4 ms·

I've lived in a shared house for 7 years. To me, one of the advantage of a shared house is to be with people that are different than you, because you all have d

by Gmo 11y ago

I've lived in a shared house for 7 years. To me, one of the advantage of a shared house is to be with people that are different than you, because you all have different experiences and can share and learn from that. Of course, it's essential to have a good feeling with the others, but I feel like this is going way too far, with just you ending up with others alike, and no diversity. Granted, that's what they sell : “highly curated community of like-minded individuals.”

archagon 11y ago
As someone who lived in a co-op in college, I agree completely. I also think it's pretty important for the members to directly own/rent the house instead of some corporation.
clamprecht 11y ago
The "like-minded individuals" thing always bothers me. I'd hate to live with a bunch of people who think just like me. How about a co-living space with "unlike-minded" individuals (who still get along)?
- icanhackit 11y ago
  I'd hate to live with a bunch of people who think just like me. Is this because you're worried about an echo-chamber effect where you won't learn, see or do something new? Some of the benefits I get from hanging out (and living) with like-minded people is that they've come across some new music in a genre they thought I might appreciate, read a new study or article in a field of science, politics or philosophy that we commonly find interesting, cook an obscure meal or go out to a new restaurant that, based on my past preferences, they knew I'd enjoy. Expanding one's experiences and tastes can be an evolutionary process, and people with similar tastes can help you step through them faster than you would on your own - the cadence merely increases. It doesn't have to be a binary thing either - often someone's friend or partner will be quite different philosophically and you have the opportunity to listen to their ideas or tastes and become richer from exploring those things with them.
  - clamprecht 11y ago
    You're right, of course. One can be like-minded on one axis, but totally different from me on another axis.
dasil003 11y ago
The idea of curating people is nauseating to me. It speaks to one of the largest failures of technology, which is that the techno utopians from Gen X believed the Internet would herald a new age of informed democracy and rational debate. Instead what we got is a balkanization of ideas where no one has to ever hear anything vaguely uncomfortable and we can all stay ensconced in our little tribes.
- xacaxulu 11y ago
  Totally agree. The smugness here is absolutely off-putting. Generally whenever anything that had a chill, egalitarian, hippyish vibe (think yoga, farmers markets, actual communes) becomes an LLC or corp charging thousands of dollars for overpriced buzzwords and feel-good marketing, you can be certain a fleecing is taking place.
- tomp 11y ago
  I guess it depends what "curating" means. I never want to live with people who leave food remains in the living room, don't wash the dishes and keep old rotten food in the fridge.
- angersock 11y ago
  So, curating people--or whatever other term you want to use for "picking your roommates carefully"--is damned important, and always has been. If you have a roommate that loves throwing parties, and everyone else is maybe super tired from working, you're gonna have a bad time. If you have roommates that don't believe in cleaning, ever, then you're gonna have a bad time. If you have roommates that spend a lot of time torrenting and your internet gets shut off, you're gonna have a bad time. If you have roommates that are really into drug culture, you could well end up having a bad time (seen this happen once or twice). You can all be totally different in, say, politics or sexuality or income or whatever (provided rent is still being made), but it gets super shitty super fast if the basic "Hey, this is our home, don't cause problems" stuff isn't nailed down.
  - plonh 11y ago
    People who think they can be roommates with anyone, because they have minimal life commitments and they go out a lot and don't care about their home environment, are often people others find to be bad roommates.

by Gmo 11y ago

archagon 11y ago

As someone who lived in a co-op in college, I agree completely. I also think it's pretty important for the members to directly own/rent the house instead of some corporation.

clamprecht 11y ago

The "like-minded individuals" thing always bothers me. I'd hate to live with a bunch of people who think just like me. How about a co-living space with "unlike-minded" individuals (who still get along)?

icanhackit 11y ago
I'd hate to live with a bunch of people who think just like me. Is this because you're worried about an echo-chamber effect where you won't learn, see or do something new? Some of the benefits I get from hanging out (and living) with like-minded people is that they've come across some new music in a genre they thought I might appreciate, read a new study or article in a field of science, politics or philosophy that we commonly find interesting, cook an obscure meal or go out to a new restaurant that, based on my past preferences, they knew I'd enjoy. Expanding one's experiences and tastes can be an evolutionary process, and people with similar tastes can help you step through them faster than you would on your own - the cadence merely increases. It doesn't have to be a binary thing either - often someone's friend or partner will be quite different philosophically and you have the opportunity to listen to their ideas or tastes and become richer from exploring those things with them.
- clamprecht 11y ago
  You're right, of course. One can be like-minded on one axis, but totally different from me on another axis.

dasil003 11y ago

The idea of curating people is nauseating to me. It speaks to one of the largest failures of technology, which is that the techno utopians from Gen X believed the Internet would herald a new age of informed democracy and rational debate. Instead what we got is a balkanization of ideas where no one has to ever hear anything vaguely uncomfortable and we can all stay ensconced in our little tribes.

xacaxulu 11y ago
Totally agree. The smugness here is absolutely off-putting. Generally whenever anything that had a chill, egalitarian, hippyish vibe (think yoga, farmers markets, actual communes) becomes an LLC or corp charging thousands of dollars for overpriced buzzwords and feel-good marketing, you can be certain a fleecing is taking place.
tomp 11y ago
I guess it depends what "curating" means. I never want to live with people who leave food remains in the living room, don't wash the dishes and keep old rotten food in the fridge.
angersock 11y ago
So, curating people--or whatever other term you want to use for "picking your roommates carefully"--is damned important, and always has been. If you have a roommate that loves throwing parties, and everyone else is maybe super tired from working, you're gonna have a bad time. If you have roommates that don't believe in cleaning, ever, then you're gonna have a bad time. If you have roommates that spend a lot of time torrenting and your internet gets shut off, you're gonna have a bad time. If you have roommates that are really into drug culture, you could well end up having a bad time (seen this happen once or twice). You can all be totally different in, say, politics or sexuality or income or whatever (provided rent is still being made), but it gets super shitty super fast if the basic "Hey, this is our home, don't cause problems" stuff isn't nailed down.
- plonh 11y ago
  People who think they can be roommates with anyone, because they have minimal life commitments and they go out a lot and don't care about their home environment, are often people others find to be bad roommates.