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Yeah, but it's deleterious to my societal productivity. Like I'm happier spending my time with my friends. But I have less of that burning desire to build. I th

Yeah, but it's deleterious to my societal productivity. Like I'm happier spending my time with my friends. But I have less of that burning desire to build. I think I might actually be content to live just happily on the beach with the wealth I have now, so long as everyone I love is nearby and we frequently meet. But obviously I don't want to be content with that.

lonelappde 7y ago
The world will be fine if you don't build
taneq 7y ago
Well what do you want, to be happy or to be productive? Happy people don't make great art.
- ken 7y ago
  I used to believe that. These days, I'm certainly happier making art than whatever it was people wanted to pay me to do on a computer. Why can't happy people make great art? Do we also think that sober people can't write great novels, or people who survive past age 27 can't make great music? I can think of countless counterexamples to all of these. Just because there were miserable great artists in the past doesn't necessarily mean you have to be miserable to be a great artist.
- esolyt 7y ago
  But they're happy.
- themarkn 7y ago
  > Happy people don't make great art. This is kinda just a myth as far as I can tell. There is a often romanticized relationship between art and suffering, because sure, some art is created as a way to relieve suffering. But it's by no means mandatory, and at one point I've even been in the spot (like many many others) of being afraid to get help for mental health issues because of what it might do to the work I was creating. This is how the myth does harm. The longer people "trade" health for art, the more they put themselves at risk in service of this misguided idea. It's no exaggeration to say that people have died as a result of believing that treating their depression would diminish their art. A person in that situation has to win every day of their lives, while depression only has to win once.
erikpukinskis 7y ago
In the short term you’ll move less bricks for sure. But in the long term, I wonder if you as a group will be able to discover movable bricks that you wouldn’t have seen or cared about on your own. And maybe those bricks are both more valuable to move and more likely to successfully get to their destination, because you’re doing so as a group not as an individual. Not sure.
RandallBrown 7y ago
It's not obvious to me why you wouldn't be content with that. Living on the beach with the people you love sounds pretty fantastic to me. What's the end goal? Amass more wealth? Build a legacy?
- arbol 7y ago
  > What's the end goal? Amass more wealth? Build a legacy? Grass is always greener...
- _davebennett 7y ago
  Overcoming the desire to build a legacy is something I struggle with
slothtrop 7y ago
I experience the opposite. Meeting social needs is a motivating factor. If I'm lonely I'm less productive at my leisure.

lonelappde 7y ago

The world will be fine if you don't build

taneq 7y ago

Well what do you want, to be happy or to be productive? Happy people don't make great art.

ken 7y ago
I used to believe that. These days, I'm certainly happier making art than whatever it was people wanted to pay me to do on a computer. Why can't happy people make great art? Do we also think that sober people can't write great novels, or people who survive past age 27 can't make great music? I can think of countless counterexamples to all of these. Just because there were miserable great artists in the past doesn't necessarily mean you have to be miserable to be a great artist.
esolyt 7y ago
But they're happy.
themarkn 7y ago
> Happy people don't make great art. This is kinda just a myth as far as I can tell. There is a often romanticized relationship between art and suffering, because sure, some art is created as a way to relieve suffering. But it's by no means mandatory, and at one point I've even been in the spot (like many many others) of being afraid to get help for mental health issues because of what it might do to the work I was creating. This is how the myth does harm. The longer people "trade" health for art, the more they put themselves at risk in service of this misguided idea. It's no exaggeration to say that people have died as a result of believing that treating their depression would diminish their art. A person in that situation has to win every day of their lives, while depression only has to win once.

erikpukinskis 7y ago

In the short term you’ll move less bricks for sure. But in the long term, I wonder if you as a group will be able to discover movable bricks that you wouldn’t have seen or cared about on your own. And maybe those bricks are both more valuable to move and more likely to successfully get to their destination, because you’re doing so as a group not as an individual. Not sure.

RandallBrown 7y ago

It's not obvious to me why you wouldn't be content with that. Living on the beach with the people you love sounds pretty fantastic to me. What's the end goal? Amass more wealth? Build a legacy?

arbol 7y ago
> What's the end goal? Amass more wealth? Build a legacy? Grass is always greener...
_davebennett 7y ago
Overcoming the desire to build a legacy is something I struggle with

slothtrop 7y ago

I experience the opposite. Meeting social needs is a motivating factor. If I'm lonely I'm less productive at my leisure.