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Quiet

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Re: Quiet

#31

Post by shubhamjain »

nostrademons wrote: post #24

Interesting to compare this to the wave of nostalgia for our agrarian past that hit during the 1930s and 40s, leading to novels like Lord of the Rings, the Chronicles of Narnia, and The Grapes of Wrath. The past that the author yearns for was the future of those writers. That nostalgia didn't stop the clock from moving forward or life from getting ever more hectic and complicated. But there seems to be something deep…

I think we have a tendency to see our past, and our childhood, in more positive light than it actually was. We tend to remember the good moments while easily forget the troubles. That explains why we find these nostalgic write-ups so relatable. What is bombardment of content is also assortment of people's experiences to learn from. The service that make you lazy also help you avoid chores to focus on other things.

Thinking retrospectively, I think I more happy today than I was in the past. The Internet noise that we deplore has helped me immensely to discover what I like doing. Sure, it's stressful at times, but given a choice between then and now, I think my choice would always be the latter.

Re: Quiet

#32

Post by Lordarminius »

vitro wrote: post #6

Meditate as much as you can. Being in the present moment lets you notice your thought patterns and impulses that you act on and puts you back in control. Art of letting go. You don't loose anything if you are not on a Facebook for a week. You don't loose anything by leaving your phone home for a day. Water still flows and birds still sing. When was the last time you saw the sun setting or felt the wind in your face,…

The main problem with, and reason why I don't leave my phone at home, is fear of missing an emergency call.

Re: Quiet

#33

Post by Applejinx »

nostrademons wrote: post #24

Interesting to compare this to the wave of nostalgia for our agrarian past that hit during the 1930s and 40s, leading to novels like Lord of the Rings, the Chronicles of Narnia, and The Grapes of Wrath. The past that the author yearns for was the future of those writers. That nostalgia didn't stop the clock from moving forward or life from getting ever more hectic and complicated. But there seems to be something deep…

As thinking animals we naturally seek or create that for ourselves. Nothing surprising about it. When we behave as though 'more hectic and complicated' is our purpose, we're effectively lying to ourselves and making erroneous claims about our capacities.

Re: Quiet

#34

Post by stevewillows »

I loved this piece. It took me back to a day when I was about eight or so and my friends were all playing 'bases' in this local wooded area with a ravine. Some of us would hide for what felt like ages in hopes of catching a clean route to 'free our prisoners' from the other team's base.

About twelve years ago or so I was living in this condo that had really noisy neighbors. One screaming baby on the left, and an enthusiastic Pantera fan on the right. The folks on the right, when not listening to Pantera, were constantly yelling right near the wall... or so it felt.

This was the first time I really discovered the joy of earplugs. A year or so later I got my first pair of industrial ear protection. They cut out about 20 - 30db (or something like that), and it was just enough to allow myself to be alone in an otherwise busy space.

Years later I still value regular periods of silence. These days I still have a pair of industrial ear protection, but I mostly use decent earplugs [1].

Another aspect of seeking silence is to completely (or almost completely) eliminate notifications.

For those of us with ADHD, meditation is fantastic, but it does take time. The love for silence didn't happen right away. It took me quite a while to be able to shut my mind up.

In the early 00s I went through these psychoneurophysiology sessions to help learn to focus, in hopes of eliminating the negative aspects of ADHD. One part of the 'training' was to have sensors on my ears and one on my head. While I tried to focus, the machine would measure my brainwaves... anyway, once I hit 'the zone', the cute hot air balloon would float up and over the silo. Tapping into this 'zone' really helped me break away from the constant chatter of my surroundings and my brain.

Like some, I do love the romance that comes with a lo-fi world. Silence, space, and peace are special. In the same, I really appreciate some aspects of the technology we've been blessed with. it all comes down to finding your off switch so these things can become special again.

[1] the earplugs I'm using - https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00RM6Q9XW

Re: Quiet

#35

Post by mathgeek »

Lordarminius wrote: post #32
vitro wrote: post #6

Meditate as much as you can. Being in the present moment lets you notice your thought patterns and impulses that you act on and puts you back in control. Art of letting go. You don't loose anything if you are not on a Facebook for a week. You don't loose anything by leaving your phone home for a day. Water still flows and birds still sing. When was the last time you saw the sun setting or felt the wind in your face,…

The main problem with, and reason why I don't leave my phone at home, is fear of missing an emergency call.

