How can people find joy in doing nothing?

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The discussion centers around the contrast between individuals who thrive on productivity and those who prefer a more relaxed lifestyle. One participant expresses frustration with boredom during a rare day of downtime after a busy school period, questioning how others can enjoy doing nothing. They emphasize the need for engagement, suggesting that summer jobs are essential for both activity and income. Another contributor reflects on the nature of ambition, suggesting that some people lack direction or purpose, leading to a more passive existence. The conversation touches on psychological aspects of decision-making and personal fulfillment, with some participants advocating for a balance between productivity and leisure. The overall sentiment highlights differing perspectives on how to spend free time and the value of both activity and idleness in life.
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In the past month, I've had extremely little free time. The past two weeks I have been home about 6 hours a day, the rest at the library and at school... Anyway, now that nearly everything at school is done with, I decided to relax today and do nothing productive. I replied to some old emails, watched mythbusters either forget or not worry about Bernoulli's principle, watched a movie, and even played a video game... How can people live like this? It was extremely boring :eek: :zzz: :zzz:

I would have gone out with some friends, but most were working or studying :/
 
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Yeah I can take a day or two or it before I'm bored out of my mind. I don't get how people can stand not to get a summer job during summer break...I need it just for something to do and of course the money haha
 
Video games
 
Pengwuino said:
Video games
your post is... insightful? huh:confused:

v dub
 
some people just don't have much ambition for whatever reason. maybe it could just be that they don't know what their "purpose" is, or they would like to do one thing or another but don't think that they can for some reason. i like how jose ortega y gasset put it:

If that life of mine, which only concerns myself, is not directed by me towards something, it will be disjointed, lacking in tension and in form. In these years we are witnessing the gigantic spectacle of innumerable human lives wandering about lost in their own labyrinths, through not having anything to which to give themselves.

or

For there is no doubt that the most radical that is possible to make of humanity is that which splits it into two classes of creatures: those who make great demands of themselves, piling up difficulties and duties; and those who demand nothing special of themselves, but for whom to live is to be for every moment what they already are, without imposing on themselves any effort towards perfection; mere buoys that float on the waves.

(by the time i went to bed saturday morning i had gotten ~4 1/2 hours of sleep since wednesday at lunchtime. i got a job marking exams for thursday/friday & didnt take time off my other job, & couldn't go directly from one job to the other since there was 4-5hrs between each one. i can make great demands of myself when i want to :-p )
 
We aint all high achievers, Tex. Gaugin had an audience for a reason.
 
moose said:
In the past month, I've had extremely little free time. The past two weeks I have been home about 6 hours a day, the rest at the library and at school... Anyway, now that nearly everything at school is done with, I decided to relax today and do nothing productive. I replied to some old emails, watched mythbusters either forget or not worry about Bernoulli's principle, watched a movie, and even played a video game... How can people live like this? It was extremely boring :eek: :zzz: :zzz:

I would have gone out with some friends, but most were working or studying :/
It's all habit. You're used to being busy so it seems normal to you. You seek it because it's your baseline. If you had nothing to do for an extended period of time: months, gravity and friction would slow you to a pace you never believed possible for yourself.
 
moose said:
In the past month, I've had extremely little free time. The past two weeks I have been home about 6 hours a day, the rest at the library and at school... Anyway, now that nearly everything at school is done with, I decided to relax today and do nothing productive. I replied to some old emails, watched mythbusters either forget or not worry about Bernoulli's principle, watched a movie, and even played a video game... How can people live like this? It was extremely boring :eek: :zzz: :zzz:

I would have gone out with some friends, but most were working or studying :/

I can sympathize with you here, I've had an extremely productive semester, but now that everything has been done, I don't seem to possesses what Damasio might deem as "extended consciousness" (look it up in Wikipedia if you're curious to know what it is). That aspect of intelligence and pure talent which drives some of us forward and others left to fight off the tendency to digress to a moron (you can also look this up in Wikipedia too:biggrin: ).

And in agreement with Fourier jr, I feel that I'm piling up worries here and there, apparently I'm not the selfish type. But I would rather be constructive to my own abilities then sacrifice myself for "the good of mankind" and appear totally lost and foolish.
 
I do not have very many friends in my hometown, this summer has been very boring for me so far, but I hopfully will be going off to work soon.
 
  • #10
Fill time with forum

If I did not go oversea while holidays, I will find a fun in visiting some forum discussion to fight my boredom. I felt we can find good thing, freak or even funny things when you came to different forums.

Just check it out, guys! :smile:
http://forum.lowyat.net/
http://boards.bootsnall.com/eve
http://zrtech.freeservers.com/
http://www.bmonday.com/

Feel that want to find most top 20 very good forum first so in the future, I can have more time visiting them :smile:
 
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  • #11
moose said:
In the past month, I've had extremely little free time. The past two weeks I have been home about 6 hours a day, the rest at the library and at school... Anyway, now that nearly everything at school is done with, I decided to relax today and do nothing productive. I replied to some old emails, watched mythbusters either forget or not worry about Bernoulli's principle, watched a movie, and even played a video game... How can people live like this? It was extremely boring :eek: :zzz: :zzz:

I would have gone out with some friends, but most were working or studying :/
Some people have little choice, some people have pleanty of choice yet still decide to live that way, your view is arogant and very narrow minded in my opinion.

And my choice of the word "Choice" is intended to mean the choice of the individual based on factors that they calculate, in their decision making process, and not the choice as viewed from a neutral observer ( lack of bias in making such choices, weighting bias etc ). If we could all remain entirley neutral in all choices in this life, we wouldn't be much as individuals.

The nature of bias, consious & unconscious decision making, and how it forms is the subject of psycology i think.

Try looking at it from the viewpoint of others.
 
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  • #12
I spent last week working hard, fairly physically demanding job, and was tired by the weekend, but had an assessment to do I spent about 6 hours straight working on Saturday and another 4 or 5 on Sunday until I had it finished; What I wouldn't give for a few days off; ah but next week I'll be off for a whole week, a few days without the aches and pains of overworked legs and a number of moments of sheer unadulterated idleness, a vaccuous carefree convalescence, meandering from reading a book or idle contemplation, maybe a bit of study and then nothing at all of any import, absolute bliss.:smile:

Some people aren't happy unless they are doing something, I find to my way of thinking at least, that that's just as odd and unbalanced as spending the majority of your time doing nothing. Each to his own though :smile:
 
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