[HN Gopher] The quiet art of attention
___________________________________________________________________
The quiet art of attention
Author : billwear
Score : 226 points
Date : 2024-10-13 15:01 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (billwear.github.io)
(TXT) w3m dump (billwear.github.io)
| andsoitis wrote:
| _" As we grow in this practice of attention, something else
| becomes clear: much of what occupies our thoughts is unnecessary.
| The mind is cluttered, filled with concerns that seem urgent but,
| on closer inspection, do little to serve our deeper well-being.
| Simplification is not just a matter of decluttering our physical
| surroundings--it is a way of thinking, of living. As we quiet the
| noise within, we see more clearly what truly matters. We focus,
| not on everything, but on the essentials. We pare down, not by
| force, but by choice."_
|
| Our information-technology driven culture does not help; the
| algorithms and shiny objects they push undermine our attention-
| ability.
| abound wrote:
| This may be the culture, but one can largely choose to not
| participate in it. E.g. not having social media accounts and
| curating your news sources with a focus on unsensational, fact-
| based reporting.
| billwear wrote:
| yes.
| rfonseca wrote:
| "curating your news sources with a focus on unsensational,
| fact-based reporting" -> curious how you do this!
| dleink wrote:
| I'm working on this as a personal project so I'm interested
| in other's solutions!
|
| I'm not working on it toooo hard. This is something I think
| some AI software tool might swoop in and solve before I can
| build something I'm happy with.
| abound wrote:
| News Minimalist [1] is one way, where it aggregates stories
| across outlets and uses LLMs to remove clickbait from
| titles. It also assigns loose 'scores' to each story to
| approximate how 'important' it is, which I've found to be
| directionally useful.
|
| Ultimately, it comes down to why one consumes news at all.
| If it's to have something to discuss around the water
| cooler or dinner table, that's a very different use case
| than someone trying to pattern match on world events for
| trading stocks or selling their wares.
|
| [1] https://www.newsminimalist.com/
| 8n4vidtmkvmk wrote:
| This is why I don't wear a smart watch. My phone is always on
| silent. Sometimes i Ieave it in a different room. There's
| nothing good on here. 99% of notifications are just trying to
| sell me something or bad news. Go do something you enjoy and
| put down the devices, the notifications will still be there in
| the morning. That is to say, dedicate a block of time for that
| stuff if you must, but otherwise tune out the Internet.
| dirtyhippiefree wrote:
| The "attention economy," defined.
|
| It's why sensory isolation is valuable.
|
| Shut out the world and hear what's being drowned out by the mad
| scramble to control our attention...
| bl0rg wrote:
| tl;dr?
| billwear wrote:
| that's the point: sometimes there is no tl;dr.
| Lerc wrote:
| There are however a great deal of things people can do to
| make the same information available to a wider audience.
|
| Formatting, fonts, colours, structure of argument, visual
| aids.
|
| Clicking [reader view] on this article aided me immensely in
| being able to take it in. As one of the many ADHD people who
| encountered this, the white on black, wide page, and a
| serifed font were all non-informational aspects of the page
| that made it difficult to take in.
|
| You are wrong that sometimes there is no tl;dr In the absence
| of someone putting in the work to make content accessible the
| emphasis merely falls upon the dr of tl;dr.
|
| No-one requires you to make things for everyone, but you
| cannot expect to reach everyone without consideration of them
| either.
| dirtyhippiefree wrote:
| What billwear said first is true. Also, what is the endpoint of
| oversimplification?
|
| It's okay if you're waiting for the comic book edition, but I
| don't think it's on the horizon.
| keybored wrote:
| You can train your attention.
| hall0ween wrote:
| I like the message of the article overall. And I am skeptical
| when "liberation" and "freedom" are used when not clearly defined
| because where I am from (US) these words are thrown around
| flippantly. If I follow this approach of quietness and attention,
| will I be free from hunger (ie have food)? Free from fear (eg
| security from violence)? No, clearly not. There are other
| freedoms.
|
| Also, a left out item that we have direct access to sense,
| manipulation, cultivation: our bodies.
| billwear wrote:
| good points. the first could have been a better choice, or a
| better explanation. the second? that's a much longer piece
| about the three brains and how we integrate them.
