6 ms·

Techniques for dealing with lack of motivation, malaise, depression [video]

121 points by doppp 9y ago

hellofunk 9y ago
Cool, but Mr. Blow can sometimes be a bit of a bully on Twitter, so that clouds a bit my reaction to other things he says on the topic of emotions.
- jonnybgood 9y ago
  I don't know anything about Blow but a bully can actually be the one who suffers emotionally the most. It's sometimes worth listening to what they have to say. Key and Peele did an awesome skit on this: https://youtu.be/CUvFeyGxaaU https://youtu.be/CUvFeyGxaaU
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 9y ago
  I've spent a lot of time watching Jon on twitch, and have only read his twitter to keep up on stream announcements, but I find it difficult to believe that. Jon is opinionated, and doesn't sugar coat those opinions often, but I've never seen him harass anyone. Even if he has, that doesn't invalidate anything he's saying. Nobody is perfect.
  - hellofunk 9y ago
    > Even if he has [harassed someone], that doesn't invalidate anything he's saying I just don't think there is ever a good reason. He does have a tendency to say things about a person suggesting they are ignorant or stupid when they ask a question he doesn't like. There often seems to be a fine line between him getting annoyed and him belittling the contribution someone else makes to a discussion. He is extremely sensitive. I just think if someone is going to seriously discuss how to be more emotionally stable, they should probably demonstrate more stable behavior themselves.
    - AnIdiotOnTheNet 9y ago
      He gave the stream not because he considers himself some kind of expert on the topic, but because people were asking him how he personally deals with depression and malaise.
    - mpweiher 9y ago
      I continue to be amazed at the dilution of terms like "harassment". > say things about a person suggesting they are ignorant or stupid If that is what he thinks, that is a perfectly reasonable thing to say, particularly as no-one is forced to ask him questions. It is not "harassment" by any stretch of the imagination. > He is extremely sensitive. Maybe the one being extremely sensitive isn't him.
      - hellofunk 9y ago
        > If that is what he thinks, that is a perfectly reasonable thing to say [calling them ignorant or stupid], particularly as no-one is forced to ask him questions. You are right, we have a different idea of what is polite behavior, and what is insulting behavior.
        mpweiher 9y ago
        Probably, yes. However, the bigger difference is that for me, someone not being polite is not the same as that someone being insulting, and certainly not guilty of harassment, and in fact even someone being insulting is not the same as harassment. There are quite a number of steps in-between, with "insulting" being one of these steps, but certainly not the only one.
        deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
        Zhyl 9y ago
        I don't think the difference is between polite or insulting - the difference is between harassment and non-harassment. Someone being rude or short may bring down the tone of discussion and may not be condusive to proper discourse, but harassment is another beast entirely. People's lives are ruined by harassment and harassers may have their reputations ruined. Suggesting that Jonathon Blow harasses people on twitter when in fact you mean that he is rude and insensitive is borderline libel.
  - dnljms 9y ago
    I find that he comes across a lot better on video than on twitter, seems less dogmatic and his sense of humour is clearer. Most people aren't going to waste time on a stream, so his twitter personality is what they see.
    - hellofunk 9y ago
      Agreed. Twitter tends to bring out the troll in some people, and that might be the case here.
      - mpweiher 9y ago
        Or it brings out the negative interpretations in some people.
        corysama 9y ago
        Very true. It is extremely common for people to impose negativity into other people's textual comments. Very frequently some comment will be written that is flat, matter of fact, brief and trying to be helpful, and the writer will later be shocked by readers assuming sarcasm and insult. In general, the Internet does contain a lot of sarcasm and insult. But, I expect a huge amount of that is wrongly attributed. And, that extra dose feeds back into the assumption that negatively is standard practice on the net --leading to more legit negatively...
        dgritsko 9y ago
        True, the restricted length makes it a terrible format for any sort of nuanced discussion on complex issues. Way too easy for folks to talk past each other.
      - p0nce 9y ago
        Twitter rewards trollish behaviour, as it gets shared most.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- moron4hire 9y ago
  I've seen Jon espouse opinions about technology that cut against the popular grain, but I've never seen him pull a full-Torvalds and try to belittle the people who argue against him. Jonathan Blow sticks to the tech and rational conversation about it. He has a lot of terrible things to say about JavaScript and Electron in particular. And I agree with every point he makes. It's also not going to stop me from using them, because I have other reasons, other goals. If you can pay attention and avoid blindly interpreting criticism of the tech as a personal attack, it will make you a better developer.
  - hellofunk 9y ago
    I've seen him single out (and with rather insulting wording) people who disagreed with him politically or even on trivial topics, among other questionable, or at least insensitive, behavior towards individuals.
    - jackmott 9y ago
      what does that even mean? that could mean "bob likes higher/lower taxes and i think that is dumb" so what?
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- jackmott 9y ago
  that ye gets soad when people say dumb things is one of the reasons he does this stuff i suspect.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
d--b 9y ago
I haven't looked at the video, but it is funny that I spent most of last week procrastinating by playing (and finishing) The Witness... Great game, but really the best piece of advice I could have received was to not start playing it!
jsheard 9y ago
Here's the YouTube mirror, since Twitch VODs often have janky buffering problems in my experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7kh8pNRWOo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7kh8pNRWOo + https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECwHZlvvVH4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECwHZlvvVH4
- reificator 9y ago
  Do they still? I watch a fair bit of Twitch, but never live. It used to be pretty bad, but since Amazon the player quality has improved dramatically. Only time I have issues now is when I pop into a VOD of a stream in progress, and have to keep refreshing as the video gets longer.
  - sdnfnnn 9y ago
    Ahh, the stream listings often don't load and the entire video infrastructure goes down from time to time. Any VPS provider could give you better reliability. IMO there's a code issue, likely due to their hipster web stack. Also the site is really heavy-weight, someone force these developers to use older hardware.
- sdnfnnn 9y ago
  > janky Spoken like a true Casey.
emsy 9y ago
From the video: "The mouse keeps popping open the web browser to some stupid discussion site." He's talking about you HN! :D
desireco42 9y ago
This is mindfulness, but also classic NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). Your feelings are tiny and you can control them and use beneficial ones. This in essence is NLP strategy. I like NLP and had excellent results with it, so it helps me think in these terms.
- WalterGR 9y ago
  Any NLP resources you would recommend?
  - desireco42 9y ago
    There are a lot, and NLP us used a lot to describe things that doesn't have anything with it. Self help took it like quantum entanglement and ran with it. So beware of that. Founder is Richard Bandler and John Grinder, first one is your best source (he rants a lot and often tells same stories). I like approach of Robert Dilts a lot (just giving you keywords got google). I read a book about it long ago and helped me greatly. I quit smoking, turn my life around. Essentially explains you how you can run your brain. https://www.amazon.com/NLP-Essential-Guide-Neuro-Linguistic-Programming/dp/0062083619/ https://www.amazon.com/NLP-Essential-Guide-Neuro-Linguistic-... Here is one of the recent discussions with Bandler. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfTNV6kDAYg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfTNV6kDAYg Hope this helps.
  - AlexCoventry 9y ago
    Bandler and Grinder were charlatans. Maybe Satir was serious, back in the day, but Bandler and Grinder didn't believe their own teachings in the end. Steer clear of NLP.
    - desireco42 9y ago
      OK, so you clearly believe they are no longer charlatans :). So they should be good resource then.
- eli_gottlieb 9y ago
  If you control your feelings, what's supposed to direct your control over your feelings?
valesco 9y ago
For the ones interested in an actionable way of dealing with depression (albeit one that does not replace professional help), here is a course in cognitivo-behavioral therapy, a technique that yields good results: https://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/step1.htm https://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/step1.htm It's free by the way.

