I’ve had the same supper for 10 years • Hacker News Board

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#411

Post by kebman » Sat, May 08, 2021, 9:35 AM UTC

raffraffraff wrote: post #349

beaner wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such a close-minded view. Children are great but they're just more people with their own experiences, like this man. And it seems rare these days that they might be as naturally at-one with the world around them as he is.

I hear you. In not sure if want to be raising kids today. I had a moment in my 20s where I just stopped and thought, "Every single ancestor I had from my parents back to algae had offspring. What if I don't?" If you consider the whole Ocean as history, and the present moment as a single solitary wave heading towards the shore, and your life as the surfer on that wave, it doesn't matter what came before you. What matt…

Why would you have children if you live in a cramped apartment in an equally cramped and dangerous city? The amount of effort you're putting in for that tiny life is barely enough for subsistence, much less for having children.

The answer to that isn't having material wealth, especially when you get no time left over to appreciate it. So the problem is having enough time when you waste most of it toiling for the dreams of another man, and for next to nothing in return. Because that's the real economy. (If you do, though, then congratulations I guess, but then you're not in the position of most people anyway.)

I think, however, that you'd change your mind about things if you had the freedom, the space, and the ability to grow your own food. Then you'd see how foolish most city dwellers actually are. As for the philosophical musings about whether you should have children... Well, it's your life, man. If you don't want a shot at prolonging your true legacy, then that's up to you. But you're certainly doing a service for everyone else who do want their kind to succeed.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#412

Post by celticninja » Sat, May 08, 2021, 9:36 AM UTC

renewiltord wrote: post #344

M277 wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are different, with different desires, personalities, mentalities, ..... Isn't it only natural then that 'happiness' would be different from one person to another? Why speak low about him? You're content with your life, and he is content with his... it really is that simple. You can't go up to an artist and say, "Hey, your painting is crap, you should change x, y, z," because it is the artist's painting , not…

These threads are always so entertaining. Someone will make up this pastoral romance while implying that the city life is somehow lacking. Then someone will do the opposite and the wars will begin. Very entertaining. For my part, I enjoy modal editors so I think vim is better than emacs and I like the GPL over BSD.

I think you misunderstood the issue people have here. It is not the pastoral Vs city life that is the issue. It is the OP assertion that this guy has been lobotomized because he is content with his life.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#413

Post by Gene_Parmesan » Sat, May 08, 2021, 9:37 AM UTC

DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #270

irjustin wrote: post #248

Happiness - he's found it. Sure, he's an extreme and very few want to emulate it because there's a mild element of delusion. But, he's found the thing so many of us work our entire lives for only to never find. Part of life is letting happiness find you, part of life is finding happiness, and part of life is pushing away things to find happiness in what you have. I say, well done.

you did use the word "mild". but it made me wonder if not every person I've ever encountered that looked happy seemed like that a bit. The happier somebody is the more deluded they look to the rest of us. People in love are perhaps the most obvious. But it says probably more about the observer.

The specific happiness that we're talking about here is contentment -- with your life, with who you are.

I think it looks so odd to so many of us because we tend to be an ambitious bunch, and I find ambition to be pretty inversely related to contentment. The sort of acceptance that this man displays feels like giving up, in a sense. And in many ways, it is -- but that's something that Buddhists have been teaching for centuries.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#414

Post by x3iv130f » Sat, May 08, 2021, 9:40 AM UTC

randompwd wrote: post #410

kebman wrote: post #399

Ah, the simple life... My grandfather would take me along and we'd go to the neighbour to fetch eggs. He had a plastic bucket that he put them in with some old newspapers scraps in the bottom. I heard that before the war they didn't even need money. He'd simply bring a bucket of milk, and he'd get a bucket of eggs in return. But it was of course a lot simpler to bring money. It was far cheaper than in the store too.…

> One day, the grouse was seen perching atop the family house. When I told this to my grandmother, she went silent at first, and then she told me that it means someone will die in the family. This was of course terrifying news to me. But it also turned out to become true, because my grandfather also died that year. Do you actually believe the grouse perching on house was foreshadowing??

Could be a gentle way for an elder to let their grandchild know that they are passing soon.

