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Defending my own brain against enshittification

mrmarket.lol

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Re: Defending my own brain against enshittification

#51

Post by threatofrain »

askonomm wrote: post #2

I couldn't get over the amount of time lost to commuting. Not saying that OP is living their life wrong or anything, to each their own of course, but I prefer working from home precisely because of how much more _life_ I get to live as a result. The time most people spend commuting, I spend going on hikes with my dog in a forest or working out. For those who lack social activities as a result of working from home I s…

Minutes spent transporting to work is one of the best single factor predictors of turnover and workplace dissatisfaction.

Re: Defending my own brain against enshittification

#52

Post by cautiouscat »

phoghed wrote: post #11
m_w_ wrote: post #3

This was a very pleasant read. There's (justifiably) a lot of debate about AI prose on this forum, which has become tiring. It's refreshing to read something so grounded. Doubly so while looking at a packet of Belvita breakfast biscuits on my own desk. As far as lo-fi goes, I must recommend Leavv. Mind Garden and Tales of a Flowing Forest. Both pre-AI music albums that are lovely to work/study to.

To each their own of course, but I personally don’t get the point of avoiding AI music when what you’re listening to (lofi beats) is essentially elevator background tier noise anyway. I listen to various types of it all the time and I honestly couldn’t tell you the difference between AI or not in this genre. Listening to Tokyo Echo Sounds right now, is it AI? Probably, but how tf would I even know if I did care?

I’ve been talking about this a lot on here. It’s because the product isn’t the audio file going into your ears. It’s the process that got it into that audio file. It’s knowing someone was passionate enough to put something together for others to hear. It’s knowing that someone out there in the world made this thing you’re getting beamed into your ears. It’s the soul of the thing that makes the difference.

Clinically, that doesn’t matter. However to a listener who is being intentional, it most definitely matters.

Re: Defending my own brain against enshittification

#53

Post by Fraterkes »

throwayay4929 wrote: post #44
Semkas wrote: post #31

It's interesting that this article is mostly focused on the merits of living a simple / predictable life, whereas I get the impression that the main improvement here might be just not working from home anymore (I guess the author agrees since they link to this older post: https://mrmarket.bearblog.dev/remote-work-is-bad-for-you/ ).

Like the author, I enjoyed wfh for some time, but also found this creeping crushing loneliness settling on my brain after some years. My solution was to find a co-working space that actually has a community (most spaces are just places to rent a desk). It's helped me set up a routine and get some water cooler talk in a few times a week. But more importantly, through the community I've met some new friends, so my soci…

Nice! Any tips for finding spaces like that? I guess it's mostly finding coworking spaces that are focused around a specific discipline (I know there are a few gamedev ones for example) so that you already have a lot in common?

Re: Defending my own brain against enshittification

#54

Post by NopIdoN »

xyzelement wrote: post #16
askonomm wrote: post #2

I couldn't get over the amount of time lost to commuting. Not saying that OP is living their life wrong or anything, to each their own of course, but I prefer working from home precisely because of how much more _life_ I get to live as a result. The time most people spend commuting, I spend going on hikes with my dog in a forest or working out. For those who lack social activities as a result of working from home I s…

I would have agreed with this a few years ago but it's more nuanced than that. Commute time is built-in decompression time that can be very valuable. For example we have small kids and it's just not going to happen that I am going to tell my wife on a given morning or evening "take care of them while I go on a hike" or whatever. So on days they I decide to go to the office - I get about 2 hours (one hour each way) of…

> (eg the unspoken etiquette is if you see someone you know on the train you don't sit next to them so they can have their peace and quiet)

Fanjambo!

