There is nothing wrong with fun things, done with fun time, and known to be fun. This is why HP&TMoR is great.
The problem is fun things, done with work time, and used to check off boxes like “personal growth towards rationality”. Like Less Wrong. Or reading a book about Procrastination but never following it’s system. Or reading a book about time management but never making it a habit. Or watching videos on the internet of workout routines but not going to the gym. All of these are the same—they have the purported goal of personal growth, yet they involve only the intellectual background research and setup needed in small amounts at the beginning before starting a growth program in real life, and none of the practice and dedication to forming new habits in real life that actually result in growth.
What’s wrong is that in fact a fun thing can be productive and “if it’s fun it’s not productive” is wrong—insofar as pjeby is right and I understand him right and you disagree.
A fun thing can be unproductive too of course. I’m not challenging the unproductivity of any of your example fun activities.
In short: “LW is bad because it’s fun” is wrong.
There is nothing wrong with fun things, done with fun time, and known to be fun. This is why HP&TMoR is great.
The problem is fun things, done with work time, and used to check off boxes like “personal growth towards rationality”. Like Less Wrong. Or reading a book about Procrastination but never following it’s system. Or reading a book about time management but never making it a habit. Or watching videos on the internet of workout routines but not going to the gym. All of these are the same—they have the purported goal of personal growth, yet they involve only the intellectual background research and setup needed in small amounts at the beginning before starting a growth program in real life, and none of the practice and dedication to forming new habits in real life that actually result in growth.
Now, what’s wrong with that?
What’s wrong is that in fact a fun thing can be productive and “if it’s fun it’s not productive” is wrong—insofar as pjeby is right and I understand him right and you disagree.
A fun thing can be unproductive too of course. I’m not challenging the unproductivity of any of your example fun activities.