It's not only the time you spend, but the number of cycles you spend

[William Huggins]

Believe it or not, I am actually writing this because I think it might be useful to people, by helping people appraise the value of their idle time better and therefore make a better decision about how to spend it.

I think by default we tend to assign little value to idle time, and so we're often in a rush to fill it with some distraction like video games or social media. But suppose the above is true and that idle time is when we (consciously or not) think about the people in our lives which in turn determines the health of our relationships with those people. Then that idle time is actually immensely valuable (assuming you value relationships), and people might make a more informed decision about how to spend it if they were conscious of its value.

I heard you can get spare cycles from China......they mostly use cars and motorcycles now.....

 

[Fedorgasm]

This is an interesting thread, TS.

I wonder if we stopped sherdogging, would we fill that idle time with something else that did the same thing? Games on your phone, fantasy football, chess, even reading books.

And if you kept your idle thinking time clean, would the people in your life do the same?

 

[Zinger]

LOL if you wrote a wall of Latvian, I am sure I would understand it much less (however, I would continue to be suspicious of you)

Tava aizdomība Tevi neglābs. Agri vai vēlu visi, Tevi ieskaitot, kritīs ceļos varenā Kartupeļa priekšā. Tur neviens neko nevar darīt.

Tas ir tikai laika jautājums, mans draugs, tici man.

 

[cooks1]

So I stopped Sherdogging for a few months and then started again around Christmas. One thing I learned from this sudden off and sudden on experience is that Sherdogging definitely makes the quality of my interactions with people in real life worse, and I wondered why.

Is it because I was spending less time with them and spending it here instead? No, because I was not taking away any time I spend with people in real life to spend it here. Is it because Sherdogging puts me in a bad mood? Again no, because I like being here and it usually puts me in a more humorous mood.

And then I realized what it is. It's the number of cycles of my brain that this takes up when I'm by myself and idle. Before in my idle time, without even specifically trying, I might just let my brain drift to thinking about people in my life. I might be thinking about something interesting that I need to mention to them the next time I see them. I might be trying to understand more deeply something I observed about them. If there was some kind of conflict, I might be thinking about how to resolve it. If the conflict is past, I might be thinking about how to recover a warm feeling for them. But after I began Sherdogging again, I realized it has invaded this idle time. I might be thinking instead about something funny that someone wrote here. I might be thinking about something fun or interesting I can write here. Or perhaps I am just chilling out here instead of being idle. So next time when I am interacting with a person in real life, I am actually much less prepared to interact with them and that makes the quality of the interaction poor, which diminishes the relationship over time.

I think this observation is useful because when we want to improve our relationship with someone, usually a first piece of advice we get is to spend more time with the person. But the amount of your idle time you spend thinking about them may be just as if not more important, and I feel that importance is overlooked. So suppose you're often very busy with work but you purposefully set aside an amount of time to spend with someone you want to be closer to, but then you don't spend any of the rest of the time thinking about them at all, it should be no surprise if the interaction in the time you set apart is low quality or turns to shit, because you haven't invested the cycles thinking about them.

Interesting perspectives. Funny true story here. My wife humorously flayed me alive the other day when I mentioned something I was discussing on Sherdog.

Our youngest daughter constantly runs up to us explaining every detail of whatever she just saw on Youtube. Not giving the tiniest of shits about what we might be doing at the time. My wife tolerates it a little better than I do. But it got to the point that we both would start cutting her off and asking her-- "Is this about you and your day or something you saw on Youtube? I'd love to hear about you and your day.'

A few weeks ago, a few minutes after chiding my daughter for interrupting a work call with yet another Youtube commentary, I told my wife about a humorous conversation I was having on Sherdog. My wife playfully replies back, 'Is this about you and your day, or something you read on Sherdog? I'd love to hear about you and your day?' Touche'

 

[elwani]

This is an interesting thread, TS.

I wonder if we stopped sherdogging, would we fill that idle time with something else that did the same thing? Games on your phone, fantasy football, chess, even reading books.

