Wasting time

[Brodinski]

Do you ever get the feeling at the end of a day that you've essentially done next to nothing of value during that particular day? Too often, I catch myself telling myself I spent a whole day or parts of my day wasting away my time. I don't even do it consciously.

If I'm on my laptop, I always browse through my favoured websites. I spend easily one - one hour and a half on just reading an posting on internet forums. Sometimes I will play Hearts for an hour a day or some other, more elaborate game (Pro Cycling Manager; Half-Life 2 (yes, I still play that)).

Just participating in idle discussions on internet forums and playing games. I guess those are the 2 things I waste most time on. Instead of thinking: "time well spent; I got some enjoyment out of it", I mostly think: "Damn, I could've spent that time watching a movie or reading a book or even buying some healthy food from my local grocery store and cooking uo my meal for the next day.

I guess being a student means you've got a lot of spare time (for me at least) and you don't always spend it as well as you should. I wonder:

do you guys often feel like you've just wasted time?
Like you've done nothing productive?
And if so, on what do you waste most of your time?
Does it get better when you've actually got a job, because then you've got less spare time and DEFINITELY wanna make the most of it.
I reckon it all depends on what YOU think is a waste of time. To some, playing videogames is a highly entertaining activity. To me, I'm just focusing on something that's in essence futile, but yet I still do it time and time again.

So... what do you guys think?

[Sexy Celebrity]

You will more than likely be dead and gone forever in less than 100 years and you will not return for all of eternity. Do whatever you want.

[Brodinski]

Get outta here with that bullsh!t.

Are you telling me that you don't ever tell yourself: "damn, these are x hours/minutes of my life I could've spent in a better way"? I don't buy that you can sell that to yourself simply by saying "I do whatever I want".

[Sexy Celebrity]

You should do, when you can, whatever makes you happy. If you are plagued by thoughts that what you're doing isn't really adding up to anything, are you happy then with your life? Are you feeling depressed? I understand that you can't always do what you really want to do, but if you're doing things like checking out websites for hours or playing Hearts all the time, is that really bothering you? It sounds to me like you're ready to make a change in your life and will eventually start forming new patterns of living. You might just be contemplating new things to do. No?

[planet news]

This is the number one phenomenological argument why hedonism is absolutely not the injunction of human existence in a Godless universe.

We feel bad when we only enjoy. We need to create, to struggle, to accomplish something of significance. Desire is not the yearning for the satisfaction of enjoyment. Desire is the yearning which seeks to replicate itself.

So yeah, cut out that trash, SC. :cool:

Nevertheless, I do think the things that you do are not as uncreative as you think. Reading books and watching films are absolutely non-creative. You plug into these objects in order to re-order your inner workings, to give yourself inspiration in order to create.

This post is more creative than me sitting around reading all day or watching every film on the movie list. It just is. However, I would have nothing of value or significance to say if I didn't read/watch films.

As for playing videogames, I don't know why people think this is such a waste of time. It is probably the only "artform" that allows you to create while experiencing it. Personally, I don't play videogames, but I will try to in the future.

Enjoyment/experience is only a waste of time if you are not creating or planning to use what you are enjoying/experiencing to create something in the future. While videogames are self-contained and do not influence the "outside world" and are therefore insignificant to is, you are ultimately creating something within the world of the game with yourself cast as the agent in this world and therefore YOU ARE ACCOMPLISHING SOMETHING.

tl;dr More powa to ya. Peace out bra.

[Yoda]

Yes, absolutely. The fact is, our wealth has reached the point where we have a staggering number of entertainment options available to us at any moment of any day, to suit any amount of time-killing we desire. It is incredibly easy to spend hours, days, or weeks doing things with little to no long-term value.

Tell me if this sounds familiar: you actually feel proud when watching an entire movie or finishing an article because it feels far more like an accomplishment than the other things you do.

I think the good news is that this pretty much disappears if you're genuinely busy. On busy days, I almost never find these distractions to be a problem. They only fill the free time I have. Now, that's the bad news, too: it makes it very difficult to sustain personal projects, and for someone like me, who has quite a few of them (with ambitions for quite a few more), that's pretty deadly. But the really important stuff fixes this problem pretty quickly, in my experience. If it's a problem for someone it's usually because they've found a way to live in reasonable comfort despite idling all that time away.

I've actually given a very large amount of thought to this balance between being comfortable and content and doing more with one's time. It's pretty clear that both extremes are folly, but beyond that I'm not sure which to give more emphasis, or when.

The best way I can remedy this use of spare time, personally, is by thinking and writing a lot. When I do that, the overwhelming majority of trivial things tend to start to fit into patterns and provide opportunities to make new connections. It's gotten to the point where I can't not do this, so that all but the most useless of tasks serves as some kind of prep work for something else...provided I ever get around to it. ;)

So, short version: yes, totally. But it's a symptom of how relatively easy it is to live comfortably for most of us, the kind of thing that only crops up when we don't have real problems.

