Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How to Exist

raptitude.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 263 posts

Re: How to Exist

#231

Post by inigyou »

DrewADesign wrote: post #215
inigyou wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In South Korea everyone was recently using 3x leverage on the stock market—which mostly consists of just 2 companies, so concentrated that American institutions aren't allowed to call their index funds diversified—because you have nothing to lose by losing 200% of your money. Which did happen last week as the market crashed. Those people are no worse off for losing 200% of their life savings, because they are already…

I think it’s pretty hard for people that came up in the 70s and 80s who are ending their careers to wrap their heads around how shit it is to try starting a career/life right now. Even when people outright tell them, they assume those people are exaggerating or making excuses for not challenging themselves. Back in those days there was always some other route. The entire lower-end of the job market, including just ab…

I feel like they were more confident back then. They knew if they followed a certain path they were likely to succeed. Now it's all murky and it's obvious that most paths lead to failure, but it's not obvious which ones don't.

Re: How to Exist

#232

Post by evo_9 »

backend_dev82 wrote: post #206

I kept hearing about meditation. And at one point I tried it. With one app that was given to me for free through my employer's benefits. It had a counter of your current uninterrupted streak. (Meditating every day) I kept at it. First for 5 minutes a day. Soon for 10m a day. Then 20m Then twice a day at 20m. Then semi-guided, and in the end unguided (only a beep at the end). I never felt anything from it. Truly. Nada…

Similar experience for me as well.

I switched to a five minute breathing exercise to encourage deep sleep, and that actually has been profound.

Getting 7 to 8 hours of good / deep sleep every night is quite literally one of the best things you can do for yourself.

Maybe give it go.

Re: How to Exist

#233

Post by BarryMilo »

backend_dev82 wrote: post #206

I kept hearing about meditation. And at one point I tried it. With one app that was given to me for free through my employer's benefits. It had a counter of your current uninterrupted streak. (Meditating every day) I kept at it. First for 5 minutes a day. Soon for 10m a day. Then 20m Then twice a day at 20m. Then semi-guided, and in the end unguided (only a beep at the end). I never felt anything from it. Truly. Nada…

As someone who used to meditate, I don't think you did it wrong. There are many right ways to do it, depending on what you seek.

Maybe it's not what you needed at the moment, especially if you're not an anxious person. But these days most people are anxious or stressed out, and the barest amount of meditation can help tremendously. Or it might do nothing, everyone is different.

Re: How to Exist

#234

Post by mnsc »

evo_9 wrote: post #232
backend_dev82 wrote: post #206

I kept hearing about meditation. And at one point I tried it. With one app that was given to me for free through my employer's benefits. It had a counter of your current uninterrupted streak. (Meditating every day) I kept at it. First for 5 minutes a day. Soon for 10m a day. Then 20m Then twice a day at 20m. Then semi-guided, and in the end unguided (only a beep at the end). I never felt anything from it. Truly. Nada…

Similar experience for me as well. I switched to a five minute breathing exercise to encourage deep sleep, and that actually has been profound. Getting 7 to 8 hours of good / deep sleep every night is quite literally one of the best things you can do for yourself. Maybe give it go.

That sounds nice, care to share the breathing exercise?

Re: How to Exist

#235

Post by DrewADesign »

inigyou wrote: post #231
DrewADesign wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it’s pretty hard for people that came up in the 70s and 80s who are ending their careers to wrap their heads around how shit it is to try starting a career/life right now. Even when people outright tell them, they assume those people are exaggerating or making excuses for not challenging themselves. Back in those days there was always some other route. The entire lower-end of the job market, including just ab…

I feel like they were more confident back then. They knew if they followed a certain path they were likely to succeed. Now it's all murky and it's obvious that most paths lead to failure, but it's not obvious which ones don't.

Well imagine having the entire first like decade of your career happen before the Reagan era blessed the relentless pursuit of profit at the expense of anyone, even if they were core parts of your company? Before Private equity, rampant off-shoring, etc. etc. etc. Even in the nineties people were saying things like “don’t switch jobs too often because it will make you look disloyal.” Well now, in many industries, if you have the same job for 5 years people think you’re just unmotivated. Considering how little employers are willing to invest in employees compared to recruiting shiny new ones, it makes sense.