And if you kept your idle thinking time clean, would the people in your life do the same?

Probably like most people, I have a difficult time just stopping and then do nothing and think about life, at least not without immense willpower, so yes you’re right, I would probably fill my idle time with something else if not Sherdogging.

But following this train of thought a little further, then the question becomes which activities one one fills one’s idle time with still leaves enough bandwidth for the mind to wander to thinking about life, if that is so valuable.

For example, I think it’s unlikely to be video games, because most video games demand so much attention that I actually find them exhausting. I don’t play chess but I think it may also be unlikely for a similar reason, because you’re under an obligation to focus intensely on it out of respect for your opponent. I don’t think it’s TV because it is too effective at occupying your attention through your eyes and encourages a kind of mental apathy.

Of those activities you listed, I think the only thing that allows your mind to wander is actually reading. This is because it happens at your own pace, does not stimulate any of your senses, and encourages your mind to contemplate. But then it also depends on what you read.

(EDIT: Also perhaps listening to radio or classical music)

 

[12ga.]

Sherdog provides me with clarity and purpose. Since being a Sherdogger I don’t even speak to people who can’t bench teh 265 or who don’t bang 10s exclusively.

265? You still in high school? 315 is my conversation threshold.

 

[elwani]

Interesting perspectives. Funny true story here. My wife humorously flayed me alive the other day when I mentioned something I was discussing on Sherdog.

Our youngest daughter constantly runs up to us explaining every detail of whatever she just saw on Youtube. Not giving the tiniest of shits about what we might be doing at the time. My wife tolerates it a little better than I do. But it got to the point that we both would start cutting her off and asking her-- "Is this about you and your day or something you saw on Youtube? I'd love to hear about you and your day.'

A few weeks ago, a few minutes after chiding my daughter for interrupting a work call with yet another Youtube commentary, I told my wife about a humorous conversation I was having on Sherdog. My wife playfully replies back, 'Is this about you and your day, or something you read on Sherdog? I'd love to hear about you and your day?' Touche'

LOL…but seriously, divorce

 

[elwani]

This is an interesting thread, TS.

I wonder if we stopped sherdogging, would we fill that idle time with something else that did the same thing? Games on your phone, fantasy football, chess, even reading books.

And if you kept your idle thinking time clean, would the people in your life do the same?

I think question of reciprocity is also very interesting. So no, I don’t think you can count on it being reciprocated, but the question is does it need to be, and is it unjust that isn’t?

Does it need to be reciprocated for it to benefit you? I think the answer is no. Even if only you are thinking more about the other person by changing how you occupy your idle time but the other person isn’t, will the quality of your interactions and therefore your relationship still improve? My personal experience is yes. Maybe you’re just leading the conversation more. Of course the interaction can be even better if both people are thinking more about each other.

Is it unfair that it is not reciprocated? One might think one is making a sacrifice by not occupying one’s time with the most distracting activities, and therefore why isn’t the other person making the same sacrifice. But I would argue you are not making a sacrifice. You are doing this ultimately because you realize that the happiness brought to you from having a better relationship with people in your life outweighs the happiness brought to you from maximizing your own distraction. You are simply making a smarter bargain with your own time for your own benefit.

 

[BenderIsGreat]

You would make a good politician.

You say smart things I don't quite understand in a convincing way, so I believe you and I would like to vote for you.

Not exactly sure ...but the need to constantly check your phone is bad for your brain. I feel lost if I don't have my phone near me. I don't even much on it. I miss the time before phones. Can't really go back once you have something though.

 

[MeatWagon06]

I thought we all came to the conclusion you were in jail for public masturbation.

 

[Otto!]

265? You still in high school? 315 is my conversation threshold.

I peaked 30 years ago. Gotta take it easy on my old bones!

 

[Nada.]

I stopped reading at the part where you start being super lame and gay but can anyone tell me if it get better or still just super lame and gay for the rest ? Not trying to waste precious cycles

The whole premise was build for a lame letdown.

You did well listening to your gut.

