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Amen to that. One life, live it well. To me that doesn't mean 80 hour weeks, 40 years of working and dropping dead of exhaustion the day I retire. I'm alright f

by dmje 6y ago

Amen to that. One life, live it well. To me that doesn't mean 80 hour weeks, 40 years of working and dropping dead of exhaustion the day I retire. I'm alright for that, thanks. Would rather be slightly poorer financially (some might say "less optimised") and richer for time. Time I can spend with my kids, looking at the sea, making music, reading. I'm ok for optimisation. If there's anything covid should teach us, it's that optimisation to the max leaves us collectively and individually extremely fragile. We all need time and space and quiet and contingency, not "optimisation" and "growth", not all the time, anyway.

peterlk 6y ago
The irony here is that you're still optimizing, we're just arguing about heuristics. I find it to be a very difficult thought experiment to consciously avoid optimization. Maybe the key might be to stop thinking and/or live without intention...?
- ddingus 6y ago
  Leave room for random time. Say 80 percent intent, 20 percent in the moment.
- ZephyrBlu 6y ago
  The author specifically refers to optimizing for wealth and working time though, so in the context of the article it is optimizing less.
- ntsplnkv2 6y ago
  This is true and a problem a lot of people who are trying to be mindful deal with. Many have "goals" to get "better at" meditating. This is due to our conditioning - we're convinced everywhere that we aren't good enough, in everything we do, from ads, to our boss, to our internal voice. Sometimes I find just saying "you're doing fine, whatever it is" can be really helpful.
  - dmje 6y ago
    Such a great point and one I had when I started seriously meditating a couple of years ago. It's only now really that I'm starting to be able to just sit, without a goal, without some sense of "am I enlightened yet" as a thought somewhere at the end of the tunnel. Of course, in sitting I am (as per above) optimising - optimising stillness and inaction but yes, optimising. But then as per reply below, the piece was specifically about wealth and working time which is a different beast. Man, interesting stuff :-)

by dmje 6y ago

peterlk 6y ago

The irony here is that you're still optimizing, we're just arguing about heuristics. I find it to be a very difficult thought experiment to consciously avoid optimization. Maybe the key might be to stop thinking and/or live without intention...?

ddingus 6y ago
Leave room for random time. Say 80 percent intent, 20 percent in the moment.
ZephyrBlu 6y ago
The author specifically refers to optimizing for wealth and working time though, so in the context of the article it is optimizing less.
ntsplnkv2 6y ago
This is true and a problem a lot of people who are trying to be mindful deal with. Many have "goals" to get "better at" meditating. This is due to our conditioning - we're convinced everywhere that we aren't good enough, in everything we do, from ads, to our boss, to our internal voice. Sometimes I find just saying "you're doing fine, whatever it is" can be really helpful.
- dmje 6y ago
  Such a great point and one I had when I started seriously meditating a couple of years ago. It's only now really that I'm starting to be able to just sit, without a goal, without some sense of "am I enlightened yet" as a thought somewhere at the end of the tunnel. Of course, in sitting I am (as per above) optimising - optimising stillness and inaction but yes, optimising. But then as per reply below, the piece was specifically about wealth and working time which is a different beast. Man, interesting stuff :-)