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I know it’s just the moment we’re living in right now but as I read those questions I just shrug, they couldn’t feel less relevant. The ones on my mind are “ho

by untog 7y ago

I know it’s just the moment we’re living in right now but as I read those questions I just shrug, they couldn’t feel less relevant. The ones on my mind are “how long will large populations be locked down?” “How many people are going to die?” and “how long until this all happens again?”

nine_k 7y ago
One could go even shorter term than that. But life is a long game.
ceilingcorner 7y ago
“The greats never sacrifice the important for the urgent. They handle the immediate problem and still make sure to secure the future.” The media is incentivized to distract you. Turn off your computer, read a book, and don’t forget to live.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- diN0bot 7y ago
  no i think you misunderstand. those three questions the commenter posted aren’t about running from fear or anxiety — some would simply call “questions about how we collectively overcome massive and pressing challenges” more relevant, in the short and long term.
- untog 7y ago
  What an absurd statement. This crisis matters. Social distancing matters. Lockdowns matter. “Stick your fingers in your ears” is awful advice.
  - m-p-3 7y ago
    But at some point, the medias are rehashing the same statements: Stay home, and follows good practices. As an individual, there's only so much you can do and there's no need to keep yourself distracted from other matters.
    - untog 7y ago
      The advice around wearing face masks has changed in the last 48 hours. You can stay tuned in to the world around you without collapsing on the ground in hysterics.
JohnJamesRambo 7y ago
Humans evolve and adapt, we are very resourceful. We will overcome this and learn how to respond faster and more correctly in the future. Also the future president of the USA will likely be much more intelligent, this was a once in a lifetime concentration of ineptitude in power.
- hyperdunc 7y ago
  We're usually not very proactive though. Although we adapt and evolve it's usually as a reaction to pressure that can't be ignored, and by that time the cost is high if we do adapt and higher if we don't. For those who make it through, they'll be wiser and more prepared for similar situations - and their descendants may be too, at least for a while.
ericjang 7y ago
OP here. I agree these 3 are not the most important problems of collective society; these are just ones that I have a personal interest and curiosity in :)
thefounder 7y ago
>>> “how long will large populations be locked down?” “How many people are going to die?” and “how long until this all happens again?” Is it really the large populations that worry you or is it just the risk that you might be next or even more hypocritic, that your investment portfolio is going south? Very bad and innevitable horrors have been happenning for a while(i.e the war Yemen, Iraq) and the "large populations" that you mention had little to no insomnia.
- untog 7y ago
  > Very bad and innevitable horrors have been happenning for a while(i.e the war Yemen, Iraq) and the "large populations" that you mention had little to no insomnia. And they’ve had very little effect on me. It’s not irrational to care at different levels depending on that.
  - thefounder 7y ago
    It's hipocritic to dissmiss OP's concerns/questions as worthless compared with your own personal concerns disguised as a great care about "large populations". It would not be totally irrational to stay on topic without derailing the conversation.
dang 7y ago
"Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Your comment might be just fine in an in-person conversation, but if you respond to someone this way in a broadcast medium [1], it comes across as a kind of social enforcement and shaming, especially if (like this one was) it sits at the top of a thread accruing mass—which happens easily because because indignation routinely attracts upvotes [2]. The OP has every right to think about what interests him, nor does it somehow follow from this that he doesn't care about people dying. [1] Which HN is: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22780144 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22780144 [2] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=by%3Adang%20indignation%20upvotes&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

by untog 7y ago

nine_k 7y ago

One could go even shorter term than that. But life is a long game.

ceilingcorner 7y ago

“The greats never sacrifice the important for the urgent. They handle the immediate problem and still make sure to secure the future.” The media is incentivized to distract you. Turn off your computer, read a book, and don’t forget to live.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
diN0bot 7y ago
no i think you misunderstand. those three questions the commenter posted aren’t about running from fear or anxiety — some would simply call “questions about how we collectively overcome massive and pressing challenges” more relevant, in the short and long term.
untog 7y ago
What an absurd statement. This crisis matters. Social distancing matters. Lockdowns matter. “Stick your fingers in your ears” is awful advice.
- m-p-3 7y ago
  But at some point, the medias are rehashing the same statements: Stay home, and follows good practices. As an individual, there's only so much you can do and there's no need to keep yourself distracted from other matters.
  - untog 7y ago
    The advice around wearing face masks has changed in the last 48 hours. You can stay tuned in to the world around you without collapsing on the ground in hysterics.

JohnJamesRambo 7y ago

Humans evolve and adapt, we are very resourceful. We will overcome this and learn how to respond faster and more correctly in the future. Also the future president of the USA will likely be much more intelligent, this was a once in a lifetime concentration of ineptitude in power.

hyperdunc 7y ago
We're usually not very proactive though. Although we adapt and evolve it's usually as a reaction to pressure that can't be ignored, and by that time the cost is high if we do adapt and higher if we don't. For those who make it through, they'll be wiser and more prepared for similar situations - and their descendants may be too, at least for a while.

ericjang 7y ago

OP here. I agree these 3 are not the most important problems of collective society; these are just ones that I have a personal interest and curiosity in :)

thefounder 7y ago

>>> “how long will large populations be locked down?” “How many people are going to die?” and “how long until this all happens again?” Is it really the large populations that worry you or is it just the risk that you might be next or even more hypocritic, that your investment portfolio is going south? Very bad and innevitable horrors have been happenning for a while(i.e the war Yemen, Iraq) and the "large populations" that you mention had little to no insomnia.

untog 7y ago
> Very bad and innevitable horrors have been happenning for a while(i.e the war Yemen, Iraq) and the "large populations" that you mention had little to no insomnia. And they’ve had very little effect on me. It’s not irrational to care at different levels depending on that.
- thefounder 7y ago
  It's hipocritic to dissmiss OP's concerns/questions as worthless compared with your own personal concerns disguised as a great care about "large populations". It would not be totally irrational to stay on topic without derailing the conversation.

dang 7y ago

"Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Your comment might be just fine in an in-person conversation, but if you respond to someone this way in a broadcast medium [1], it comes across as a kind of social enforcement and shaming, especially if (like this one was) it sits at the top of a thread accruing mass—which happens easily because because indignation routinely attracts upvotes [2]. The OP has every right to think about what interests him, nor does it somehow follow from this that he doesn't care about people dying. [1] Which HN is: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22780144 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22780144 [2] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=by%3Adang%20indignation%20upvotes&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...