| joseferben wrote:
| my read on it is that it's liberation and freedom in a very
| buddhist sense.
|
| you won't be free from hunger, but it may reframe our
| relationship with food so there is less compulsion and mindless
| consumption.
|
| it won't take away fear in the face of imminent danger (that's
| a good thing, we have to survive) but it may reduce background
| anxiety that's present in our daily lives.
| keybored wrote:
| If I am free from a shackle, does that mean that I am free from
| hunger? Clearly not. Hmph, then why say that I am "free" from a
| shackle.
| mzajc wrote:
| Well written! I can relate to most of the article. However, I
| find that
|
| > To focus on one thing deeply, to give it your full attention,
| is to experience it fully. And when we do this, something
| remarkable happens. Time, which so often feels like it is
| slipping through our fingers, begins to slow.
|
| doesn't really apply to me, or to many people I know and have
| worked with - it is when I focus on one task that "time flies",
| and it's distractions that end up throwing men out of the zone.
| billwear wrote:
| agree that the "clock of life" is a strange beast, when
| compared to the clock on the wall. i try to quit paying too
| much attention to the latter, and time becomes more nuanced and
| textured.
| gchamonlive wrote:
| Yeah, it's more like time taking a backseat than slowing down.
| smith7018 wrote:
| What you're describing is a state of flow which is good for
| things like work but the article seems to be talking about time
| metaphorically.
|
| For example, imagine you're going to your daughter's piano
| recital and spend the whole time thinking about work. You would
| be missing out on the experience of watching her perform and
| grow. If you become mindful of these habits and say "My mind is
| focusing on something that I cannot change right now, I should
| be present" then you'll be able to fully experience a moment in
| your child's life. So rather than feeling like life is passing
| you by, you're able to experience it in the moment. The
| surrounding sentences of the line you quoted don't read like
| the author's describing time like you are:
|
| "But in this process, we must remember something important:
| life is not meant to be rushed through. It is not a race, nor
| is it a problem to be solved. It is an experience to be lived,
| and living well requires presence. ... Moments become rich,
| textured. Even the simplest of tasks takes on a new
| significance when approached with care, with attention."
| yapyap wrote:
| What I think he meant is that time slows down for him in the
| way that time around him speeds up while he can stay focused on
| one thing.
|
| Now of course I'm not the author so I'm not sure but yeah the
| way you're describing it (real time flying when you're locked
| in on something) is how I feel it goes for most people
| marmaduke wrote:
| Yep that's my reading too. I like to see it from a dynamical
| systems perspective: as a system approaches an attractor, the
| phase flow slows down, while the wall time marches on
| steadily. If we consider the "perspective" of the system,
| which is wall time divided by phase flow, we get the time
| speeding up part.
| bbor wrote:
| Well put, but I think you're using "focus" in a different sense
| than the author is.
|
| The article discusses internal (intensional!) focus on the
| substance of experience itself as it's presented to your
| unified Ego, and you're discussing the much more common idea of
| external (extensional!!1!) focus, which is almost the exact
| opposite since it typically requires quieting your inner
| monologue to the greatest extent possible and letting your
| subconscious faculties act autonomously.
| larodi wrote:
| Author describes experiences that myself can fully confirm.
| Everything said in this article resonates very strong,
| including how time slows in observation. This incredible essay
| is a very organic, honest summary, yet without all the
| esoteric, of what a mindful presence can be (whenever
| achieved). A bliss retold in few paragraphs.
|
| Indeed to let go of the worldly rush is truly liberating. What
| a pity it is not allowed to complement the scriptures with such
| insights.
| d4mi3n wrote:
| While I like the premise of this piece of writing, I quite
| strongly disagree with the title and this line:
|
| > the only thing we truly possess, the only thing we might, with
| enough care, exert some mastery over, is our mind.
|
| Anyone with ADHD, clinical depression, bipolar disorder, and many
| other conditions simply do not and cannot have full control of
| their minds without medical intervention.
|
| That said, there is a lot to be said for learning how to
| recognize and compensate for one's foibles. Meditation and
| therapy can be helpful for ADHD and some other conditions.
|
| It's not surprising to me that these same things can help people
| from all walks of life feel more centered and empowered over
| their own destinies.
