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Era of Distraction

raymundtamayo.com

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Re: Era of Distraction

#41

Post by [deleted] »

eterm wrote: post #21
thegainz wrote: post #10

I've recently given up a big temptation/distractor in my life. I packed up my gaming desktop and gave it away, and now I just use my laptop which I long ago set aside as school-only. This thing couldn't even play games if I wanted to, but it CAN ssh and compile code. I mean, after 9.5 years of playing DotA, what's the point? My grades have improved and I'm overall happier as I invest more time learning skills that I…

Good for you. I'm often tempted to do the same, I still play 2-3 hours a day of PC games most nights after work. It isn't healthy but then if I didn't I suspect I'd binge on netflix or even just regular TV instead. I think eventually I'll grow out of it and do more reading, cooking and other activities, but it'll take a decision on my part to make that happen.

[deleted]

Re: Era of Distraction

#42

Post by nosuchthing »

Animats wrote: post #38

That reads like a rant from the 1950s. People have been complaining about that since the introduction of television. Before television, entertainment was a scarce resource. After television, anyone with a receiver could obtain more entertainment than they could consume. About a dozen years ago, ABC, the TV network, had a promotion to the industry with banners around the Hollywood area. One on Wilshire near Beverly Hi…

Funny that the plea is for 5 hours of TV consumption rather than 5 hours of labor per day.

Re: Era of Distraction

#44

Post by itsybitsycoder »

JadeNB wrote: post #19

> I don’t want to offend anyone, and I’m saying this with absolute care and humility… but if only they hadn’t had that much stuff then they would have had an easier time evacuating their homes and focusing on making sure their families are safe. I've never understood these "I'm not a racist, but"-type comments. This is offensive, and does not demonstrate care and humility. Someone who learns from such a tragedy princ…

I agree with you in general, but specifically, how is this statement offensive? It seems pretty obvious to me that if someone has less stuff, they won't have to spend as much time taking care of said stuff, and that some people may make some bad calls to care for their valuable stuff in an emergency situation instead of focusing solely on their own safety or their family's safety. We see it so often that it needs to be mentioned in fire safety drills that you shouldn't dawdle around in a burning building to collect your stuff, and that you hear of people in evacuation areas staying behind because they don't want to leave their homes.

I was reading a book the other day about a guy who chose to sell most of his possessions and live in a van with his wife, and he had several stories of being able to simply drive away from emergency situations, where the people with more stuff were (or felt) stuck and had to suffer through it. He drove away from power outages, flood areas, fire areas, etc. For this and other reasons, he felt a lot happier and safer than when he lived a life with a lot more stuff.

Re: Era of Distraction

#45

Post by npizzolato »

mbrock wrote: post #39
frou_dh wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trying to "gotcha" article authors by flinging out a oneliner about why they're a hypocrite has to be the longstanding most lazy, negative thing that's done on aggregator sites. Here's the key thought-technology[0]: just because we formulate one, doesn't mean it's worth posting. A private chuckle suffices. [0] I love this term from the fantasticly earnest podcast: http://www.merlinmann.com/roderick/

Sorry, I'll try to keep my snark to myself.

For what it's worth, I appreciated sharing the laugh. A little snark is healthy in the morning.

Re: Era of Distraction

#46

Post by crusso »

eterm wrote: post #21
thegainz wrote: post #10

I've recently given up a big temptation/distractor in my life. I packed up my gaming desktop and gave it away, and now I just use my laptop which I long ago set aside as school-only. This thing couldn't even play games if I wanted to, but it CAN ssh and compile code. I mean, after 9.5 years of playing DotA, what's the point? My grades have improved and I'm overall happier as I invest more time learning skills that I…

Good for you. I'm often tempted to do the same, I still play 2-3 hours a day of PC games most nights after work. It isn't healthy but then if I didn't I suspect I'd binge on netflix or even just regular TV instead. I think eventually I'll grow out of it and do more reading, cooking and other activities, but it'll take a decision on my part to make that happen.

The good thing about watching TV is that you can exercise at the same time. A few years ago, I realized that my time in front of the TV at night could easily be spent while also lifting weights and riding a stationary bike. My health benefitted greatly from that realization.

Re: Era of Distraction

#47

Post by l33tbro »

My favorite part of being a human is that I get to decide what stresses me, what makes me anxious, etc. So I make interacting with technology about me deciding how much I want to engage. Phones have silent. You can turn off email notifications pretty easy. You can turn it off on nights and weekends (I can't recommend this highly enough if you are in a position to do so).

Sure, I get peeved with folk obsessing over their phone's Instagrat feed. But then I remember that it's their life, their choice, and who am I to think it's inherently wrong?

I also couldn't help but think of this Louis CK bit the whole time reading this: https://vimeo.com/69662330

Re: Era of Distraction

#48

Post by colund »

People should be masters over the technology, not the other way around. It's important to feel in charge and to retain the right to freedom of choice. Too many people are too worried not to keep up with everything new and shiny. But many people don't care and go their own way...

Re: Era of Distraction

#49

Post by JadeNB »

mcone wrote: post #22
JadeNB wrote: post #19

> I don’t want to offend anyone, and I’m saying this with absolute care and humility… but if only they hadn’t had that much stuff then they would have had an easier time evacuating their homes and focusing on making sure their families are safe. I've never understood these "I'm not a racist, but"-type comments. This is offensive, and does not demonstrate care and humility. Someone who learns from such a tragedy princ…

This is an example of "procatalepsis" or "prolepsis" [1], a rhetorical device that is often used to try to defuse criticism. Authors often use this to try to slip something controversial by their readers [2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procatalepsis [2] http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2015/apr...

It's interesting; I hadn't known the word 'prolepsis' but recently encountered it in another context, in which it was defined quite differently as "the representation or assumption of a future act or development as if presently existing or accomplished" (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prolepsis). Is one of these references in error, or is the same word used to describe two very different rhetorical devices?

Re: Era of Distraction

#50

Post by johnchristopher »

> In fact, it leads to deeper debt and needing bigger houses to contain all this meaningless stuff.

> It also becomes a cause of unnecessary stress, as it will take your precious money, time, emotion, attention, and effort to take care all of this stuff.

> The recent massive flooding here in Olongapo City is a testament to that. Visiting houses of families ravaged by the flood, I was reminded by how too much stuff is not a luxury – it’s actually a burden, a liability.

I am not rich. I am poor. The few possessions I have, that you might think are cluttering my rented apartment, I hold to them because I can't afford to replace them. Too many chairs in my living room, too many different knives in the kitchen drawer. I don't have a TV though. But I won't ditch my mp3 collection burned on CDs because I can't afford to listen to it on Deezer. I wish I could go on holidays with only my iPhone and my sennheiser headphone and just buy what I need on the spot. I'll drop some karma points to say this: "Fuck you".

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