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I also find that people tend to enjoy things more when they aren't forced upon them. For instance, people who can afford to buy and maintain a house enjoy not b

I also find that people tend to enjoy things more when they aren't forced upon them. For instance, people who can afford to buy and maintain a house enjoy not buying one and living minimally, whereas people who can't afford to buy one wish that they could. Minimalism, ironically, is pursued almost entirely be rich people.

hammyhavoc 5y ago
Astute observation!
redisman 5y ago
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a minimalist with a cheap Ikea coffee table and a 10 year old laptop. I’m sure some exist but for any that bother posting about it online it seems like an excuse to buy expensive things that align with the “aesthetic”. I barely own anything! Except this Herman Miller armchair and this 2022 MacBook Pro and this set of hand blown Japanese drinking glasses and this $2000 rug.
- jdavis703 5y ago
  There’s nothing wrong with having a few high-priced objects vs. many cheaply priced ones. My dad has maybe a dozen desktop PCs. I have just one laptop, but my 1 MacBook is probably the same cost as several of his PCs.
  - redisman 5y ago
    Sure, I mainly meant that if someone posts their minimalist stack and it’s a mattress on the floor and a cardboard box with a old ugly computer on it, they’ll most likely get made fun of at best even if they’re actually embodying more of the tenets of “minimalism”. Basically it’s just a classier version of consumerism unless you do it in a very unsexy way
  - prmoustache 5y ago
    I won't go into the PC/MacBook debate but there is a thing about having less, but expensive and durable products, than tons of shit that keeps breaking down and being replaced.
    - jdavis703 5y ago
      If you treat a MacBook decently it’ll last for a long time. My personal MBP is from 2018 and runs fine wit no repairs required so far. However my work laptop takes quite a beating from daily commute, work travel, etc and usually winds up needing a repair every one or two years. I probably need a hard case, but I guess there’s a bit of moral hazard when work has AppleCare for all the laptops.
    - jacob019 5y ago
      "I am not rich enough to buy cheap things."
- arepublicadoceu 5y ago
  Funnily enough, if you walk on certain paths of computer nerdism you will find splurges of minimalism there as well. For instance: owning a 10 years old thinkpad running st and a window manager as your main computer signals very highly among the right circles. The difference is they call excess as bloat.
- Bradlinc 5y ago
  There are communities where the former is the norm. Check out the Mr Money Mustache forums.
- prmoustache 5y ago
  Dunno I consider myself a minimalist (my living room is basically a sofa, a coffee table, hifi and a beamer) and my coffee table is made of wood pallets found in the street. Still I don't consider I am living in minimalism because I am not living alone and I leave alongside a ton of shit from my gf and kids. The living room is basically my only minimalist space in the appartment.
jandrewrogers 5y ago
When you don't have anything, you don't know what you don't want. Once you've owned a thing, you have a better perspective of the actual value you derive by owning it. In most cases, people like the idea of owning a thing more than actually owning it, but that is difficult to distinguish without a lot of experience owning stuff. Consequently, maximalism is a natural phase for most people and many never have enough money to find its practical limits. Minimalism, the rich people kind, is what happens when you've sampled the limits of various things and realize nothing will make you care about 95% of them. So you discard that 95% without any risk of FOMO because you've been there and done that. This is the peace of mind that allows them to focus their time and money on the 5% of things that do matter to them. These kinds of minimalists don't have much stuff, but what they do have tends to be extremely high quality and functional. It is a difference between economic minimalism and domain minimalism. The trajectory from forced minimalism to maximalism back to intentional minimalism is not going to be inexpensive for most people. Like many people, I followed this trajectory to its logical conclusion. Looking back, it isn't obvious to me that it is possible to skip the maximalist step. It provides critical context that allows someone to understand where not to minimalize, which will be different for every person.

hammyhavoc 5y ago

Astute observation!

redisman 5y ago

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a minimalist with a cheap Ikea coffee table and a 10 year old laptop. I’m sure some exist but for any that bother posting about it online it seems like an excuse to buy expensive things that align with the “aesthetic”. I barely own anything! Except this Herman Miller armchair and this 2022 MacBook Pro and this set of hand blown Japanese drinking glasses and this $2000 rug.

jdavis703 5y ago
There’s nothing wrong with having a few high-priced objects vs. many cheaply priced ones. My dad has maybe a dozen desktop PCs. I have just one laptop, but my 1 MacBook is probably the same cost as several of his PCs.
- redisman 5y ago
  Sure, I mainly meant that if someone posts their minimalist stack and it’s a mattress on the floor and a cardboard box with a old ugly computer on it, they’ll most likely get made fun of at best even if they’re actually embodying more of the tenets of “minimalism”. Basically it’s just a classier version of consumerism unless you do it in a very unsexy way
- prmoustache 5y ago
  I won't go into the PC/MacBook debate but there is a thing about having less, but expensive and durable products, than tons of shit that keeps breaking down and being replaced.
  - jdavis703 5y ago
    If you treat a MacBook decently it’ll last for a long time. My personal MBP is from 2018 and runs fine wit no repairs required so far. However my work laptop takes quite a beating from daily commute, work travel, etc and usually winds up needing a repair every one or two years. I probably need a hard case, but I guess there’s a bit of moral hazard when work has AppleCare for all the laptops.
  - jacob019 5y ago
    "I am not rich enough to buy cheap things."
arepublicadoceu 5y ago
Funnily enough, if you walk on certain paths of computer nerdism you will find splurges of minimalism there as well. For instance: owning a 10 years old thinkpad running st and a window manager as your main computer signals very highly among the right circles. The difference is they call excess as bloat.
Bradlinc 5y ago
There are communities where the former is the norm. Check out the Mr Money Mustache forums.
prmoustache 5y ago
Dunno I consider myself a minimalist (my living room is basically a sofa, a coffee table, hifi and a beamer) and my coffee table is made of wood pallets found in the street. Still I don't consider I am living in minimalism because I am not living alone and I leave alongside a ton of shit from my gf and kids. The living room is basically my only minimalist space in the appartment.

jandrewrogers 5y ago

When you don't have anything, you don't know what you don't want. Once you've owned a thing, you have a better perspective of the actual value you derive by owning it. In most cases, people like the idea of owning a thing more than actually owning it, but that is difficult to distinguish without a lot of experience owning stuff. Consequently, maximalism is a natural phase for most people and many never have enough money to find its practical limits. Minimalism, the rich people kind, is what happens when you've sampled the limits of various things and realize nothing will make you care about 95% of them. So you discard that 95% without any risk of FOMO because you've been there and done that. This is the peace of mind that allows them to focus their time and money on the 5% of things that do matter to them. These kinds of minimalists don't have much stuff, but what they do have tends to be extremely high quality and functional. It is a difference between economic minimalism and domain minimalism. The trajectory from forced minimalism to maximalism back to intentional minimalism is not going to be inexpensive for most people. Like many people, I followed this trajectory to its logical conclusion. Looking back, it isn't obvious to me that it is possible to skip the maximalist step. It provides critical context that allows someone to understand where not to minimalize, which will be different for every person.