| abc-1 wrote:
| You know every time someone mentions walking, they're not
| obligated to mention some people cannot walk right? Can we stop
| moralizing and grandstanding everything, it gets so tiresome.
| aroman wrote:
| I read no moralizing or grandstanding in GP's comment. It's a
| valid point - most humans on planet earth will experience
| some form of mental disorder in their lifetime.[0]
|
| [0] https://hms.harvard.edu/news/half-worlds-population-will-
| exp...
| eterpstra wrote:
| You know, the entire point of this website is to comment on
| articles with our own thoughts, experiences, and opinions -
| even if it's moralizing and/or grandstanding.
|
| Can we stop discouraging comments in the comment section? It
| gets so tiresome.
| d4mi3n wrote:
| My intent was to point out that personal experiences differ
| and that things the article points out as given are not so
| given for everyone.
|
| My intent was not to moralize and I'm uncertain to what part
| of my original comment could be interpreted as a moral
| stance.
| tikhonj wrote:
| People largely understand that folks who can't walk can't
| walk. There is still _a lot_ of moralizing around mental
| health and treatment. "ADHD is not a real thing, they just
| need to stop being lazy"/etc/etc.
|
| The two situations are simply not comparable.
| keybored wrote:
| > Anyone with ADHD, clinical depression, bipolar disorder, and
| many other conditions simply do not and cannot have full
| control of their minds without medical intervention.
|
| Who are you and how are you privy to what I can and cannot do
| without intervention? Where do you get off?
| d4mi3n wrote:
| I'm speaking for myself (ADHD) and anecdotal experience from
| people in my life with these conditions (clinical depression,
| bipolar disorder, ADHD). I don't claim to speak for anyone.
|
| Your experience may be different, and that is fine and valid.
| The point I'm trying to make (and that you're also making) is
| that things that are fundamental truths for some are not
| always applicable or valid from the context of another
| person's lived experience.
| keybored wrote:
| > I'm speaking for myself (ADHD) and anecdotal experience
| from people in my life with these conditions (clinical
| depression, bipolar disorder, ADHD). I don't claim to speak
| for anyone.
|
| Now you say that. But you made a very clear, _absolute_
| statement that these people "cannot have full control of
| their minds without medical intervention".
|
| And everyone's lived experience is eventually respected
| with some back and forth in these exchanges. But making
| absolute statements about what people can or cannot do cuts
| both ways. So it's best to make your vantage point clear
| from the start.[1]
|
| I'm personally much more offended when someone says that my
| "type" cannot do something. Compared to assuming that I
| can.
|
| Thanks for the clarification.
|
| [1] For all we knew you could have been a medical
| researcher.
| soulofmischief wrote:
| As someone with severe, often debilitating ADHD, I
| understand not wanting to depend on medication. It was
| forced upon me under threat of punishment as a child and
| heavily exacerbated my OCD and tic syndrome, which led to
| further punishment anyway.
|
| Learning to be okay with medication has taken a long
| time. But the last couple decades of research have made a
| few things clear. Importantly, ADHD has been shown to be
| a genetic disorder, wherein your brain simply doesn't
| produce the same amount of dopamine receptors as a normal
| person.
|
| This has a profound impact on your mood, executive
| functioning skills, motor function and more. Drugs which
| increase the dopamine available in your system can have
| negative effects (some extra dopamine gets shunted to
| your motor cortex and causes motor dysfunction/aggravates
| tics) but when you consider that 60% of ADHD sufferers
| are also diagnosed with depression, or in my case a large
| comorbidity with OCD and bipolar disorder, it becomes
| clear how valuable medicine can be.
|
| ADHD is beginning to be understood as a reward-deficiency
| syndrome [0] and in this light, meditation/mindfulness
| and good habits are only coping mechanisms for an
| underlying condition which is ultimately genetic and
| massively aided by dopaminergic drugs. The result is
| literally night and day for many people, especially those
| who did not get diagnosed until adulthood and never
| developed coping mechanisms.
|
| > But making absolute statements about what people can or
| cannot do cuts both ways.
|
| I just lost one of my best friends last year because I
| moved in with him and experienced incredible prejudice
| around my disorder, which he was convinced was made up
| and not real. He would wax on and on about mindfulness,
| and _constantly_ get defensive and aggressive at the
| slightest, most inconsequential manifestations of my
| disorder, and it rapidly deteriorated my mental health at
| a time where I was already in dire need of a safe space.
