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An Unreasonable Amount of Time

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Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#51

Post by underlipton »

romesmoke wrote: post #28
soulofmischief wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good and often useful generality, however it's important to recognize how vast the difference can be in the amount of energy needed to achieve inner peace from one person to the next. For example, I had absent drug addict parents, was instead raised by extremely abusive and restrictive guardians. I was homeless since 16 and I spent my 20's undertaking the self-actualization that I should have been doing in my teens…

I see your point. I've had my fair share of trouble as well. Talking about this stuff on HN after the storm has passed, from a financially stable place, is a luxury on its own. Nevertheless, I don't see any value on acknowledging the delta between me and peers that happened to be luckier. It'd be useful were I on the other side: for instance, if I hadn't seen my father sink into dementia, if he was still with me, I'd…

It's not about people who have already gone through it, or about yourself. It's about people who are still going through it, and how you treat them. For most people, the delta isn't (just) used to justify their own self-destruction, but to justify their cruelty to others. You never know what battles people are fighting. And while it's true that someone can do a lot of damage to themselves, that pales in comparison to what a group of others who don't understand their struggle can do to them.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#52

Post by underlipton »

zwendkos wrote: post #6

The magic lies not just in the effort itself but in how it is directed. Teller’s months of work burying boxes weren’t random. Sustaining long-term effort toward an uncertain payoff requires more than discipline—it demands resilience and a reimagining of gratification. The real magic, perhaps, lies not in the final trick, but in cultivating a mindset where the process itself becomes fulfilling, where the act of buryin…

And also being able to eat, sleep, and socialize adequately in the meantime.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#54

Post by deadbabe »

jerf wrote: post #43
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #26

A good example (in my twisted mind) is the folks that set up concerts and sports games. I have a friend, who runs setup of major venues. Like, stadiums and conference centers, for big-time events (thousands of people). The deal is, that a whole lot of moving parts, need to come together, for one event, and there can be no screwups[0]. Takes a lot of planning, prep work, validation, and, most importantly, experience (…

A lot of what people think of as "technology" is actually this knowledge. Your friend has lots of experience. There's people they know and trust to do certain tasks. Those people know other people who know how to solve this or that problem. They know their gear and are constantly experimenting with new gear and getting to know it. You could gather all the "technology", all the equipment, all the cables and boxes and…

Yup. The wrong people do idiotic things like buy the wrong type of UV bulbs and fry people’s retinas making them blind.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#55

Post by dredmorbius »

andrewstuart wrote: post #18

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4022D0C2D4AB65BC "Derren Brown, a British illusionist and mentalist, showcased a horse racing betting experiment called "The System" in a 2008 Channel 4 special. In this program, he demonstrated a method that appeared to guarantee winning bets on horse races. The process began with Brown anonymously sending a woman named Khadisha a series of correct predictions for five consecu…

That's a version of a classic financial-advisor scam.

It operates on a similar mechanism: a set of predictions is sent to large number of marks. Roughly half the predictions are in the money, the set of marks is reduced with each successive round to those who's previous "predictions" were accurate. At the end of the cycle, there are only a small number of marks left, but they're given the option to subscribe to future predictions for a handsome sum. Of course there are no further predictions....

There's also the apocryphal physician's trick of predicting a baby's gender (back when this wasn't trivially determinable in advance). The doctor would verbally give their prediction, and write it down in an envelope. Occasionally the parents would recall a different answer, but opening the envelope would confirm the gender of the infant.

The trick of course was that was was written was the opposite of what was said. When what was said matched the delivery the envelope wasn't opened, so the secret was safe.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#57

Post by mandmandam »

yakshaving_jgt wrote: post #36

The footnotes request a lead on P&T explaining this trick. I’m a bit of a P&T fan, and I’m pleased to be able to share a fairly obscure old video where they do indeed explain this trick. I’m glad I remembered it, and managed to find it again. https://youtu.be/gnEGedfTrzc?si=ci7omkG-4zCUmIPc

Cool, thanks for that.

Derren Brown also used a similar idea in his TV special 'The System' [0], though with a darker twist. I'm sure the idea goes way back.

0 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_APYUcwINQo

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#58

Post by soulofmischief »

bennythomsson wrote: post #29
soulofmischief wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Art gratis art. Some get their rocks off interfacing with the relationship between their art and those who engage with it. Others are entirely satisfied with the process of making art itself. The former is an externalized process, the latter is internalized. Different strokes for different folks, but you can put me in a box with no human interaction and a keyboard, and I will find no end of entertainment through self…

Having burried a bunch of boxes with cards inside is art? I can see the artistic value of the full magic act, but does that make a tool used in the act to itself be art on its own? Is the bow used by a violin player in itself a piece of art? Perhaps it could be. But if it's burried?

It's art if the artist decides it is. You don't have to agree with them, but art is not some objective form you can define, it's entirely subjective.

> Is the bow used by a violin player in itself a piece of art

A pencil is a work of art.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#59

Post by JadeNB »

soulofmischief wrote: post #11
romesmoke wrote: post #8

Great, useful article. Remember: the same principle holds in the world of the psyche. Those people walking around, seeming effortlessly happy? Unless if they're little children, a horrendous amount of effort has been invested to their inner peace. It took me years to realize that. Being envious is much easier than being humble and diligent with getting one's shit together. My wish for 2025 is for massive, decentraliz…

A good and often useful generality, however it's important to recognize how vast the difference can be in the amount of energy needed to achieve inner peace from one person to the next. For example, I had absent drug addict parents, was instead raised by extremely abusive and restrictive guardians. I was homeless since 16 and I spent my 20's undertaking the self-actualization that I should have been doing in my teens…

> Meanwhile, my typical peer has a functioning family unit, and has enjoyed a relatively struggle-free existence.

Are you sure about this? I know that I enjoyed a relatively struggle-free existence, and assumed that most other people did. But, whenever I have taken the time to get to know someone really well, I have found that they had struggles beyond anything I had to handle, and that do not reveal themselves at all until you know them very well.

Re: An Unreasonable Amount of Time

#60

Post by ghusbands »

yakshaving_jgt wrote: post #36

The footnotes request a lead on P&T explaining this trick. I’m a bit of a P&T fan, and I’m pleased to be able to share a fairly obscure old video where they do indeed explain this trick. I’m glad I remembered it, and managed to find it again. https://youtu.be/gnEGedfTrzc?si=ci7omkG-4zCUmIPc

That's not the same trick, though it has similarities.
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