121 points by doppp 9y ago

Cool, but Mr. Blow can sometimes be a bit of a bully on Twitter, so that clouds a bit my reaction to other things he says on the topic of emotions.

jonnybgood 9y ago
I don't know anything about Blow but a bully can actually be the one who suffers emotionally the most. It's sometimes worth listening to what they have to say. Key and Peele did an awesome skit on this: https://youtu.be/CUvFeyGxaaU https://youtu.be/CUvFeyGxaaU
AnIdiotOnTheNet 9y ago
I've spent a lot of time watching Jon on twitch, and have only read his twitter to keep up on stream announcements, but I find it difficult to believe that. Jon is opinionated, and doesn't sugar coat those opinions often, but I've never seen him harass anyone. Even if he has, that doesn't invalidate anything he's saying. Nobody is perfect.
- hellofunk 9y ago
  > Even if he has [harassed someone], that doesn't invalidate anything he's saying I just don't think there is ever a good reason. He does have a tendency to say things about a person suggesting they are ignorant or stupid when they ask a question he doesn't like. There often seems to be a fine line between him getting annoyed and him belittling the contribution someone else makes to a discussion. He is extremely sensitive. I just think if someone is going to seriously discuss how to be more emotionally stable, they should probably demonstrate more stable behavior themselves.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 9y ago
    He gave the stream not because he considers himself some kind of expert on the topic, but because people were asking him how he personally deals with depression and malaise.
  - mpweiher 9y ago
    I continue to be amazed at the dilution of terms like "harassment". > say things about a person suggesting they are ignorant or stupid If that is what he thinks, that is a perfectly reasonable thing to say, particularly as no-one is forced to ask him questions. It is not "harassment" by any stretch of the imagination. > He is extremely sensitive. Maybe the one being extremely sensitive isn't him.
    - hellofunk 9y ago
      > If that is what he thinks, that is a perfectly reasonable thing to say [calling them ignorant or stupid], particularly as no-one is forced to ask him questions. You are right, we have a different idea of what is polite behavior, and what is insulting behavior.
      - mpweiher 9y ago
        Probably, yes. However, the bigger difference is that for me, someone not being polite is not the same as that someone being insulting, and certainly not guilty of harassment, and in fact even someone being insulting is not the same as harassment. There are quite a number of steps in-between, with "insulting" being one of these steps, but certainly not the only one.
        deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
      - Zhyl 9y ago
        I don't think the difference is between polite or insulting - the difference is between harassment and non-harassment. Someone being rude or short may bring down the tone of discussion and may not be condusive to proper discourse, but harassment is another beast entirely. People's lives are ruined by harassment and harassers may have their reputations ruined. Suggesting that Jonathon Blow harasses people on twitter when in fact you mean that he is rude and insensitive is borderline libel.
- dnljms 9y ago
  I find that he comes across a lot better on video than on twitter, seems less dogmatic and his sense of humour is clearer. Most people aren't going to waste time on a stream, so his twitter personality is what they see.
  - hellofunk 9y ago
    Agreed. Twitter tends to bring out the troll in some people, and that might be the case here.
    - mpweiher 9y ago
      Or it brings out the negative interpretations in some people.
      - corysama 9y ago
        Very true. It is extremely common for people to impose negativity into other people's textual comments. Very frequently some comment will be written that is flat, matter of fact, brief and trying to be helpful, and the writer will later be shocked by readers assuming sarcasm and insult. In general, the Internet does contain a lot of sarcasm and insult. But, I expect a huge amount of that is wrongly attributed. And, that extra dose feeds back into the assumption that negatively is standard practice on the net --leading to more legit negatively...
      - dgritsko 9y ago
        True, the restricted length makes it a terrible format for any sort of nuanced discussion on complex issues. Way too easy for folks to talk past each other.
    - p0nce 9y ago
      Twitter rewards trollish behaviour, as it gets shared most.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
moron4hire 9y ago
I've seen Jon espouse opinions about technology that cut against the popular grain, but I've never seen him pull a full-Torvalds and try to belittle the people who argue against him. Jonathan Blow sticks to the tech and rational conversation about it. He has a lot of terrible things to say about JavaScript and Electron in particular. And I agree with every point he makes. It's also not going to stop me from using them, because I have other reasons, other goals. If you can pay attention and avoid blindly interpreting criticism of the tech as a personal attack, it will make you a better developer.
- hellofunk 9y ago
  I've seen him single out (and with rather insulting wording) people who disagreed with him politically or even on trivial topics, among other questionable, or at least insensitive, behavior towards individuals.
  - jackmott 9y ago
    what does that even mean? that could mean "bob likes higher/lower taxes and i think that is dumb" so what?
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
jackmott 9y ago
that ye gets soad when people say dumb things is one of the reasons he does this stuff i suspect.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