| His bias and increasingly erratic response to my disorder
| made me feel unsafe until I had no choice but to leave.
| The entire experience was very traumatic and reminded me
| of all the times as a child that my disorders lead to
| punishment and physical abuse. Some people have mild ADHD
| and it might be a slight convenience for them, but in my
| case it has been a major defining aspect of my life with
| a long list of consequences over the years.
|
| [0] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2626918/
| greggyb wrote:
| I will note that you are not responding to what you have
| quoted, but to an extreme re-interpretation.
|
| The OP says "exert some mastery over", which is a far cry from
| the "full control" you say some people cannot have.
| krzat wrote:
| Honestly the bigger problem is probably that creating lasting
| habits is hard. Everyone knows that exercise is important but
| how many people maintain a consistent routine?
|
| With mindfulness it's even worse because there is no way to
| track how strong your equanimity is. You can't know if you are
| making progress or just deluding yourself.
| keybored wrote:
| My meditation book ( _The Mind Illuminated_ ) divides
| everything into stages. And the strength of one's mindfulness
| is discussed.
| imp0cat wrote:
| People are creatures of comfort. That's why I'd disagree with
| your first sentence. I think creating long-lasting habits can
| be easy, in fact sometimes you don't even realize it happened
| until it's too late.
|
| Now getting rid of the bad habits and keeping only the good
| ones, that is the hard part.
| hu3 wrote:
| You're getting disproportionately criticised and having
| uncharitable replies but, you're right.
|
| Any serious psychiatrist will confirm that medication is
| immensely helpful to the majority of ADHD cases if not all. Our
| brains are just different, chemistry-wise.
|
| I don't know why people get so offended by this notion.
| keybored wrote:
| People have already responded with their reasons. You can try
| to hammer on with further digressions from what the
| submission is about (not even wrong), complete with that
| inflamed/emotionally charged interpretation, but what's the
| point in spilling more bytes on this.
| scubbo wrote:
| > Anyone with ADHD, clinical depression, bipolar disorder, and
| many other conditions simply do not and cannot have full
| control of their minds without medical intervention.
|
| Right - hence "might", not "do"; and "some", not "full".
| afro88 wrote:
| You're right, but it's a bit of an uncharitable take on the
| post. Nowhere does the it say that medical intervention is
| unnecessary for people with conditions requiring it.
|
| The title, and quoted passage, are fully applicable to those
| with the listed conditions and without. The advice from the
| post supplements medical intervention for folks requiring it.
| joseferben wrote:
| excellent article!
|
| one of my favorite books about this that i can not recommend
| enough is "the miracle of mindfulness" by thich nhat hanh.
| vonnik wrote:
| Cognitive control is one of the most important issues of our era,
| IMHO:
|
| https://vonnik.substack.com/p/how-to-take-your-brain-back
|
| There are many techniques to increase our CC. The ADHD community
| is a trailblazer in this respect.
| YossarianFrPrez wrote:
| I used to think that once I started browsing the internet, it
| was time for a break. One technique I've implemented, which I
| haven't seen mentioned is "walking pomodoro technique": for
| every 25 minutes of work, I get up and take a brisk 5-min walk
| (or lately, a jog) and come back. One of the most surprising
| things is that by mandating my own breaks, I browse the
| internet a lot less.
| greggyb wrote:
| I suffer from RSI and definitely do not move enough when I am
| invested in some piece of work (personal or professional). I
| recently installed workrave[0] and have noticed marked
| improvements in just a couple weeks of actually taking breaks
| when it indicates.
|
| I take a 25 second break every 5 minutes, and use this time
| to do one hand and wrist exercise (I keep some resistance
| bands and hand exercise balls at the desk). I take a 5 minute
| break every 25 minutes. I will either do some stretches, or a
| quick chore (e.g. vacuum one room).
|
| https://workrave.org/
| keybored wrote:
| tl;dr: more talk about "dopamine" and addictive devices. I
| prefer the submission.
