard described.

I have a pair of Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones, and they are so comfortable that I can wear them all day. They also get so quiet that they made me realize that I have tinnitus.

I never really understood how people can wear headphones all day. I have the XM5 headphones, and after a couple of hours, it starts hurting my head. What am I doing wrong? I also have the earbuds of the same generation, and they're much more comfortable, but the noise cancelling is less consistent.
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