Re: How to Exist

#236

Post by weitendorf »

DrewADesign wrote: post #215
inigyou wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In South Korea everyone was recently using 3x leverage on the stock market—which mostly consists of just 2 companies, so concentrated that American institutions aren't allowed to call their index funds diversified—because you have nothing to lose by losing 200% of your money. Which did happen last week as the market crashed. Those people are no worse off for losing 200% of their life savings, because they are already…

I think it’s pretty hard for people that came up in the 70s and 80s who are ending their careers to wrap their heads around how shit it is to try starting a career/life right now. Even when people outright tell them, they assume those people are exaggerating or making excuses for not challenging themselves. Back in those days there was always some other route. The entire lower-end of the job market, including just ab…

It's true, but part of the problem is that there is an oversupply of people seeking high-skill jobs before they have had the time to actually build those skills. Whereas if you need to a guy to haul lumber around, and there's a guy standing in front of your lumber saying "I can do that", he can probably do it right now and you pay him for it.

There are still jobs like that, but living standards have increased so much that they aren't considered worth taking when you can hold out longer for better ones, to the point that it's considered like a "boomerism" to suggest doing jobs that people in other countries are happy to take to live at a 1970's standard of living.

Even in the US there are seasonal blue collar jobs like that. Youth generally last until 25 or so now though, and that's partly just a skill issue/matter of mindset, because it didn't sound weird for a 20 year old to work in a factory or on a boat back then like it does now.

IMO the giant difference between now and then is the massive gap in income/wealth between people just starting out or working 1970's style jobs, and jobs with global reach and high leverage (ie the most capable produce 2-100+ times the value, but the average person produces nothing of value or negative value). There are WAY more opportunities to benefit from that now than there were in the 70's. I think that's what causes most of the angst tbh, that there is so much more opportunity cost and variance in outcomes now because of global trade/technology, if you just want to work to live you're not going to the same results as people who live to work, or people living places where they literally have to "work to live".

To be honest I don't think the boomer mindset of just working to live and play with your expensive toys was ever a very good one, because it led to the consumerism that makes people think they need $10M to retire or seek $200k jobs right out of college without actually wanting to do those things enough to achieve them (and not needing them anyway)

Re: How to Exist

#237

Post by BoppreH »

indiv0 wrote: post #212
BoppreH wrote: post #168

> and that many preferred to administer electric shocks to themselves instead of being left alone with their thoughts. I see this study cited often, and I always reject this interpretation. I'm perfectly content sitting for long periods, with or without my thoughts, but if you give me an electric toy I've never seen before, of course I'll play with it! Can I make muscles twitch? Move my arm? Are some parts more sensi…

I like your take. I think I'd personally be in the same boat, if I was a participant in the study. Not sure if that take generalizes beyond us, though. https://xkcd.com/242/

Counterpoint: every man that, upon being handed a taser, immediately tried (or was tempted to try) it on themselves. Maybe not a lightning machine, but safe electrical shocks? Probably not that uncommon.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NonPoliticalTwitter/comments/1oo299...

Re: How to Exist

#238

Post by shostack »

bigupthewhole wrote: post #214

I find just going for a walk in nature, after walking for 2 hours something happens with my brain. I'm more calm, relaxed, focused, and coherent in my inner thoughts. I think it takes around 2 hours of inner monologue and thinking about all the problems I'm facing in my life until I feel like I'm done and I can let them go, or I've gone over them enough.

The closest I get to that is when I am getting a massage actually. If I get a 90 minute one, about halfway through my brain stops racing and I enter this, not quite hypnogogic, state where things are quiet and fluid and peaceful. The closest thing is waking up after a good night's sleep with an empty brain before the weight of the world comes crashing in.

Re: How to Exist

#239

Post by evo_9 »

mnsc wrote: post #234
evo_9 wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar experience for me as well. I switched to a five minute breathing exercise to encourage deep sleep, and that actually has been profound. Getting 7 to 8 hours of good / deep sleep every night is quite literally one of the best things you can do for yourself. Maybe give it go.

That sounds nice, care to share the breathing exercise?

2 seconds inhale, 2 seconds hold, 6 seconds exhale for 5 minutes. I use iBreath on iOS.

Re: How to Exist

#240

Post by brianweet »

mnsc wrote: post #234
evo_9 wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar experience for me as well. I switched to a five minute breathing exercise to encourage deep sleep, and that actually has been profound. Getting 7 to 8 hours of good / deep sleep every night is quite literally one of the best things you can do for yourself. Maybe give it go.

That sounds nice, care to share the breathing exercise?

Every now and then I do one as well, while lying down in bed. Based on Wim Hof: 30 quick breaths, breathe out and wait until you get the urge to breathe (can take a while), inhale fully and tense all your muscles for 15 seconds, release your muscles and breathe out. It can cause fainting. Maybe I don't sleep, maybe I just faint for 7 hours.
Post reply on HN