| bbor wrote:
| Fun article, thanks for sharing! It always blows my mind how
| much work people will put into this stuff without
| consulting/citing the thousands of years of cognitive
| scientists that have been working on the problem, but that's
| more of a systemic problem; it's what we get for describing the
| history of science as "first there was silly philosophy, and
| then in 1600 we finally figured out empiricism and
| actual/real/true science started". I absolutely agree that
| cognitive science in general is about to take the world by
| storm as we learn more about our neurology (Google "DeWave"),
| and systematize philosophies.
|
| The DOJ recently filed the first big post-Covid telehealth suit
| against a California ADHD treatment company (aka Adderal
| distribution) called Done, and it's honestly fascinating to
| read the blog posts written by the founding doctor. His
| professional and philosophical opinion is that ADHD is a wildly
| underdiagnosed neurological state that can come and go over a
| lifetime, especially in reaction to attention-degrading
| "exocortices" as your article calls them. Obviously his
| credibility is damaged by the fact that he made ~$2.5M off that
| stance, but still, I think there might be something there. His
| favorite citation is Hippocrates, though I've never actually
| looked for the primary source he's referring to.
|
| The big exception to my complaint above is, in 2024, of course
| Stoicism, probably because it's so damn _cool_ (a book by an
| ancient general on how to be stronger? Sign me up!) and can be
| downright utopian when summarized in the right way, promising
| you eternal control. The article above clearly takes the
| general Stoic framework for granted in the very first
| paragraph, so I was more than a little surprised not to see it
| cited directly.
| larodi wrote:
| The universally accepted ADHD community's technique seems to be
| called Adderall. It is difficult to pinpoint another
| universally accepted technique. Breathwork is not always good
| for ADHD from my personal experience and is not universally
| accepted. So really wonder what this trailblazer thing is
| about.
|
| Another very apparent shortcut to ADHD treatment, also not
| universally accepted, is called endogenous adrenaline - the
| simplest drug molecule as somebody (Neal Stephenson in Snow
| Crash if memory serves right) designated it, and extreme sports
| provide a lot of it for free. This article though, does not
| seem to be about any of these - adrenaline or sports. Extreme
| sports such as snowboarding, downhill biking, paragliding (not
| really a sport), motorbiking, etc... are all about said state
| of flow and attention. No other activities I can think of that
| impact ADHD so quick and profound. Cause you loose your
| attention only once with these things.
| devjab wrote:
| In Denmark where I am from mindfulness is actually a rather
| big part of ADHD mastering (or whatever they call learning to
| live with it these days). Exercise and medicine are also part
| of it, but learning skills to help you function are bigger. I
| think breathwork as you point out is individual. Here they
| tend to have you try out various ways of gaining focus
| through mindfulness though. The one which worked best for me
| is holding hands under water, like washing hands, others
| meditate, others again so the whole breath focus thing and so
| on.
|
| I do think this article plays a little light on what you can
| do, and how much of it you'll need to do, to actually tame
| your attention. I do a lot of things. I don't keep my mobile
| phone near me when I don't want to use it. I do mindfulness.
| I plan to head out at 9:00 if I'm really supposed to head out
| at 9:15 because that means I'll get out at 9:13-9:17 and not
| stress about it leaving more energy to focus my attention. I
| do the drugs, in my case Lisdexamfetamin is the least shitty.
| I ride my bike everywhere. I walk in the woods. I do a lot of
| things like that and it helps, but it's not like it's quite
| as simple as this article might make it sound. Even if you do
| it in small steps.
|
| I think the biggest difference between how we deal with ADHD
| and attention here and the article is that we don't focus on
| attention. We view ADHD as an "energy deficiency". This is
| because you pay attention to too many things with ADHD, which
| means you run out of energy sooner than regular people. At
| which point you can't pay attention to things that aren't
| interesting to you. What is worse is that you'll hyperfocus
| on things that, are, interesting and that will drain your
| energy as well. You'll probably also forget to eat because
| you don't really feel hunger, again draining you. Anyway, to
| live with ADHD in Denmark is in large parts about managing a
| fuel tank which is simply much smaller than everyone else's.
| Because you need the fuel to pay attention.
| tolerance wrote:
| The mind is not the locus of peace and contentment. It is the
| heart.
| dirtyhippiefree wrote:
| The power of Being (simply existing mindfully) as opposed to the
| Doing we feel compelled into.
