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Don't Become the Machine

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Re: Don't Become the Machine

#71

Post by Loughla »

arvid-lind wrote: post #47
ge96 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm trying to. I don't know how you know it's working. Maybe, sometimes I do feel present like I am in this building, this town right now. It is funny, I bought an old phone of mine from the 2010s, I had a different mindset back then (try to make a shit ton of money through ads on a website). That did not happen but I had this ambition/tried to make a lot of dumb apps. I'm trying to get back to that mental state as n…

> I don't know how you know it's working. after a while it should feel like a refreshing nap. during the meditation itself, you're just doing a simple task and going along with it without resistance, like when sleeping. eventually the idea of "non-doing" will make more sense. another way to look at it: upon waking each morning, you start with an empty glass. from this point, everything that enters your realm of aware…

Honest to God, the best meditation for me is Focus 1 from The Gateway Tapes. I'm not sure the woo of astral projection and energy control are for me at all. But when it comes to blanking my mind and existing purely in the exact right now, that does it for me.

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#72

Post by BLKNSLVR »

I play tennis twice a week and I inline skate twice a week (weather pending) and yesterday I commuted to and from work on inlines (first time I've done it, won't be the last, but won't be often).

Having such hobbies plus a couple of kids (now teenagers so they're somewhat less demanding of my time) means I just don't have the time to do extra hours if I'm going to get enough sleep.

And if I don't get enough sleep then the hours I do work are nowhere near as productive as those when I have had enough sleep.

Work fits around my personality. If that doesn't suit my employer, I find a new employer.

Caveats: I don't hunt the highest paying job. I'm never going to be enthusiastic enough to be chosen to lead - I've had minor management roles in the past, and they lead to, basically, being paid to either sleep less or spend less time as "not work me". Both of those options result in lower productivity.

I'm good enough at what I do to earn a living for the foreseeable future. That's good enough for me career-wise. For my physical and mental health, both of which are indicators of and contributory to happiness and longevity, I will continue to spend much of my non-working time playing tennis and inline skating and lifting weights so I can continue to do those things, that make me happy with life and the world, for as long as physically possible.

I tend not to the machine that consumes humanity, I tend to the machine that gives me my humanity.

Edited to add: I'll never be a rich man. But I will lead a rich life.

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#73

Post by vitorfblima »

lelanthran wrote: post #60
mstank wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever tried meditation? Does a great job scratching that ‘boredom’ itch…

> Have you ever tried meditation? Does a great job scratching that ‘boredom’ itch… No, but I am considering getting a working Amiga, a CRT and just writing some games for it. All I had growing up was a C64, and I remember how peaceful I felt when I was designing and writing my (simple) games for it. I hankered all through my childhood for an Amiga; any Amiga. TBH, I might even settle for a C128; just the thrill of wr…

Ironically Amiga means "female friend" in portuguese.

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#74

Post by BLKNSLVR »

samuraijack wrote: post #31

The constant anti work agenda that is thrown in your face if you use almost any social media is so annoying. Have these anti work people ever considered that maybe some people actually like work and labelling them as slaves is insulting?

> almost any social media is so annoying.

Never a truer word spoken. And yet you go back?

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#75

Post by BLKNSLVR »

giorgioz wrote: post #22

Often there is a bell shaped curve where productivity peeks at a point and bigger efforts after that make you actually less productive overall. In my personal experience most projects are a marathon not a sprint. Always sleep the 8-9 hours necessary to feel full-rested. I'm most productive in the morning so I try to work every day during mornings but since in the afternoon I'm a lot less productive I've decided I can…

Regular morning stand-ups really fuck my morning momentum.

I'm getting my shit done, then I gotta stop and listen to a whole bunch of crap that I either already know or doesn't affect me at all.

Sometimes, in fact often, the level of momentum I had before the meeting is never reached again the rest of day.

All meetings should be post lunch. All meetings I organize are post lunch.