Set all potential emergency numbers to be important. Set your phone to no interrupts except for those contacts. If your phone doesn't make a noise, don't touch it.

Re: Quiet

#36

Post by CrystalLangUser »

nostrademons wrote: post #24

Interesting to compare this to the wave of nostalgia for our agrarian past that hit during the 1930s and 40s, leading to novels like Lord of the Rings, the Chronicles of Narnia, and The Grapes of Wrath. The past that the author yearns for was the future of those writers. That nostalgia didn't stop the clock from moving forward or life from getting ever more hectic and complicated. But there seems to be something deep…

You can see this manifest itself in games too.

Stardew Valley became extraordinarily popular. It's just a game where you explicitly give up your corporate cubicle job to take over your grandfather's farm in a small village town. It's such a peaceful game but there's a strong yearning for what you mentioned in it.

The game was also a one person project over 4-5 years which is pretty inspiring, too.

Re: Quiet

#37

Post by unicornporn »

Lordarminius wrote: post #32
vitro wrote: post #6

Meditate as much as you can. Being in the present moment lets you notice your thought patterns and impulses that you act on and puts you back in control. Art of letting go. You don't loose anything if you are not on a Facebook for a week. You don't loose anything by leaving your phone home for a day. Water still flows and birds still sing. When was the last time you saw the sun setting or felt the wind in your face,…

The main problem with, and reason why I don't leave my phone at home, is fear of missing an emergency call.

If you're not blue-light staff it does not seem like a rational fear. Smartphones has made us all control freaks. I think we need to practice giving up control.

Re: Quiet

#38

Post by Ari_Ugwu »

This is fine, but I tire of the obscure titles and needlessly leading writing styles. I often spend the first few paragraphs desperate for an abstract or any hint as to what I'm reading. Only in the end for it to be more exposition than idea. Click bait by another name.

My kingdom for an abstract.

Re: Quiet

#39

Post by LastZactionHero »

Lordarminius wrote: post #32
vitro wrote: post #6

Meditate as much as you can. Being in the present moment lets you notice your thought patterns and impulses that you act on and puts you back in control. Art of letting go. You don't loose anything if you are not on a Facebook for a week. You don't loose anything by leaving your phone home for a day. Water still flows and birds still sing. When was the last time you saw the sun setting or felt the wind in your face,…

The main problem with, and reason why I don't leave my phone at home, is fear of missing an emergency call.

A few months ago I bought a Nokia 105. It was $25 on Amazon.

It makes phone calls and text messages. The battery lasts almost a month. My wife can call me in an emergency. I wired up a few work outage alerts with IFTTT. That's about it.

The best part about it is that it leaves me alone. When I turn my smartphone back on, it's incredible to see the barrage of worthless notifications that would have distracted me throughout the day. I no longer check my phone aimlessly because there's nothing to do.

I wrote about it here: https://medium.com/@LastZactionHero/quitting-the-smartphone-...

Re: Quiet

#40

Post by Someone »

rdiddly wrote: post #27
ahartman00 wrote: post #17

Ah, nostalgia. Its amazing how one can simultaneously forget the downsides, while amplifying the upsides. (Not to take away from the authors fond memories of course) I was just thinking recently about how great it was to be in high school. Few responsibilities, spent lots of time with friends, homework and work were easy. Of course, then I remember I couldnt live alone, had little money, homework and work seemed hard…

That xkcd affirms that our sense of time and attention, and of quality and quantity, has been messed up like this since the Industrial Revolution. I can't safely presume what Randall's point is, but if it's to show that this is a foolish thing men have been saying without cause since time immemorial, he needs to go back further. Show me someone from 1600 complaining about the fast pace of life and I might buy it. But…

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/opinion/sunday/social-netw... (about quantity over quality, but not about speed, I think, but too good a quote to skip; from 1677):

“Why doth solid and serious learning decline, and few or none follow it now in the University?” he asked. “Answer: Because of Coffea Houses, where they spend all their time.”

There’s also https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4306016/, which doesn’t go further back then 1860. It doesn’t mention complaints about the printing press (too much too read; won’t learn from copying books) or from the ancient Greeks, so it corroborates the theory that this started with automation (although I can imagine seeing the first complaints when artificial lighting of almost any form was introduced. Maybe even, people did complain when the bow and arrow sped up hunting)

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