[Brodinski]

I am happy with my life. I'm not depressed. I'm about to graduate and get my 2nd Master's degree, I'm in good shape and adhere to a healthy lifestyle and I've been steady for about a year now.

I'm not contemplating a change in life, although I will be undergoing one very soon (student => worker) and am looking forward to it. I bet that even then I'll still feel like I've sometimes wasted my time. I don't chastise myself over it, but it does bother me.

In your enthusiasm to analyze me, you didn't answer my question though.

[Sexy Celebrity]

Are you telling me that you don't ever tell yourself: "damn, these are x hours/minutes of my life I could've spent in a better way"? I don't buy that you can sell that to yourself simply by saying "I do whatever I want".

Of course. But I can't change the past or anything. I have lived how I've lived. I don't think the answers about what is right to do is always easy to get. You do what you like to do. We live in the age of the Internet -- of course lots of people are gonna be on it all the time. This is a truly wonderful thing. Like Planet News said, someone invented the Internet and thus we should enjoy it. Maybe the keys to the future lie in whatever we do on the Internet. Wasting time isn't such a bad thing. Is anything really wasted? No matter what, something serves a purpose. At least, if you want to look at the grand scheme of things.

You have done a lot. If you are about to graduate with a second Master's degree, then you have truly done a lot. You deserve to "waste time". I think most people want to do more with their lives. But the fact is, most people can't. I'd like to be the great inventor of something but it hasn't happened and it may not happen. Maybe that's not my destiny. I don't think we're completely in control of our destinies, although I think we should try to control it as much as we can.

So, enjoy whatever it is that makes you happy, because I bet on some level the things you're bored with or the things you feel are wasting your time are really doing something that brings you joy. If not, would you even do them at all?

[Brodinski]

Reading books and watching films are absolutely non-creative. You plug into these objects in order to re-order your inner workings, to give yourself inspiration in order to create.

This post is more creative than me sitting around reading all day or watching every film on the movie list. It just is. However, I would have nothing of value or significance to say if I didn't read/watch films.

I don't know about that. After I've read a great book or watched a great film, I always feel like I've enriched myself on a cultural basis, thus it wasn't useless.

I'm not talking about being non-creative or creative. What I'm trying to say is: If I take something away from some experience, than it wasn't useless. I used to get my ass kicked in a boxing ring on a frequent basis out of my own free will, but only because I learned from it, thus it wasn't useless.

However, if you wanna spin this argument into being creative or non-creative, then I absolutely agree that watching a film or reading a book is non-creative, but it might inspire you to do creative things. We are however NOT going to turn this into a discussion of what's creative and what isn't, or I'm ruining the next philosophical thread on here.

[planet news]

I'm not talking about being non-creative or creative.You should start. It'll make everything you do, want, value, feel good about, and feel bad about become intelligible.

What I'm trying to say is: If I take something away from some experience, than it wasn't useless. I used to get my ass kicked in a boxing ring on a frequent basis out of my own free will, but only because I learned from it, thus it wasn't useless.I absolutely agree. I didn't mean to say that reading/watching films was useless, but they are uncreative. However, every creation needs a substance, a substrate, to work with. Reading/watching films is to creativity what eating food is to exercise. It gives you more power to do what you want creativity. But you cannot say that eating food is a creative act; it is fundamentally destructive (food in/sh*t out).

In the same vein, eating a food you dislike is like watching a film you dislike. The substance in question and your body don't mix well together. When they do mix well, this is called enjoyment. However, foods that don't taste good still give you power, and so can movies and books you don't like. Enjoyment merely regulates your tendencies to experience certain kinds of substances out of the sheer natural composition of your body (one man's trash is another man's treasure, etc.).

So the question is, what are you going to DO with what you have just enjoyed/hated?

I'm done for now, because this is my favorite "philosophical" thingy as of late.

[ash_is_the_gal]

well, i think we should all keep in mind that wasting time can also feel really good. i can't lie, sometimes doing nothing at all is exactly what i need to feel better. it's when you over-indulge in sloth that you start to feel terrible about it. there obviously has to be a balance. you have to work your mind and your body (well, mostly your mind) enough so that you feel totally justified later if you want to be 100% lazy for a bit.

i'll use a food analagy, too. i tend to deny myself food when there's something i need to finish. like, i tend to put off tidying up things around here because i'm a procrastinator, and then if i wait too long to do it, it always seems like such a big chore and how will i ever get it done. when it gets to that point, then i feel like **** about it, and the only way to get out of that hole is to put on some happy music, roll up my sleeves, and clean **** up. then i sit back in my really clean, pretty-smelling surroundings and enjoy an ice cream sandwich that never tasted so good.

i always feel like **** when i spend a really long time on Mofos browsing, but i feel really good about it if i read and contribute thoughtfully. like this here thread.

[Sexy Celebrity]

An ice cream sandwich? I'd rather have pizza...

http://www.thingsthatjamesdoesntlike.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/hawaiian-pizza.jpg

Mmmmmm....

[will.15]

This is the number one phenomenological argument why hedonism is absolutely not the injunction of human existence in a Godless universe.

