POSTSCRIPT—You know, this had been working so well, but then I seem to have lost the knack in recent months and I don’t know what went wrong. Somehow I need to figure out how to rebuild this fury from scratch.
I think I have experienced something similar repeatedly in the past; and some of my friends experienced it too. It works like this:
I do something very stupid, such as waste a lot of time procrastinating and therefore fail in some important goal. I decide to never make the same mistake again. I feel anger and lot of energy. I read some book or article on motivation / will / planning / whatever way to improve your life. I will make some plan, based on the book, but also tailored to my specific needs. For the first few days (exceptionally: months) the plan works perfectly. I am very happy that I have discovered such perfect method. I feel desire to tell everyone else, but usually people don’t care. And then… somehow… the strategy stops working, and never works again. I simply don’t have the energy to follow it anymore. (A few months or years later the same thing repeats with another strategy.)
So, what does it mean?
First, despite my strong belief that I have found the right method, this effect is probably method-independent, or at least works with a large number of methods. Because I have experienced it a few times, with different methods. It could be prayer, meditation, “getting things done”, writing a list of priorities or life goals, weekly and daily plans, installing a web-blocking software, writing an agreement with myself, setting positive and negative rewards for myself, telling other people my plans, etc. Now I think the exact method is unimportant, but the belief that I have found the best method could be a key component in the process.
Second, after initial success I feel a strong desire to tell other people about my successful method. (Just like you did now.) And I somehow expect to be admired and followed, if the method is proven to work. Now I think, maybe this is the part that makes the whole process work—expectation of social reward. And when this fails; when the method is temporarily successful, but no one except me cares about the details; then the method stops working. (This may be a coincidence, but only once I could follow some system for months: it was a system of regular physical exercise I found on internet, called “5BX”. Also, only for this system I have received positive social feedback; many people asked me to send them this plan.) Sometimes I think that following my method would be easier if I knew some other people are following the same method.
So now it seems to me that when I follow some cool methods, I am actually expecting two kinds of rewards: improving my life, and getting social reward for using the right method. When I don’t get the social reward, I lose energy to follow the system, even if the system improved my life in other aspects. Possible fix? Perhaps, don’t forget to use the system for things that generate social reward quickly.
OK, this is how it works for me, maybe not for you, but I felt like I noticed some similarities.
You know, this had been working so well, but then I seem to have lost the knack in recent months and I don’t know what went wrong. Somehow I need to figure out how to rebuild this fury from scratch.
An observation I have made from my own experience is that fury is powerful fuel that is best used as a trigger for self awareness. It is best used to develop an observing ego and give myself direction that can then be used with a calm sense of purpose. Fury is not for long term consumption and our minds will tend towards homoeostasis even if that means sabotaging all our good intentions to get to that balance.
I would perhaps make an exception for the context if I thought Zack’s strategy was even remotely effective. But I’m not going to encourage futile self flagellation by allowing self directed slander an exception to my usual standards. Here isn’t the place for calling people retarded, particularly when their problem has almost nothing to do with delayed or substandard intellectual development.
A more useful criticism would be:
Insane. Insane. Insane. Insane.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
That’s a stupid quote. The fact that it’s often attributed to Ben Franklin is even more ridiculous. Insanity (psychological problems) rarely includes that as a symptom, and even when it does it’s only a small part of the problem. (OCD doesn’t count, because the compulsion doesn’t include a belief that this time will be any different.)
Replace “insanity” with “stupidity” and the quote isn’t quite as stupid.
I have a particularly nasty relationship with that particular quote. And, an even more toxic relationship with the group that seems to popularize that quote. Seems that they are the bastion of an acutely massive amount of crazy themselves, yet seem to be blind to that fact.
Oh, it’s not so bad a quote. If we define sanity around here as being more Bayesian (that’s the waterline we’re trying to raise, right?) then defining insanity as refusal to update when more data comes would make sense.