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#76

Post by alexalx666 »

pests wrote: post #43
TeMPOraL wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's an orthogonal aspect to it: control. I know I need some amount of noise to stay grounded and look outwards instead of collapsing into infinite reflection regression - but I also need control over that noise. That is, it needs to be my noise. Living in noise introduced by people around me is not reinvigorating, it's draining and depressing.

I couldn't agree more. Especially noise introduced by people around me. Drains me. I'm not on a high horse either, I do succumb to modern temptations. I have a YouTube addiction, but its all educational / a topic I'm learning / a hobby / etc. I just got my Recap and somehow I have watched 4500 different channels this year, that's saying nothing of # of videos or watchtime. I was pretty shocked. Still though, I purpos…

haha this is so true about ppl not able to respond to calls while they are literally on the phone ALL the time

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#77

Post by BLKNSLVR »

kibwen wrote: post #65
pests wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm currently the type of person that is always plugged into noise (music, podcast, YT). It is rare that I sit in silence. Not directed towards you, but this brings up a thought I often ponder. I have friends and people around me who are plugged in 24/7. I don't really think they spend any time, what so ever, on internal thought or introspection / reflection. I think it really affects them. The "default mode networ…

> I do accept people for who they are. If this is what they want, and they enjoy it, then whatever. You do you, but you're not obliged to accept someone for who they are if who they are is a brainless wastoid. I recommend minimizing the time wasted on zombies in favor of seeking out people who still value their brains.

The terminally online don't seem to like being reminded that they're the terminally online.

Unfortunately the infestation only seems to grow.

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#78

Post by BLKNSLVR »

throwaway290 wrote: post #63

I know many people who are full on into hustle culture and they don't care to optimize their productivity. the hustle is being strategic, work smart not hard, fake till you make it, lie and be ruthless and amoral It's kind of disgusting... Edit: Actually, I don't know many such people. Just 2-3 maybe. But it feels like many

And unfortunately being demonstrated by a role model right now to a whole lot of impressionable US school children who will grow up lying through their teeth who will eventually occupy jobs they're woefully unqualified for, to the detriment of their entire sphere of influence.

A friend of mine recently pointed me to the song "Lie, Cheat, Steal" by Run The Jewels. Seems like the strategy of choice for a while yet.

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#79

Post by Kerrick »

roncesvalles wrote: post #41
Kerrick wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me the speed-up has not been in doing things I was already an expert at doing quickly with high quality. It has been in skipping the learning curve for adjacent things.

Does it make the curve easier or do you skip learning it entirely and just trust the LLM? I wouldn't do the latter.

So far I've skipped learning it entirely. For things I want to learn, I learn the old school way--maybe with an LLM as an unreliable thesaurus and/or second search engine (where I distrust its output, but read its links). For things I want to just get done, I use an LLM. It's something close to blind trust, but not completely.

For example, I've used LLMs to write ~1600 lines of Rust in the past few days. I'm having it make Ratatui bindings for Ruby. I haven't ever learned Rust, but I can read C-like languages so I kinda understand what's happening. I could tell when it needed to be modularized. I have a sneaking suspicion most of the Rust tests it's written are testing Ratatui, rather than testing its own bindings. But I've had the LLM cover the functionality in Ruby tests, a language I do know. So I've felt comfortable enough to ship it.

Re: Don't Become the Machine

#80

Post by coffeefirst »

BLKNSLVR wrote: post #72

I play tennis twice a week and I inline skate twice a week (weather pending) and yesterday I commuted to and from work on inlines (first time I've done it, won't be the last, but won't be often). Having such hobbies plus a couple of kids (now teenagers so they're somewhat less demanding of my time) means I just don't have the time to do extra hours if I'm going to get enough sleep. And if I don't get enough sleep the…

Here's the other thing: people who spend their time playing tennis, raising kids, hanging out with their dog by the grill, etc. aren't constantly marketing their lifestyles to social media.
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