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Era of Distraction

raymundtamayo.com

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Re: Era of Distraction

#51

Post by JadeNB »

itsybitsycoder wrote: post #44
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…

I am not disputing (or asserting) its factual accuracy. However, if I had lost my home or loved ones, then I would find it offensive to be told that it was because I had too much stuff.

Re: Era of Distraction

#53

Post by tedks »

frou_dh wrote: post #31
tedks wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard to "home in" on something that's only in the last line of the article. But before coming to the comments, I too chuckled a little at the irony of an ad for an ebook being disguised as a polemic against consumerism and distraction. If you do not see the irony in this, that's fine; you are still a special person and your life or viewpoints are no less valuable. But that's not a reason to personally attack tho…

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/

Personally, I think this article is very negative, and I think that if the author themselves is unable to live in accordance with the polemic they forward, they should reconsider its wisdom.

This isn't a "gotcha." The fact that you need only one line to point out this contradiction is irrelevant.

Further, in this case, it is very much worth posting, because otherwise someone could miss this contradiction and think that the article has any legs at all, when in reality it doesn't, and only exists to sell eBooks.

Re: Era of Distraction

#54

Post by Karunamon »

tedks wrote: post #53
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/

Personally, I think this article is very negative, and I think that if the author themselves is unable to live in accordance with the polemic they forward, they should reconsider its wisdom. This isn't a "gotcha." The fact that you need only one line to point out this contradiction is irrelevant. Further, in this case, it is very much worth posting, because otherwise someone could miss this contradiction and think th…

Hypocrisy is only a heuristic (and a pretty bad one), it doesn't impact the rightness or the wrongness of the advice given.

Someone who smokes telling you that smoking sucks and you shouldn't do it is a great example; do you dismiss them out of hand because they're a hypocrite?

All claims should be evaluated on their own merits.

The author's selling a book has nil impact on whether their thoughts about consumerism or minimalism are correct.

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