POSTSCRIPT—You know, this had been working so well, but then I seem to have lost the knack in recent months and I don’t know what went wrong. Somehow I need to figure out how to rebuild this fury from scratch.
I think I have experienced something similar repeatedly in the past; and some of my friends experienced it too. It works like this:
I do something very stupid, such as waste a lot of time procrastinating and therefore fail in some important goal. I decide to never make the same mistake again. I feel anger and lot of energy. I read some book or article on motivation / will / planning / whatever way to improve your life. I will make some plan, based on the book, but also tailored to my specific needs. For the first few days (exceptionally: months) the plan works perfectly. I am very happy that I have discovered such perfect method. I feel desire to tell everyone else, but usually people don’t care. And then… somehow… the strategy stops working, and never works again. I simply don’t have the energy to follow it anymore. (A few months or years later the same thing repeats with another strategy.)
So, what does it mean?
First, despite my strong belief that I have found the right method, this effect is probably method-independent, or at least works with a large number of methods. Because I have experienced it a few times, with different methods. It could be prayer, meditation, “getting things done”, writing a list of priorities or life goals, weekly and daily plans, installing a web-blocking software, writing an agreement with myself, setting positive and negative rewards for myself, telling other people my plans, etc. Now I think the exact method is unimportant, but the belief that I have found the best method could be a key component in the process.
Second, after initial success I feel a strong desire to tell other people about my successful method. (Just like you did now.) And I somehow expect to be admired and followed, if the method is proven to work. Now I think, maybe this is the part that makes the whole process work—expectation of social reward. And when this fails; when the method is temporarily successful, but no one except me cares about the details; then the method stops working. (This may be a coincidence, but only once I could follow some system for months: it was a system of regular physical exercise I found on internet, called “5BX”. Also, only for this system I have received positive social feedback; many people asked me to send them this plan.) Sometimes I think that following my method would be easier if I knew some other people are following the same method.
So now it seems to me that when I follow some cool methods, I am actually expecting two kinds of rewards: improving my life, and getting social reward for using the right method. When I don’t get the social reward, I lose energy to follow the system, even if the system improved my life in other aspects. Possible fix? Perhaps, don’t forget to use the system for things that generate social reward quickly.
OK, this is how it works for me, maybe not for you, but I felt like I noticed some similarities.
An observation I have made from my own experience is that fury is powerful fuel that is best used as a trigger for self awareness. It is best used to develop an observing ego and give myself direction that can then be used with a calm sense of purpose. Fury is not for long term consumption and our minds will tend towards homoeostasis even if that means sabotaging all our good intentions to get to that balance.
retarded retarded retarded retarded
Downvoted for name-calling and incomprehensibility, but mostly for name-calling.
He’s replying to himself.
I don’t see how that redeems the comment.
I tend to agree.
I would perhaps make an exception for the context if I thought Zack’s strategy was even remotely effective. But I’m not going to encourage futile self flagellation by allowing self directed slander an exception to my usual standards. Here isn’t the place for calling people retarded, particularly when their problem has almost nothing to do with delayed or substandard intellectual development.
A more useful criticism would be:
Insane. Insane. Insane. Insane.
That’s a stupid quote. The fact that it’s often attributed to Ben Franklin is even more ridiculous. Insanity (psychological problems) rarely includes that as a symptom, and even when it does it’s only a small part of the problem. (OCD doesn’t count, because the compulsion doesn’t include a belief that this time will be any different.)
Replace “insanity” with “stupidity” and the quote isn’t quite as stupid.
I have a particularly nasty relationship with that particular quote. And, an even more toxic relationship with the group that seems to popularize that quote. Seems that they are the bastion of an acutely massive amount of crazy themselves, yet seem to be blind to that fact.
Oh, it’s not so bad a quote. If we define sanity around here as being more Bayesian (that’s the waterline we’re trying to raise, right?) then defining insanity as refusal to update when more data comes would make sense.