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I disagree with this advice. Nostalgia is a waste of time. I started coding in about 1988. I have nothing that goes back further than 2010. And I don't waste an

I disagree with this advice. Nostalgia is a waste of time. I started coding in about 1988. I have nothing that goes back further than 2010. And I don't waste any time on anything I'm not currently working on. Keep working, keep moving forward. Don't waste your time looking backwards. That's just my opinion, obviously. But I find the obsession with nostalgia in our culture to be sad and destructive.

Aeolun 4y ago
> But I find the obsession with nostalgia in our culture to be sad and destructive My occassional evenings spend looking back through the life that brought me where I am are sad and destructive? I find them to be very effective tools for reflection.
- greenthrow 4y ago
  Re-read what you quoted, please. I did not say "individuals occasionally recollecting their past experiences is destructive." I said the cultural level obsesssion with nostalgia. There's a big difference.
  - Aeolun 4y ago
    Is there? What do you consider the cultural level obsession then?
- jiggunjer 4y ago
  You seem to be conflating reminiscence with reflection.
thn-gap 4y ago
This sounds really sad. I really hope that you can build memories that are worth spending some time remembering with joy.
mippenhappen 4y ago
I wouldn't say nostalgia is sad or destructive, but it is also not for me. I delete everything when I'm done with it. I backup less than 2 GB of personal data. I have around 100 photos of my entire life, and I'm certain I'll get around to deleting all of them too.
llanowarelves 4y ago
I agree. The past is useful for post-mortem, learning from, but it's too easy to yearn for it in lieu (low agency) of moving forward (high agency).
challenger-derp 4y ago
I agree that one is usually concerned with more recent information (hence the effectiveness of the LRU caching heuristic). However, looking back at past endeavours has been a source of new ideas and joy (reminisce achievements) for me. I don't do it frequently though. Maybe once a year or once every two years. Revisiting your past serves as revision as well (you get to see concepts you once used in your work/life).

Aeolun 4y ago

> But I find the obsession with nostalgia in our culture to be sad and destructive My occassional evenings spend looking back through the life that brought me where I am are sad and destructive? I find them to be very effective tools for reflection.

greenthrow 4y ago
Re-read what you quoted, please. I did not say "individuals occasionally recollecting their past experiences is destructive." I said the cultural level obsesssion with nostalgia. There's a big difference.
- Aeolun 4y ago
  Is there? What do you consider the cultural level obsession then?
jiggunjer 4y ago
You seem to be conflating reminiscence with reflection.

thn-gap 4y ago

This sounds really sad. I really hope that you can build memories that are worth spending some time remembering with joy.

mippenhappen 4y ago

I wouldn't say nostalgia is sad or destructive, but it is also not for me. I delete everything when I'm done with it. I backup less than 2 GB of personal data. I have around 100 photos of my entire life, and I'm certain I'll get around to deleting all of them too.

llanowarelves 4y ago

I agree. The past is useful for post-mortem, learning from, but it's too easy to yearn for it in lieu (low agency) of moving forward (high agency).

challenger-derp 4y ago

I agree that one is usually concerned with more recent information (hence the effectiveness of the LRU caching heuristic). However, looking back at past endeavours has been a source of new ideas and joy (reminisce achievements) for me. I don't do it frequently though. Maybe once a year or once every two years. Revisiting your past serves as revision as well (you get to see concepts you once used in your work/life).