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My belief is that societal and technological sophistication is overall extremely stressful for organisms that were prepared for a very different life by evoluti

My belief is that societal and technological sophistication is overall extremely stressful for organisms that were prepared for a very different life by evolution. Our neurosis is a byproduct of our success and of the highly complex and competitive nature of our social interactions. Touching grass, spending time with animals, learning to accept and appreciate our animal roots, is what can balance the stress.

Tom3849 2y ago
[flagged]
- hunter-gatherer 2y ago
  Your knee-jerk reaction is perhaps emphasizing OP's point. OP obviously is referring to the spirit of being more in tune with our natural roots and not prescribing "Get a dog, visit a man-made park" as a strict prescription as you seem to be interpreting it.
  - Tom3849 2y ago
    No, I illustrated that for some people "being more in tune with our natural roots" is deeply stressful. And it is simply not realistic advice! I get attacked weekly, and can not even carry peper spray, or tell anything to my attackers (they would turn on me). Last time I got attacked by 6 large dogs while walking on beach, and their owners would not even restraint the. After, they tried to steal my phone for recording the attack. Latter they told police, dogs were "stray" and they are not responsible for them. Despite providing shelter, food, vet and walking them on leash... If I mugged people, trying to steal their food, I would be in jail! Some "true" mythical countryside has even more dogs in large packs. It is outright dangerous to cycle here!
- nordstreem 2y ago
  Get out of your routine and introduce some dissonance. Outside is an endless miasma of geometric and color gradient state change overload for the brain, garbage collects the social objects we’re forced to hallucinate. Sit in one spot too long and it all goes fractal.
  - babyshake 2y ago
    It's interesting that you say that. Recently I went on a trip where I had my phone and I was largely in urban environments, but I spent lots of time (most of each day) just walking around cities and looking around. I felt so calm and balanced, even though there was tons of noise and traffic and things I might assume would induce stress. Garbage collection of social objects is an interesting way to put that phenomenon.
    - nordstreem 2y ago
      It’s all just recursive computation and memoization of the important bits.
- ravenstine 2y ago
  You can certainly find a dark raincloud inside every silver lining if you look for it. Don't bother taking a vacation in Hawaii because you'll probably get sunburned and stung by a jellyfish. What kind of vacation is that, anyway? /s
- developerDan 2y ago
  IMO spending time with animals doesn’t necessarily mean interact with them. I find it very peaceful and calming to just stop and watch wildlife in my neighborhood while I’m out for walks (granted I don’t live in a suburban wasteland).
alexnewman 2y ago
I feel like I’ve never had an issue with tech or found it stressful. for me assembly is like a snow covered forest. Social networks are like flower beds
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
qp11 2y ago
Also my strategy includes fucking with or cutting ties with "mindlessly ambitious" people. Just raise their cost of existing and drawing others into their vortex. In today's environment, technical, design and financial tools scale up ambitious peoples mindlessness. It doesn't matter what you teach a kid, if the kid has to then go and work for such a person.
- high_priest 2y ago
  [flagged]
spaceisballer 2y ago
We have the data to show that mindfulness works, however I think we underestimate the pull or grasp that social media has. It’s hard to implement mindfulness when everything is vying for your attention.
- josu 2y ago
  >We have the data to show that mindfulness works Do we? (From "Has the science of mindfulness lost its mind?" (2016)) "A recent comprehensive meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials showed that mindfulness interventions only led to moderate improvements in depression, anxiety and pain, and very small improvements in stress reduction and quality of life. There was no evidence that mindfulness had an effect on other variables, such as positive mood, attention, sleep or substance use. Further, when mindfulness was compared with other interventions, such as physical exercise or relaxation, it was not more effective." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5353526/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5353526/

Tom3849 2y ago

[flagged]

hunter-gatherer 2y ago
Your knee-jerk reaction is perhaps emphasizing OP's point. OP obviously is referring to the spirit of being more in tune with our natural roots and not prescribing "Get a dog, visit a man-made park" as a strict prescription as you seem to be interpreting it.
- Tom3849 2y ago
  No, I illustrated that for some people "being more in tune with our natural roots" is deeply stressful. And it is simply not realistic advice! I get attacked weekly, and can not even carry peper spray, or tell anything to my attackers (they would turn on me). Last time I got attacked by 6 large dogs while walking on beach, and their owners would not even restraint the. After, they tried to steal my phone for recording the attack. Latter they told police, dogs were "stray" and they are not responsible for them. Despite providing shelter, food, vet and walking them on leash... If I mugged people, trying to steal their food, I would be in jail! Some "true" mythical countryside has even more dogs in large packs. It is outright dangerous to cycle here!
nordstreem 2y ago
Get out of your routine and introduce some dissonance. Outside is an endless miasma of geometric and color gradient state change overload for the brain, garbage collects the social objects we’re forced to hallucinate. Sit in one spot too long and it all goes fractal.
- babyshake 2y ago
  It's interesting that you say that. Recently I went on a trip where I had my phone and I was largely in urban environments, but I spent lots of time (most of each day) just walking around cities and looking around. I felt so calm and balanced, even though there was tons of noise and traffic and things I might assume would induce stress. Garbage collection of social objects is an interesting way to put that phenomenon.
  - nordstreem 2y ago
    It’s all just recursive computation and memoization of the important bits.
ravenstine 2y ago
You can certainly find a dark raincloud inside every silver lining if you look for it. Don't bother taking a vacation in Hawaii because you'll probably get sunburned and stung by a jellyfish. What kind of vacation is that, anyway? /s
developerDan 2y ago
IMO spending time with animals doesn’t necessarily mean interact with them. I find it very peaceful and calming to just stop and watch wildlife in my neighborhood while I’m out for walks (granted I don’t live in a suburban wasteland).

alexnewman 2y ago

I feel like I’ve never had an issue with tech or found it stressful. for me assembly is like a snow covered forest. Social networks are like flower beds

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

qp11 2y ago

Also my strategy includes fucking with or cutting ties with "mindlessly ambitious" people. Just raise their cost of existing and drawing others into their vortex. In today's environment, technical, design and financial tools scale up ambitious peoples mindlessness. It doesn't matter what you teach a kid, if the kid has to then go and work for such a person.

high_priest 2y ago
[flagged]

spaceisballer 2y ago

We have the data to show that mindfulness works, however I think we underestimate the pull or grasp that social media has. It’s hard to implement mindfulness when everything is vying for your attention.

josu 2y ago
>We have the data to show that mindfulness works Do we? (From "Has the science of mindfulness lost its mind?" (2016)) "A recent comprehensive meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials showed that mindfulness interventions only led to moderate improvements in depression, anxiety and pain, and very small improvements in stress reduction and quality of life. There was no evidence that mindfulness had an effect on other variables, such as positive mood, attention, sleep or substance use. Further, when mindfulness was compared with other interventions, such as physical exercise or relaxation, it was not more effective." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5353526/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5353526/