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Thin desires are eating life

joanwestenberg.com

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Re: Thin desires are eating life

#251

Post by lanyard-textile »

brailsafe wrote: post #229
clowncubs wrote: post #55

This resonates. I work in web dev, and a little over 2 years ago I hit a wall. Everything was a screen. All day at work, at home, on the go. Everything felt hallow and unrewarding. I'm an introvert, so outside of my family, I didn't have many relationships. Of course, I was depressed. I began working on it by going to therapy and then one day I decided to try sculpting. This changed everything. I found I was pretty g…

> I even started making latex halloween masks. Bit of a tangent: I don't really subscribe to the introvert/extrovert divide personally , but do eventually hit a wall with socializing, and am happy to explicitly isolate myself in my own world or with a smaller group for extended periods of recharge. Unfortunately, I've committed to attending my good friend's costume NYE party, and have betrayed myself somewhat because…

1. If you have that urge to go, it is probably for a good reason, agreed :) Wouldn't call it a fail though if you didn't end up going. We all require balance.

2. Parties are for getting together, costumes are just a dress code. They'd love your company even if you didn't dress up -- that's why they invited you after all. So don't stress over it. You can come in something silly or minimal fuss.

Re: Thin desires are eating life

#252

Post by brailsafe »

lanyard-textile wrote: post #251
brailsafe wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I even started making latex halloween masks. Bit of a tangent: I don't really subscribe to the introvert/extrovert divide personally , but do eventually hit a wall with socializing, and am happy to explicitly isolate myself in my own world or with a smaller group for extended periods of recharge. Unfortunately, I've committed to attending my good friend's costume NYE party, and have betrayed myself somewhat because…

1. If you have that urge to go, it is probably for a good reason, agreed :) Wouldn't call it a fail though if you didn't end up going. We all require balance. 2. Parties are for getting together, costumes are just a dress code. They'd love your company even if you didn't dress up -- that's why they invited you after all. So don't stress over it. You can come in something silly or minimal fuss.

> They'd love your company even if you didn't dress up

This is generally true and reassuring, and but in this case I have to put at least something reasonable together since I half-assed it last time lol. I'll probably just try and attend every third costume party in the future

Re: Thin desires are eating life

#253

Post by brailsafe »

clowncubs wrote: post #234
brailsafe wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I even started making latex halloween masks. Bit of a tangent: I don't really subscribe to the introvert/extrovert divide personally , but do eventually hit a wall with socializing, and am happy to explicitly isolate myself in my own world or with a smaller group for extended periods of recharge. Unfortunately, I've committed to attending my good friend's costume NYE party, and have betrayed myself somewhat because…

This is a bit longwinded, so apologies: I tried sculpting because I saw a video on YouTube where this guy, I think he goes by Craftyart, or Craftyarts - he had a speed video where he sculpted, cast, and painted a version of the Joker, but it was Willem DaFoe. It was incredible, and it just gave me an itch. I watched it and wanted to do that, to make that. For me, I'd often have these ideas of things I wanted to try,…

> For me, I'd often have these ideas of things I wanted to try, or do, or challenge myself with, and then for some inexplicable reason I'd never do them.

I think without a mentor or point of reference for why or how you'd go about doing something like that, it's just a completely abstract domain, much like software is to anyone who hasn't spent a lifetime coding or figuring out how computers work. The mental health work and the video by Craftyarts seem like the perfect timely combination to allow for peeling back those layers, literally and figuratively, further allowing curiosity to be actionable.

I've been doing that a bit with electronics, and a recent example that seems similarly daunting for me would be watching the end to end process of building a custom keyboard pcb. At first it seems like an immense rabbit hole, but dedicating a bit of money and time incrementally is insanely rewarding in aggregate, moreso the further away from your mainline discipline it is. I tend to avoid these until I have a specific challenge in mind.

The seed of interest question was framed poorly, but it was related specifically to the latex mask subject, and I guess I was just curious if there were any adjacent ideas that might be worth exploring, since you do seem to have an interest in vaguely related areas

Re: Thin desires are eating life

#254

Post by dangus »

This article feels judgmental, off-putting, and condescending to me.