 

[elwani]

You know, I think this idea of the utility of the idle cycles of your brain may actually be quite useful.

Like think about a child. Now, the education of children is hyper-competitive. It seems like parents fill every nook and cranny of their children's time with some class. I've always been instinctively against this, but only now with this idea of the utility of idle cycles can I enunciate why.

It is because some of the deepest insights we have are not gained when we're being explicitly taught or forcing ourselves to think towards some objective, but rather when we let our mind wander onto something when we're relaxed, spending our idle cycles contemplating it. If you fill every moment of your child's life with some explicit input, you're taking away their chance to formulate those deeper thoughts about life which may actually be the important things they need to become a well-adjusted adult.

 

[THEfightsAREfixed]

The whole premise was build for a lame letdown.

You did well listening to your gut.

 

[elwani]

Another way in which it can be useful is that it makes you reconsider the kind of activity you fill up your idle time with.

I think the human brain is kind of like a CPU in that it can never stop. Even when a CPU is doing nothing, it has to continue executing a dummy instruction (that is, NOOP). We too can not just sit and do nothing. But if we keep in mind the utility of being able to spend our idle cycles thinking about something important to us, we might very well choose different activities to occupy our idle time than we do now.

For example, we might then be extra motivated to not choose video games, because that takes up all the cycles. We might be extra motivated not to do social media because that again takes up all the cycles. We might even be motivated to not watch TV.

But we might be more motivated to read something contemplative, because that leaves plenty of cycles for your mind to wander. We might be more motivated to listen to some peaceful music. We might even do what I think many people who need to think a lot discover, which is just sitting in a moving vehicle helps you think. It's low key stimulation that leaves plenty of cycles. It is a good NOOP.

 

[Nada.]

You know, I think this idea of the utility of the idle cycles of your brain may actually be quite useful.

Like think about a child. Now, the education of children is hyper-competitive. It seems like parents fill every nook and cranny of their children's time with some class. I've always been instinctively against this, but only now with this idea of the utility of idle cycles can I enunciate why.

It is because some of the deepest insights we have are not gained when we're being explicitly taught or forcing ourselves to think towards some objective, but rather when we let our mind wander onto something when we're relaxed, spending our idle cycles contemplating it. If you fill every moment of your child's life with some explicit input, you're taking away their chance to formulate those deeper thoughts about life which may actually be the important things they need to become a well-adjusted adult.

Loooool, man. Fuck classes, fuck overthinking and if your kid wants to eat tree Bark, let him.

Life is not that complicated, just like cycles.

 

[elwani]

Tava aizdomība Tevi neglābs. Agri vai vēlu visi, Tevi ieskaitot, kritīs ceļos varenā Kartupeļa priekšā. Tur neviens neko nevar darīt.

Tas ir tikai laika jautājums, mans draugs, tici man.

LOL Man ir aizdomas, bet mani arī interesē jebkura valoda, kurā “ļ” ir dzimumloceklis

EDIT:
Arī LOL pie jūsu trakā vārda dzimumloceklim

 

[Zinger]

LOL Man ir aizdomas, bet mani arī interesē jebkura valoda, kurā “ļ” ir dzimumloceklis

EDIT:
Arī LOL pie jūsu trakā vārda dzimumloceklim

Dzimums- gender

loceklis-limb

Dzimumloceklis- gender limb

Makes complete sense, but that's a fancy medical term.

We use the word "Penis" as well, we just pronounce it differently.

​

 

[Danger Dave]

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose above the great mountainous island of Tremalking. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.

 

[elwani]

One more way in which this can be useful:

Suppose there is something important in your life you want to do well in and every once in awhile you want to assess whether you are doing what you need to do well in that thing.

Based on the above, one question you might ask is how much of your idle cycles have you spent thinking about the thing. The above suggests that this gives a good indication of how well you will do in it, and is a question you might not have thought to ask yourself before.

Or the same thing but more proactively, to do well in something that is important to you, a good way based on the above is to make sure you’re spending your idle cycles thinking about it in a relaxed kind of way.