It's kind of interesting that while the structure is largely the same, the underlying behaviour/intent has morphed from a disruptor-model into being toxic rent-seeking behaviour.
Interesting discussion to read this between you and the other poster because it showcases an almost perfect example of the way disagreements almost always appear: There is some disconnect in a definition which was implied and not stated clearly, and one side thinks their intention to be clear while the other infers what they believe to be an obvious intent shown.
On a different webforum one or the other might become agitated and emotional, at which point it does not matter what the intent was, now it only matters to "be right". Great that it was just resolved cleanly.
I disagree, it is not significant at all if you think about the implications here for more than a couple of seconds.
A poet needs his pen and paper. Someone needs to man the paper-mills and ink-factories, someone needs to work on logistics and planning issues related to that, infrastructure etc.
Now, now, there's some meaning to it. The meaning is that stating it allows the author to feel morally superior to the rest of us "liars, thieves, fornicators, murderers, and cheats".
Yes, I’m so glad this incredible philosopher’s months-long thought experiment let him discover that becoming a gentleman farmer elevated him above the petty moral hazards and trite meaningless existences of fucking doctors, nurses, firefighters, pilots, social workers, journalists, artists, EMTs, school teachers, engineers, scientists, monks, academics, etc. etc. etc.
Bet you ten bucks he spent a few solid months playing Stardew Valley before this grand moral awakening.
A pedantic point. Even in a non-industrialized tribal society an oral poet needs a mud house, sandals and various tools. Someone needs to make those, probably the poet themselves.
It's honestly quite interesting to me how this presents. I mean: Yes, people should ultimately pursue some form of happiness, but for me that happiness is genuinely doing software engineering work, and I do not think we should demonize the 9-5 office-job. In my opinion it gets too much flack, and the "move to a farm"-dream becomes some kinds of utopic ideal, which I really do not believe it is. I have worked much heavier, more manual jobs in my life and they do not provide more happiness. If anything, they provide less comfort.
For some, the benefits for society are not as immediately visible as a farmer producing potatoes or corn which he/she can touch with their own hands, but in my personal view my job positions me as a not insignificant cog in a gigantic machine which has genuine benefits for society (and some negative influences, yes).
Some red flags in the linked article. Spirituality and barefoot running, which I do not believe is very evidence based to recommend. My opinion is that anyone working a software engineering office 9-5 should also always be doing strength resistance training and some cardio every single week. This should provide the health benefits needed to survive in what is a sedentary job.
If I can give you any advice as a likely older man to a younger man, no bias intended, happiness is fleeting. Look for fulfillment. I personally find religious apologies to be empty but if they get you to a good place, fuck it, I can't argue with everyone over methods. If your job is fulfilling, or enables you to do fulfilling things in your other time, there is no shame in that.
There is a visceral spiritualism to working with your hands, but if you can achieve that with coding, great! Live a life you would want if money didn't matter.
I generally do not pursue happiness, I try to pursue purpose. Life is peaks and valleys, the only permanence being that nothing really persists.
Writing code is also working with your hands. It produces real world effects which even if you cannot observe them directly still provide societal benefit: The "impact" of this can in many cases be much larger than a manual job.
I think your leading sentence is a false Dichotomy for many people. Pursuit of happiness doesn't imply being in a state of bliss all the time. Stoics are allowed to be happy too.
I've been a farmer and I've been a software developer, and farming was just a "this is work that puts money on the table", whereas software development is what I really find fulfilling. I entirely agree with you that it's idolized too much (together with carpentry), and yes, do whatever makes you happy, for some people it's one, for some it's the other.
For me atleast, being busy walking around and driving tractors alone all day is infinitely more rewarding than working with a group of people on minutia that takes constant collaboration.
Same I think you can get purpose from other areas with basing your survival on it. It's very easy to have a hands on hobby like knitting, car mechanic's, growing tomatoes if there's a problem of being "disconnected from the world"
"Spirituality and barefoot running, which I do not believe is very evidence based to recommend."
I highly recommend both.
But as just as there are lots of cults and scams in the spirituality world, just starting to run barefeet will likely hurt you very quickly.
No ideas about studies here, but they would need to include a lot of factors to be meaningful for generalisation. For example if you did not do running around barefeet as a kid at all, your bones might not be strong enough if you start as a adult. And then you have to be extra careful to develope more muscles there.
Also where you run matters a lot. Basically, anything soft is nice. Gras, a sandy beach, forest tracks. Running on snow is also nice (for some time). But once your skin is stronger, also gravel roads can be fun. Just not flat asphalt.
I can just say running barefoot gives me immense joy and helps my body be in good shape. Strong flexible feet act like a shock absorbers for all the other joints in your body btw.
If it makes you happy, then by all means go for that. I am glad for you. What is generally recommended and evidence based is a different matter. I will not pretend to be an expert on it: All I have done is a cursory glance on pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
For me, my joy has come from strength resistance training and my discovery of the stairmaster. The latter was a very fun find! It's a really strenuous exercise which makes you strong for hiking in the wilderness and I feel like I do not need to do it for as long as the treadmill which I hate.
"What is generally recommended and evidence based is a different matter."
Yeah, but wikipedia for example says this, which matches my experience:
"Scientific research into the practice of running barefoot or with minimalist shoes is increasingly suggesting that it increases intrinsic foot muscle size and strength, but it has been limited to healthy individuals and further research is required to reach definite conclusions."
If you are healthy and do it right, it seems beneficial.
So it is smart to not recommend it in general for everyone as most ain't healthy, nor do take the time to do things right.
And same with spirituality, it is just such a broad term. I believe there are quite some studies that show positive effects of mindful meditation for example. But sure, you won't find positive studies about health benefits of astrology or homeopathy if that is what spirituality means to you.
Interesting. I am certainly very open to my initial broad sweep being incorrect on barefoot running. I would want to dig much deeper into it than Wikipedia alone though, even though its a serviceable source.
But more on the matter, I am not so much a advocate of running barefoot, but doing anything barefeet if possible. Dancing is so much more enjoyable for me like this, so many more moves possible without shoe restrictions, but it depends of course on the setting and place.
(Now I will go out and do some rock climbing barefeet)
From a "one giant to-do list"-guy, I just have a bi-weekly review. This seems to work for me since I open Things 3 every day. I am considering switching to weekly reviews.
Honestly, I use Things 3 pretty much like the author uses his text-app. One single list for all to-do's. The beauty of Things 3 is that there is no feature bloat and unnecessary complexity like most to-do managers.
The important difference is automatic recurring tasks, and daily task will show up outside the app as that red bubble on its icon indicating how many things "need" to be done today, the rest is optional.
Crucially, you need to commit to it, and use it everyday - even if just a little. The authors notepad works because it's a daily simple thing, like you said.
> The problem with the “something that damages the ability of society to make decisions” it’s with who establishes that and what’s the self correct mechanism those institutions that establishes that has.
You seem to imply that this is some metaphysical discussion on the nature of "truth" itself or who gets to be the arbiter of that - but I feel this is a dishonest digression here. Yes, truth can never be truly established - but both you and I know that Chamath's take on All-In for this particular claim was clearly false.
I agree with the poster you replied to. I guess you have a point in that there is no law that can tell Chamath to shut up and only open his mouth when he is talking about something with high confidence - but when you are speaking to a large audience on matters of economic policy with some implications as to what people believe then YES - you have a responsibility! The punishment to which breaking it should be (for people with a huge outreach like Chamath) being shamed online for it. People should learn the fact that Chamath is a man who chronically opines constantly about things he has no basis for having an opinion on. He is a chronic borderline liar.