Re: Defending my own brain against enshittification

#55

Post by BLKNSLVR »

coldpie wrote: post #15
mapontosevenths wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did the math during COVID. I was putting in about 30% more hours when I had to go to an office, and all of them were unproductive. I wasn't being paid any extra to do that - which was especially unfair since I also had additional wear and tear on the car, lunches out, fancier clothes to buy, etc. I may go back to the office someday if I'm forced to, but I won't do it for free. Companies need to compensate in office…

For me, I take the bus to work, so my commute time is spent on pleasant things like reading library books, or working through Chinese lessons on my phone, or just looking out the window, or occasionally chatting with other commuters. I actually enjoy my commute, it's some nice time set aside entirely for myself each day. If I had to be stuck in a car for my commute, I'd definitely resent it.

I feel the same way about my bus commute. Strange tangent, but I also donate plasma once a month and it's perfect for reading a book because there's literally nothing else you can do for the 45 minutes or so that the donation takes.

Doing good, enforced reading time, plus free snacks. What's not to love? (other than the vein spiking, for some people).

Re: Defending my own brain against enshittification

#56

Post by ghaff »

Semkas wrote: post #24
askonomm wrote: post #2

I couldn't get over the amount of time lost to commuting. Not saying that OP is living their life wrong or anything, to each their own of course, but I prefer working from home precisely because of how much more _life_ I get to live as a result. The time most people spend commuting, I spend going on hikes with my dog in a forest or working out. For those who lack social activities as a result of working from home I s…

I think the quality of a commute is very different depending on whether it's by car or by train, since you can actually read / write / program / draw on a train. Obviously I'm still pretty glad when I get to work from home and sleep in a little and make some good coffee though.

I commuted into the city a few days a week for about 18 months quite a while back. I'd normally take the train unless I were doing something in the evening at which point the commuter rail timetable didn't work very well.

Yes, it was better than driving but still wasn't that great. I had to catch the train at about 6:30 AM. And it was still a good 3 hours on the train any given day. Wasn't really very relaxing and I never found it an environment conducive to getting real work done.

Re: Defending my own brain against enshittification

#58

Post by inigyou »

Havoc wrote: post #23

Yeah starting to feel the need to play Defense here too. Especially on YouTube. Even with a subscribe driven flow of known creators it’s getting bad. Everything is about something negative with emotive thumbnails and clickbait titles even from the better creators. And Google has now crammed their unwanted “relevant for you” along with shorts into the top of the subscribe feed. So now even that last trick to get a non…

Now that Shorts removed the dislike button it seems to have gone to complete shit. I used to get shorts that were obviously a bit engagement-bait but also relevant and interesting. Now it's just 100% engagement slop and there's no way to give negative feedback. I tried "liking" everything that wasn't slop - made no difference.

Re: Defending my own brain against enshittification

#59

Post by stronglikedan »

fipar wrote: post #22
xyzelement wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would have agreed with this a few years ago but it's more nuanced than that. Commute time is built-in decompression time that can be very valuable. For example we have small kids and it's just not going to happen that I am going to tell my wife on a given morning or evening "take care of them while I go on a hike" or whatever. So on days they I decide to go to the office - I get about 2 hours (one hour each way) of…

I understand your point completely, as I used to feel the same way in the past. Then I realized it's just that being forced to do a commute for work makes it OK to potentially put extra load on your spouse, or to leave your kids with some other caretaker, but this doesn't have to be this way. It should be fine to take some time if you need it even if there's no job-related reason behind it. So now both my wife and my…

That's why you just lock yourself in the bathroom like the rest of us! /s

Re: Defending my own brain against enshittification

#60

Post by stinos »

But taking comfort in activities that deliver small drips of dopamine slowly instead of a truckload of it instantly is helping me a lot, I think

Would be pretty interesting to figure out if the amount of dopamine really is smaller. I'm not convinced.

But anyway: the bigger picture I've been wondering a lot about lately is whether this dopamine addiction is ok to begin with. I've never had much issues with the 'truckloads' OP names but all things considered my life is basically a journey from one dopamine shot (coffee ritual, sport, problem solving, sex, music, drugs) to the next and everything in between feels not too interesting. And I'm fearful for what's going to happen when I can't do some of those anymore when getting older.

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