d--b 9y ago

I haven't looked at the video, but it is funny that I spent most of last week procrastinating by playing (and finishing) The Witness... Great game, but really the best piece of advice I could have received was to not start playing it!

jsheard 9y ago

Here's the YouTube mirror, since Twitch VODs often have janky buffering problems in my experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7kh8pNRWOo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7kh8pNRWOo + https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECwHZlvvVH4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECwHZlvvVH4

reificator 9y ago
Do they still? I watch a fair bit of Twitch, but never live. It used to be pretty bad, but since Amazon the player quality has improved dramatically. Only time I have issues now is when I pop into a VOD of a stream in progress, and have to keep refreshing as the video gets longer.
- sdnfnnn 9y ago
  Ahh, the stream listings often don't load and the entire video infrastructure goes down from time to time. Any VPS provider could give you better reliability. IMO there's a code issue, likely due to their hipster web stack. Also the site is really heavy-weight, someone force these developers to use older hardware.
sdnfnnn 9y ago
> janky Spoken like a true Casey.

emsy 9y ago

From the video: "The mouse keeps popping open the web browser to some stupid discussion site." He's talking about you HN! :D

desireco42 9y ago

This is mindfulness, but also classic NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). Your feelings are tiny and you can control them and use beneficial ones. This in essence is NLP strategy. I like NLP and had excellent results with it, so it helps me think in these terms.

WalterGR 9y ago
Any NLP resources you would recommend?
- desireco42 9y ago
  There are a lot, and NLP us used a lot to describe things that doesn't have anything with it. Self help took it like quantum entanglement and ran with it. So beware of that. Founder is Richard Bandler and John Grinder, first one is your best source (he rants a lot and often tells same stories). I like approach of Robert Dilts a lot (just giving you keywords got google). I read a book about it long ago and helped me greatly. I quit smoking, turn my life around. Essentially explains you how you can run your brain. https://www.amazon.com/NLP-Essential-Guide-Neuro-Linguistic-Programming/dp/0062083619/ https://www.amazon.com/NLP-Essential-Guide-Neuro-Linguistic-... Here is one of the recent discussions with Bandler. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfTNV6kDAYg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfTNV6kDAYg Hope this helps.
- AlexCoventry 9y ago
  Bandler and Grinder were charlatans. Maybe Satir was serious, back in the day, but Bandler and Grinder didn't believe their own teachings in the end. Steer clear of NLP.
  - desireco42 9y ago
    OK, so you clearly believe they are no longer charlatans :). So they should be good resource then.
eli_gottlieb 9y ago
If you control your feelings, what's supposed to direct your control over your feelings?

valesco 9y ago

For the ones interested in an actionable way of dealing with depression (albeit one that does not replace professional help), here is a course in cognitivo-behavioral therapy, a technique that yields good results: https://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/step1.htm https://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/step1.htm It's free by the way.