The quiet art of attention • Hacker News Board

Re: The quiet art of attention

#91

Post by robwwilliams » Sun, Oct 13, 2024, 10:01 PM UTC

Great article. The physics and neurophysiology of Nowness and attention are also complex.

Toward the end of his life Einstein had a conversation with Rudolf Carnap (ca 1953-54):

“Einstein said that the problem of Now worried him seriously. He explained that Now means something special for men, something essentially different from the past and the future, but that this important difference dies not and cannot occur within physics.”

Einstein was still struggling with counterpoints made by Bergson in their famous 1922 debate on time and the meaning of duration.

Neuroscience is just beginning to give us more insights into Now and I am reasonably confident that we will find solid (satisfying) physical explanations for human temporality (more so than those of Bergson, Husserl, and Heidegger). But this will not remove the personal mysteries of attention and being in the flow.

Re: The quiet art of attention

#92

Post by blueyes » Sun, Oct 13, 2024, 10:10 PM UTC

vonnik wrote: post #17

Cognitive control is one of the most important issues of our era, IMHO: https://vonnik.substack.com/p/how-to-take-your-brain-back There are many techniques to increase our CC. The ADHD community is a trailblazer in this respect.

Attention is good. Building the habit of paying attention is hard. Many people who get good at meditation underestimate the effort required. Highly recommend BJ Fogg's Tiny Habits for more on how to get started on anything important. Similar to the OP's separate article on kaizen:

https://tinyhabits.com/about/

Re: The quiet art of attention

#93

Post by Arch-TK » Sun, Oct 13, 2024, 10:14 PM UTC

mzajc wrote: post #9

Well written! I can relate to most of the article. However, I find that > To focus on one thing deeply, to give it your full attention, is to experience it fully. And when we do this, something remarkable happens. Time, which so often feels like it is slipping through our fingers, begins to slow. doesn't really apply to me, or to many people I know and have worked with - it is when I focus on one task that "time flie…

It is my experience that "flow" is not the same as "mindfulness" or "attention".

Re: The quiet art of attention

#94

Post by connectsnk » Sun, Oct 13, 2024, 10:25 PM UTC

bushido wrote: post #90

connectsnk wrote: post #27

To the author : I find your article really insightful. I want to read more but I realize this article is not on your homepage. There might be more stuff that you have written and is unlisted. How can i find it all.

I had the exact same question. I was able to locate the contents with a code search on github: https://github.com/billwear/billwear.github.io

Thank you kind person.

Re: The quiet art of attention

#95

Post by johnnyanmac » Sun, Oct 13, 2024, 10:26 PM UTC

mistermann wrote: post #87

youoy wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me contradictions are unavoidable when speaking about the mind. Usually the aim is not to give you specific objective truths, but to evoke something in your mind that feels evidently true to you. That is why usually the most effective communication tools that are used are metaphors. And communicating that way correctly is very very difficult. That means that most of these sort of pieces are going to be very bad..…

> For me contradictions are unavoidable when speaking about the mind. "It (seems like it) is my opinion that {some opinion}" has very few ways of going wrong, and has the side benefit of reminding one that they're dealing with a subjective map, which is in part the goal of most authors of such pieces, imho anyways. I think mindfulness gang could up their game.

It's a writing choice at the end of the day. If you have to spend so much time reminding people that this is your opinion, you're going to get the same criicism of pacing and meandering that any other fruity prose does to people who want to get straight to the point.

Sometimes you just need a footnote in your profile of "thoughts are of my own" and to not worry about the peanut gallery.

Re: The quiet art of attention

#96

Post by johnnyanmac » Sun, Oct 13, 2024, 10:28 PM UTC

fzeroracer wrote: post #75

I'm going to be That Guy and say I didn't particularly care for this piece. it reads like every single self-help or mindfulness book I've had the misfortune of skimming or having pushed down on me. That isn't to say I fully discount mindfulness but rather the art of people being able to say a lot about ultimately nothing.

really depends on your stage in life. If you see self-actualization advice but you are still trying to work 18 hours/day to pay rent and keep a roof over your head, this advice won't resonate as much compared to a well off a cushy tech worker who may still feel a bit satisfied with their life projections.

Re: The quiet art of attention

#97

Post by billfruit » Sun, Oct 13, 2024, 10:31 PM UTC

fzeroracer wrote: post #75

I'm going to be That Guy and say I didn't particularly care for this piece. it reads like every single self-help or mindfulness book I've had the misfortune of skimming or having pushed down on me. That isn't to say I fully discount mindfulness but rather the art of people being able to say a lot about ultimately nothing.

Surprisingly the amount of praise it is getting here, consider how low on substance the post is.

Re: The quiet art of attention

#98

Post by johnnyanmac » Sun, Oct 13, 2024, 10:33 PM UTC

Lerc wrote: post #71

billwear wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's the point: sometimes there is no tl;dr.

There are however a great deal of things people can do to make the same information available to a wider audience. Formatting, fonts, colours, structure of argument, visual aids. Clicking [reader view] on this article aided me immensely in being able to take it in. As one of the many ADHD people who encountered this, the white on black, wide page, and a serifed font were all non-informational aspects of the page that…

http://bettermotherfuckingwebsite.com/

or

https://perfectmotherfuckingwebsite.com/

if you're feeling venturous.

>You are wrong that sometimes there is no tl;dr In the absence of someone putting in the work to make content accessible the emphasis merely falls upon the dr of tl;dr.

On a technical level I agree.

>But how does one begin? It is not with grand declarations or bold, sweeping changes. That would miss the point entirely. Rather, it is with a gentle attention to the present, a deliberate shift in the way we move through the world.

That's a pretty good TLDR right there.

But on a cosmic level, I see nothing more ironic than asking for a TL;DR on how to take back your attention. Showing you have some interest in a topic but not enough to fully read it without shifting to yet another topic your brain runs you to. Thus failing the "gentle attention to the present".

Re: The quiet art of attention

#99

Post by Yacovlewis » Sun, Oct 13, 2024, 10:41 PM UTC

Check out The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer. He talks about his discovery of and relationship with his inner voice / consciousness. He's also the tech founder of a public EMR startup. Super interesting read.

Re: The quiet art of attention

#100

Post by thewanderer1983 » Sun, Oct 13, 2024, 10:43 PM UTC

Stoicism explores these ideas. One of the basic premises is that all external events are out of our control and to focus on what is, basically what is in our mind and our actions. Then we should try to discipline our ideas around virtues which are always good instead of outcomes and externals. That summary doesn't do it justice, if interested in exploring further. There are some good books on amazon or check out dailstoic for a quick overview. https://dailystoic.com/what-is-stoicism-a-definition-3-stoic...