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What habits of yours kill your creativity?

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Re: What habits of yours kill your creativity?

#41

Post by wladimir »

ljordan wrote: post #6

My day job. I have to build space into it and put interesting things into the space or it's nearly intolerable. But that is why I'm working on changing jobs. I'm 31.

Can't agree more. I don't intend to complain about my job at all, my colleagues are great and I earn enough, but I cannot put my creativity into it. I'd love to do new things, actually write (Python) code, solve interesting problems, work with huge distributed systems and optimize performance and scalability. But also doing more on the creative and user experience side. Now I'm just making minor fixes and adding minor features, and the most challenging aspect is avoiding stepping on mines in a big minefield of poorly written tightly coupled legacy code. Even the simplest things take days, and then there's the bureaucracy... This makes those 8 hours a day seem a bit wasted, time flies and when I get home I'm too tired to do much constructive. Too bad I'm a fucking wuss and too scared to start freelancing :/

Re: What habits of yours kill your creativity?

#46

Post by mahmud »

alexyoung wrote: post #31
mahmud wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Playing video games is a loser thing to do. Just stop it already. It's irritating to see so many grown men hunched over a joy-stick. No one ever changed the world playing a game.

Taking a break and having fun isn't a "loser thing to do", it's good for you.

It's my experience that the less work people do, the more serious they are about taking their breaks.

I would need to plow a field with my bare hands before I can justify a weekend of mindless gaming.

Let's face it, countless people, often at the prime of their age, devote substantial amount of their time moving simple geometric objects around a screen. Their entire being under the control of a switch statement.

Instead of playing games, MAKE THEM. Code demos. Crack DRM. Build your own console and sell it as kits. Open your own gaming cafe, etc. But sitting down for 5 hour stretches is unacceptable.

Re: What habits of yours kill your creativity?

#47

Post by eswat »

mahmud wrote: post #40
reitzensteinm wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody ever changed the world getting over 13k karma on HN, either. Recreation is an important part of being human, and choosing to spend some of your recreation time playing games does not make you a loser. Some people take it too far, but that's true of pretty much every recreational activity.

If you're talking about my karma; in my time on HN, I made friends, learned something, made business acquaintances, made money, helped others, hired some people, etc. How could I have accomplished those things shredding sprites?

I think you’re overlooking the potential rewards that such a “loser thing to do” can have. There can be quite a bit of overlap between a like-minded gaming community and Hacker News.

It may not be possible to accomplish all of the things you’ve got on HN while playing video games themselves. But it is when you have a chance to meet other creators that share a passion for this hobby and how can you have the passion to create if you don’t consume a little? I’ve met my share of talented creatives and entrepreneurs through my hobby, which have lead to business acquaintances, contract work and also hiring other ”losers” to help me create.

I assume you’ve done the same thing I’ve done through gaming, by having a genuine interest in startups/creating and sharing that interest with others here.

Re: What habits of yours kill your creativity?

#48

Post by mahmud »

eswat wrote: post #47
mahmud wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're talking about my karma; in my time on HN, I made friends, learned something, made business acquaintances, made money, helped others, hired some people, etc. How could I have accomplished those things shredding sprites?

I think you’re overlooking the potential rewards that such a “loser thing to do” can have. There can be quite a bit of overlap between a like-minded gaming community and Hacker News. It may not be possible to accomplish all of the things you’ve got on HN while playing video games themselves. But it is when you have a chance to meet other creators that share a passion for this hobby and how can you have the passion to…

Just a little perspective: I was replying to someone who admitted that playing a video game was killing his creativity.

In your case, you work for a game company, hardly a typical gamer. My experience with gamers, usually friends, roommates and acquaintances is not that flattering.

I am sure there are "functional gamers", but let's not confuse being functional despite of something, for being functional because of it.

Re: What habits of yours kill your creativity?

#49

Post by Aleul »

mahmud wrote: post #46
alexyoung wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taking a break and having fun isn't a "loser thing to do", it's good for you.

It's my experience that the less work people do, the more serious they are about taking their breaks. I would need to plow a field with my bare hands before I can justify a weekend of mindless gaming. Let's face it, countless people, often at the prime of their age, devote substantial amount of their time moving simple geometric objects around a screen. Their entire being under the control of a switch statement. Inst…

How come you're so outspoken against what others choose to do?

Who are you to declare whether or not 5 hours of gaming is unacceptable? If that's what someone chooses to do it's pretty arrogant to think they are lesser than you because they don't do what you would do in that situation.

There are plenty of things I probably like that you don't. Should I criticize you, because you choose to do other things than what I'd do?

Re: What habits of yours kill your creativity?

#50

Post by eegilbert »

philk wrote: post #14

Distractions. The internet[1] being the major one, occasionally video games or books. Somewhat unpleasantly I seem wired to seek new distractions whenever I don't have one currently occupying my mind. I've been thinking of forcing myself to spend half an hour each day without stimulus, just thinking and writing on a paper notepad to get around this. [1] I find posting on the internet much more distracting than surfin…

This is why I like to walk to work. It's not possible for everyone; I understand. If you can do it, and don't bring along any devices, you have forced yourself into thinking time. This is usually when I have my best ideas.
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