Does the Grouse know? Probably not. The grandmother would though.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#415

Post by andyjohnson0 » Sat, May 08, 2021, 9:40 AM UTC

usgroup wrote: post #286

telesilla wrote: post #266

"This valley is cut in the shape of my heart". I've known farmers like him, bachelors who are mild mannered and love their lives and the extended family that comes with living an entire life in one valley. He maybe goes to Sunday service for socialization and the local pub to watch the game, and as long as his sheep are healthy and the sky does what it promises (because he knows the day before always if it will rain)…

I appreciate the romance, but those of us who have children leave behind much more than stone walls we built in our 20s. He’s a 72 year old Batchelor who’s once stepped foot outside a Welsh valley. If happiness is a lobotomy then credit to us who don’t choose it.

That's such an unkind thing to say about another person's life. He seems like a contented and inoffensive person, and he's quietly living the only life he'll ever have. There's real dignity in that. I do wonder why you wrote this.

As for children: being a parent myself, I think it's best not to instrumentalise them by viewing them as a legacy that you'll leave behind after you. They're their own people. They don't owe you that obligation.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#416

Post by robotmay » Sat, May 08, 2021, 9:40 AM UTC

MichaelMoser123 wrote: post #352

Now he's 72, what happens if he grows too old to care for himself? How do they care for the elderly in rural Wales, when they don't have a family?

It'll start with his neighbours and friends helping out, and maybe eventually he'll have to scale down and be looked after by carers himself. But there's an equal chance he'll die happy on his farm - I've seen farmers with very progressed Alzheimer's that could run their farm without any trouble, as it's something they've done literally their whole life.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#417

Post by hermitsings » Sat, May 08, 2021, 9:40 AM UTC

That sounds like present-day Lao Tzu, man.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#418

Post by throwawayhermit » Sat, May 08, 2021, 9:41 AM UTC

faichai wrote: post #337

I’m not trying to be mean, but there is a chance this guy has some deep anxiety and self-esteem issues which means he doesn’t even think to look outside of his comfort zone. Routine is a way of not stressing yourself out with newness and the possibility you might not cope, and fail.

> I’m not trying to be mean, but there is a chance this guy has some deep anxiety and self-esteem issues which means he doesn’t even think to look outside of his comfort zone.

As a person with some anxiety and (what I have diagnosed in myself as underlying) self-esteem issues, this is something that I have been thinking about.

People around me tend to think that "oh, throwawayhermit is just a bit of hermit and likes to be on their own", which is partially true and my introvertedness needs time on its own. But on the other hand, a big part of my closing off from others is anxiety and self-esteem issues, which I presume are not that easy to spot at first when a person "seems confident and well off".

So, that has got me thinking, how many of the people closing themselves off from others are doing it because they are happy that way and how many are hiding from issues/fears (regardless whether they realize it themselves or not)?

> Routine is a way of not stressing yourself out with newness and the possibility you might not cope, and fail.

I feel that there is a place for routines. They can give you space to focus on something that actually matters, teach you mental discipline and give you some kind inner peace from not constantly searching for new and shiny things.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#419

Post by zo1 » Sat, May 08, 2021, 9:41 AM UTC

pelario wrote: post #273

voidfunc wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1 onion 2-3 carrots 2 potatoes 2-3 celery sticks 1 fennel heart 1 red pepper 1-2 tomatoes (optional) Canillini beans 2 bayleaves salt and pepper suit to taste. 2qt water cook/simmer for 1-2hr I muck around with it sometimes... thrown siracha, hot peppers, sausage in it to varying degrees of tastiness. I generally sauté the onions, celery and fennel together then add the rest. It can all be done in one pot for conveni…

Do you just keep it on the refrigerator for the whole week or do you freeze it ?

Why freeze it if you keep it in the fridge for just one week? Depending on what it is, but generally most things last just fine for a week or more in the fridge.

Re: I’ve had the same supper for 10 years

#420

Post by krimbus » Sat, May 08, 2021, 9:43 AM UTC

mrphoebs wrote: post #357

usgroup wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I appreciate the romance, but those of us who have children leave behind much more than stone walls we built in our 20s. He’s a 72 year old Batchelor who’s once stepped foot outside a Welsh valley. If happiness is a lobotomy then credit to us who don’t choose it.

Children as your legacy are no less consequential or meaningful than this man's stone walls. In the end you are grasping for empty meaning and purpose in the same way the farmer is, your children will perish, their children will perish, you will be forgotten and so will they like the rest of human existence. Our lives have no larger purpose or meaning beyond what ever we pretend gives meaning to your life, like child…

Yet, our very existence is a consequence of reproduction, even if we may have forgotten our ancestors.

The only true delusion of grandeur is thinking that dwindling others' experiences against the vastness of the universe is enlightenment: If we don't experience our existence in geological/cosmic time scales, why waste time believing we are mere blips?