|
| When you Are who you are, you will Do what you do, and likely
| find greater success because it comes from who you are, not what
| someone is telling you to do...
| loa_in_ wrote:
| It's a very hard topic to write or even talk about but what you
| wrote rings true.
| connectsnk wrote:
| To the author : I find your article really insightful. I want to
| read more but I realize this article is not on your homepage.
| There might be more stuff that you have written and is unlisted.
| How can i find it all.
| pkilgore wrote:
| OP is in large degree one articulation of foundational
| mindfulness concepts that have been written about for
| centuries.
|
| What about the OP specifically appeals? Happy to point you at
| some other things if I can.
| greggyb wrote:
| I can recommend the Waking Up app. It has a well paced and well
| done introduction to mindfulness in a very similar style to the
| linked article. If interested, I can share a link for a free
| 30-day trial.
|
| I have no affiliation and get no kickback. It has simply been
| quite useful for me.
| keybored wrote:
| _The Mind Illuminated_ is a book with a similar style.
| dmje wrote:
| I was reminded of my all-time favourite book on meditation /
| mindfulness: Mindfulness in Plain English by Henepola
| Gunaratana. The article had a similar style. Gunaratana's book
| is full of humour and beautiful writing and I'd recommend it as
| a brilliant guide to anyone interested in this stuff.
| billwear wrote:
| i usually post here first, and then add to the homepage later.
| i'll fix that next couple of days.
| scubbo wrote:
| https://billwear.github.io/
| connectsnk wrote:
| This article is not listed on the homepage. That's what I
| said.
| bushido wrote:
| I had the exact same question. I was able to locate the
| contents with a code search on github:
| https://github.com/billwear/billwear.github.io
| mistermann wrote:
| As much as I love the sentiment, these sorts of pieces (written
| or verbal) always contain contradictions, usually important ones
| relative to the claims.
| keybored wrote:
| These contradictions (?) may be rooted in the reader's
| assumptions about the world: the writer says A and B, but to
| the reader B implies (not A) because of their world view. In
| short they might not be actual contradictions.
|
| This might seem very vague but a discussion on something so
| first-person as the mind is ripe for that kind of thing.
|
| Which is resolved with dialogue. If the contradictions are
| brought up.
| mistermann wrote:
| > Which is resolved with dialogue. If the contradictions are
| brought up.
|
| In my experience noting contradictions usually leads to
| evasive memes and anger/unhappiness.
| youoy wrote:
| For me contradictions are unavoidable when speaking about the
| mind. Usually the aim is not to give you specific objective
| truths, but to evoke something in your mind that feels
| evidently true to you. That is why usually the most effective
| communication tools that are used are metaphors. And
| communicating that way correctly is very very difficult. That
| means that most of these sort of pieces are going to be very
| bad... But I actually think that this one is not that bad
| mistermann wrote:
| > For me contradictions are unavoidable when speaking about
| the mind.
|
| "It (seems like it) is my opinion that {some opinion}" has
| very few ways of going wrong, and has the side benefit of
| reminding one that they're dealing with a subjective map,
| which is in part the goal of most authors of such pieces,
| imho anyways.
|
| I think mindfulness gang could up their game.
| dmje wrote:
| This is a really great description of why a meditative practice
| is worth taking time on and also why it's worth railing against
| todays constant attention deficit and lack of empty, quiet
| spaces, both mental and physical. Excellent writing!
| akomtu wrote:
| Ads Industry would rather not you to have any control over your
| attention. Indeed, if ads can't distract you, can't steal your
| attention, then those ads can't make money.
| bansuian wrote:
| The first paragraph reminds me of the following from The Joy Luck
| Club.
|
| _It started to rain again, just a light rain. The people from
| downstairs called up to me once again to hurry. And my thoughts
| became more urgent, more strange.
|
| I asked myself, what is true about a person? Would I change in
| the same way the river changes color but still be the same
| person? And then I saw the curtains blowing wildly, and outside
| rain was falling harder, causing everyone to scurry and shout. I
| smiled. And then I realized it was the first time I could see the
| power of the wind. I couldn't see the wind itself, but I could
| see it carried the water that filled the rivers and shaped the
| countryside. It caused men to yelp and dance.
