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Men who stare at walls

alexselimov.com

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Re: Men who stare at walls

#51

Post by vasco »

llmssuck wrote: post #9
vasco wrote: post #3

> A paper published in 2012 showed that in 2008 the average person was receiving 34 GB of information daily, with a daily information exposure growth rate of about 5.4% per year The paper linked to justify this just talks about media that people consume which is growing. But that has nothing to do with the point this post is trying to make? Your eyes "stream 4k video" anytime your eyelids are open regardless if you'r…

I understand your point, but a slightly more positive reading might be that the quantity of information consumed, while perhaps unable to be precisely quantified, can be related to the type of content being perceived. Staring at wall produces little information in and of itself, perhaps through reflection, but staring at a TV produces a load of information, most of which is useless like names of characters, their fav…

I dunno I feel like brains are always going? It's not like if I'm staring at a wall my thoughts slow down vs if I'm watching a movie. If anything I'll be more "focused" on my thoughts so maybe they are more intense than the "shut brain down" effect of mindlessly consuming media? And I gave example of a wall, but what about scrolling tiktoks vs walking in the woods? Am I really processing more information scrolling tiktok than walking in nature? Hard to believe for me!

Re: Men who stare at walls

#52

Post by ToucanLoucan »

delis-thumbs-7e wrote: post #49

It’s amazing how people recommend very quickly: ”Go to walk in a forrest amongst green leaves, talk to the squirrels…” instead of practice you can do anywhere anytime that cost nothing. Like do you understand that everyone is not rich working home next to a nice park or great forrest? Like many, many, many in this world people have to travel 1,5h to work middle of an urban metropolitan area with almost no trees and d…

Whenever people describe the living conditions of your average person all I can think is what a colossal failure our system is, to imprison so many millions in such an utterly shit existence.

Like yes it's cool to have air conditioning and basically any food anywhere at any time, and many have transportation that can take us across the country at a moment's notice. There are marvels now that our ancestors would die of shock trying to comprehend. That said, it seems still that we've made a remarkably awful place for the vast majority of people to live and work in, more the latter than the former, while a handful of people basically live in a never-ending theme park.

Re: Men who stare at walls

#53

Post by twilo »

teeray wrote: post #22
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #10

Is this not a form of meditation? I've never been able to keep a meditation habit, but my understanding is that meditation techniques often feature closing your eyes and focusing on breathing, body parts or some other irrelevant thing, it sounds like staring at a wall would serve the same purpose.

Reminds me of the “Wallfacers” in Cixin Liu’s “The Dark Forest.” I believe the term was derived from that meditative practice you refer to.

Precisely

Re: Men who stare at walls

#55

Post by FrustratedMonky »

Aurornis wrote: post #45
steveBK123 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Seems like it would be better and easier to just take a walk instead. Unfortunately for many, and few managers will admit it even though it's true - there is a performative aspect to physical presence at work. Being away from your desk, idle on slack, etc to go take that walk is a problem in many work environments. Probably one reason why SWEs are disproportionately interested in FIRE.

> Probably one reason why SWEs are disproportionately interested in FIRE. SWEs are disproportionately interested in FIRE because it is (or was) an easy way to get a high paying job without an extended education period like becoming a doctor or lawyer. You could go straight into a six figure job after 4 years of college and even wear shorts to work, while your med school and lawyer friends were just getting started an…

"FIRE"???

This:? Financial Independence and Retire Early (FIRE) ?

I mean. Sure, who wouldn't want Financial Independence. Let me get right on that.

Kind of a stretch from staring at a wall.

Re: Men who stare at walls

#56

Post by sph »

delis-thumbs-7e wrote: post #49

It’s amazing how people recommend very quickly: ”Go to walk in a forrest amongst green leaves, talk to the squirrels…” instead of practice you can do anywhere anytime that cost nothing. Like do you understand that everyone is not rich working home next to a nice park or great forrest? Like many, many, many in this world people have to travel 1,5h to work middle of an urban metropolitan area with almost no trees and d…

Is having a park or woods nearby a symbol of wealth? Do you live in the middle of the Sahara desert?

Re: Men who stare at walls

#57

Post by nickvec »

Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #10

Is this not a form of meditation? I've never been able to keep a meditation habit, but my understanding is that meditation techniques often feature closing your eyes and focusing on breathing, body parts or some other irrelevant thing, it sounds like staring at a wall would serve the same purpose.

Yep. You don’t have to have to have your eyes closed to meditate. You can keep them open to focus on the flame of a candle or something else… in this case, a wall!

Re: Men who stare at walls

#60

Post by dec0dedab0de »

Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #10

Is this not a form of meditation? I've never been able to keep a meditation habit, but my understanding is that meditation techniques often feature closing your eyes and focusing on breathing, body parts or some other irrelevant thing, it sounds like staring at a wall would serve the same purpose.

It sounds exactly like meditation, but a boiled down, modern technique that doesn't use the word.
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