It is especially so because it chooses real examples to put down.

Why is the author’s philosophy the arbiter of what we are allowed to enjoy? Why is basic shallow pleasure in life looked down upon?

It even feels condescending to people who have actual serious needs like hunger and disease who may turn to some of these “vices” for an escape. Meanwhile, thick desires are available for those privileged with free time, energy, and money.

By the end of the article I almost felt like the author was trying to evangelize a religion to me, in a really icky way.

Re: Thin desires are eating life

#255

Post by clowncubs »

brailsafe wrote: post #253
clowncubs wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a bit longwinded, so apologies: I tried sculpting because I saw a video on YouTube where this guy, I think he goes by Craftyart, or Craftyarts - he had a speed video where he sculpted, cast, and painted a version of the Joker, but it was Willem DaFoe. It was incredible, and it just gave me an itch. I watched it and wanted to do that, to make that. For me, I'd often have these ideas of things I wanted to try,…

> For me, I'd often have these ideas of things I wanted to try, or do, or challenge myself with, and then for some inexplicable reason I'd never do them. I think without a mentor or point of reference for why or how you'd go about doing something like that, it's just a completely abstract domain, much like software is to anyone who hasn't spent a lifetime coding or figuring out how computers work. The mental health w…

Adjacent ideas: 3d printing - I think it is cool but I'm not into it myself because it would require more time for me in front of a screen and working with digital tools. But, there are a lot of things to be explored here. One idea is digitally scanning a analog sculpture and then 3D printing the mold for it. This would be huge as you could make very complex molds and they'd be essentially perfect. And then when your mold broke down you could just print another one. No need to work from a master sculpt.

I have a friend who made me 3D printed keychains for swag at events. He embedded NFC chips in the keychain and this links to a linktree on my website. Coming up with cool swag like this could be something to explore. People found them really cool and it was a relatively simple thing to do. I'm sure there are some wild things 3D printing could be applied to for things like this.

Re: Thin desires are eating life

#256

Post by skeltoac »

WhatsTheBigIdea wrote: post #177

I really like this article. I bake bread. I have spent a good deal of time optimizing the recipe for deliciousness but also for time efficiency. Proving in a warm oven is a great tip. Also baking two loaves at a time! All this nit picking about writing style is disappointing. I like that this person got their ideas out there. They are good ideas. Legible and easy to parse == good enough. I don't care about the writin…

The writing style is perfect.

It’s not just like that to be spaced out visually. It suggests slowing down, taking your time, digesting each sentence. Not just racing to the end so you can drop a thin take and keep scrolling.

It is a THICK PIECE.

Consume it that way. :)

Re: Thin desires are eating life

#257

Post by conqrr »

Liked reading this piece.

Thin Desires, Shallow work, Chasing Glitter, Mindless optimization on result, Non virtuous, Dopamine chasing. All are but the same. Burnout is our body's response to it. Philosophers have said this for thousands of years that they all lead to anything but happiness.

Re: Thin desires are eating life

#258

Post by tonymet »

Thick and thin in both cases, without purpose, is still hedonistic.

Learning calculus sounds more magnanimous than checking notifications, but what's the purpose? She says you're better off after a year, but in what way?

What if the person checking notifications is waiting on a delivery for a soup kitchen. and the person learning calculus just wants to brag about it or talk down to others because of their credentials?

The purpose matters more. You have to have a purpose. Both "thin" and "thick" desires can be very meaningful with purpose. Even desiring a donut with a lonely neighbor can be better than a year learning calculus -- with the right purpose.

The issue with her approach is it assumes virtue in collecting diplomas (or activities that lead to them) : learning math, languages , getting a masters. It's still feeding the ego using this thick/thin framework.

But if you don't have a purpose, that's just as vain as showing off your car or your watch. It's just another embellishment.

Re: Thin desires are eating life

#260

Post by andai »

>From the perspective of a frictionless global marketplace, all of this is pure inefficiency.

The frictionless traps you in an infinite web of bullshit. We need more friction at this point, not less.

A frictionless todo app affords cognitive bloat.

A frictionless communication medium affords noise.

Friction is natural and healthy and we heave deleted it.

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