|
| I wiped my eyes and looked in the mirror. I was surprised at what
| I saw. I had on a beautiful red dress, but what I saw was even
| more valuable. I was strong. I was pure. I had genuine thoughts
| inside that no one could see, that no one could ever take away
| from me. I was like the wind.
|
| I threw my head back and smiled proudly to myself. And then I
| draped the large embroidered red scarf over my face and covered
| these thoughts up. But underneath the scarf I still knew who I
| was. I made a promise to myself: I would always remember my
| parents' wishes, but I would never forget myself._
| oxqbldpxo wrote:
| I'm grateful for this advice. Will put into practice immediately.
| Death being a certainty, it is difficult to determine what time
| is actually worth using for. From an individual perspective,
| religion and knowledge are part of a conceptual world that will
| end with death. If there's actually anything post-death, it has
| to do with what it is here being called attention. Something
| beyond memory and thinking.
| vunderba wrote:
| It's a bit heavy on the purple prose (though I was guilty of a
| very similar writing style in my 20s, and as I got on in life the
| purity of the idea became more important than its surrounding
| ornamental structures).
|
| The gist of the article reminds me of a quote from the famous
| pianist Clara Schumann who would admonish her more virtuosic
| students for striving to play through passages as rapidly as
| possible.
|
| _" Why hurry over beautiful things? Why not linger and enjoy
| them?"_
| zozbot234 wrote:
| So you're saying that Attention Is All You Need? (badum tss)
| bsbsjsusj wrote:
| Yes, and if you want the verbose version, an LLM can generate
| that.
| keybored wrote:
| > It's a bit heavy on the purple prose (though I was guilty of
| a very similar writing style in my 20s, and as I got on in life
| the purity of the idea became more important than its
| surrounding ornamental structures).
|
| I can see that.
| romesmoke wrote:
| For a more elaborate, complete take on the value of attention, I
| can't recommend the work of Sir Iain McGilchrist enough.
| wwwater wrote:
| Wow, great piece, thanks for sharing it! While reading it I was
| absolutely sure I've already heard it. For the first part I
| thought it's the transcript of the text they read in Vipassana
| retreat, and for the second I thought it must be from Alan Watts.
| But from the rest of the blog and from the comments here I
| understand that it's neither, and that it's just your thoughts.
| It reads really nicely, like a river.
|
| I also noticed that your previous blog's name (stormrider) is
| somehow similar to mine (cyclinginthewind) haha.
| alexashka wrote:
| > And it is then, perhaps, that a subtle truth begins to emerge:
| the only thing we truly possess, the only thing we might, with
| enough care, exert some mastery over, is our mind
|
| Well, that's not true at all.
|
| When people make sweeping _simple_ statements about matters that
| can 't possibly be trivial - it makes me wonder how much most
| people resemble LLMs.
|
| I'm sympathetic to spiritual matters but the field is littered
| with people who are deeply confused.
| baxuz wrote:
| > the only thing we truly possess, the only thing we might, with
| enough care, exert some mastery over, is our mind.
|
| And our bodies.
| fzeroracer wrote:
| I'm going to be That Guy and say I didn't particularly care for
| this piece. it reads like every single self-help or mindfulness
| book I've had the misfortune of skimming or having pushed down on
| me.
|
| That isn't to say I fully discount mindfulness but rather the art
| of people being able to say a lot about ultimately nothing.
| carrotpuncher wrote:
| I appreciate coming across writings like these. For me I easily
| forget to just chill out, one day I'm full of whatever
| mindfulness i gain from nowhere in a quick hit of inspiration
| then as quick as it came I'm back to step one lost, until I come
| across something like this.
| kvetching wrote:
| I've found cannabis to be extremely helpful. It adds a tinge of
| paranoia - so if you're paranoid about not reaching your
| potential, it can kick you into gear.
| youoy wrote:
| > Each small effort, each moment of renewed attention, builds
| upon the last. Over time, these moments accumulate, and what was
| once difficult becomes second nature.
|
| This! One thing is to find an oasis of attention from time to
| time, but the goal should be to fill it so that it becomes the
| sea, and that is extremely difficult (for starters due to the
| traps of modern attention seeking algorithms, but not only...).
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