We feel bad when we only enjoy. We need to create, to struggle, to accomplish something of significance. Desire is not the yearning for the satisfaction of enjoyment. Desire is the yearning which seeks to replicate itself.

So yeah, cut out that trash, SC. :cool:

Nevertheless, I do think the things that you do are not as uncreative as you think. Reading books and watching films are absolutely non-creative. You plug into these objects in order to re-order your inner workings, to give yourself inspiration in order to create.

This post is more creative than me sitting around reading all day or watching every film on the movie list. It just is. However, I would have nothing of value or significance to say if I didn't read/watch films.

As for playing videogames, I don't know why people think this is such a waste of time. It is probably the only "artform" that allows you to create while experiencing it. Personally, I don't play videogames, but I will try to in the future.

Enjoyment/experience is only a waste of time if you are not creating or planning to use what you are enjoying/experiencing to create something in the future. While videogames are self-contained and do not influence the "outside world" and are therefore insignificant to is, you are ultimately creating something within the world of the game with yourself cast as the agent in this world and therefore YOU ARE ACCOMPLISHING SOMETHING.

tl;dr More powa to ya. Peace out bra.
I saved me some time not reading this.

[Sexy Celebrity]

I had no idea he told me to cut out my trash. He must have done some editing.

[ash_is_the_gal]

or maybe you pulled a will and skipped over it the first time.

[Sexy Celebrity]

I don't think so. I normally spot all instances of "SC".

[linespalsy]

I wonder to what extent you guys think this is a social thing. For me I find that I lose track of time when I don't have much of a social life (meaning seeing people face to face on a regular basis, it's also really important to meet new people semi-regularly). No matter how productive I am everything tends to blur together during those times when I'm antisocial. Those tend to be the times that feel wasted with forgetfulness and monotony, but only in retrospect; I really think I enjoy being alone a lot. On the other hand I know people who feel really weird if they don't have some social activity going on all the time and they often seem not to know what to do with themselves or how to keep busy, I think it's because it's a sort of social dependency in most of those cases.

[planet news]

Yeah, the food thing isn't really an analogy or a metaphor. It is more of an instantiation of the general principal of positive and negative affect.

So yeah, people can affect you positively and negatively just like food, literature, film, and any other substance that your body has to process.

Social activities are a form of creation in that connections or bonds are formed between people. I think this is exactly the same was making and breaking chemical bonds in metabolism or spiritual bonds in art appreciation. These bonds are not only important for emotional well being but also for future creative endeavors. Time and time again I hear that the most important thing in any creative industry seems to be making connections. I fully embrace this cliche.

Having a lot of people connected to you gives you more power to accomplish what you want, because chances are they will help you do this in whatever way they can.

And yes, in the same sense, social dependence comes about when one merely enjoys the mixture of their friends with themselves in the same way that one enjoys delicious candy. It is for the pure pleasure of mixture, not for the creative opportunity that such a connection entails.

[Sexy Celebrity]

Yeah, the food thing isn't really an analogy or a metaphor. It is more of an instantiation of the general principal of positive and negative affect.

So yeah, people can affect you positively and negatively just like food, literature, film, and any other substance that your body has to process.

Social activities are a form of creation in that connections or bonds are formed between people. I think this is exactly the same was making and breaking chemical bonds in metabolism or spiritual bonds in art appreciation. These bonds are not only important for emotional well being but also for future creative endeavors. Time and time again I hear that the most important thing in any creative industry seems to be making connections. I fully embrace this cliche.

Having a lot of people connected to you gives you more power to accomplish what you want, because chances are they will help you do this in whatever way they can.

And yes, in the same sense, social dependence comes about when one merely enjoys the mixture of their friends with themselves in the same way that one enjoys delicious candy. It is for the pure pleasure of mixture, not for the creative opportunity that such a connection entails.

Blah blah blah blah blah, but anyways, having lots of people connected to you gives you more power to accomplish things, but what if those people affect you negatively? Wouldn't you be better off with just a few that all work with you more positively?

[planet news]

Yeah... that's the whole idea of having good friends, no?

I know I've only ever had maybe two good friends so far in my short lifetime. They are a rare thing, but man "the times we had".

Still, how are you to find these kinds of people who mesh so well with your character unless you experiment and meet lots of people?

It's like trying new foods or giving Lars Von Trier a chance.

I seriously embrace all cliches. I think they have a normative, empirical truth like science. Haven't you ever heard that life is about making mistakes and learning from them?

[Sexy Celebrity]

Yeah... that's the whole idea of having good friends, no?

I know I've only ever had maybe two good friends so far in my short lifetime. They are a rare thing, but man "the times we had".

Still, how are you to find these kinds of people who mesh so well with your character unless you experiment and meet lots of people?

It's like trying new foods or giving Lars Von Trier a chance.

I seriously embrace all cliches. I think they have a normative, empirical truth like science. Haven't you ever heard that life is about making mistakes and learning from them?

Yes - I am the sexy poster boy of that quote. Hmm. Thank you for the answer. I can't think of anything else to say.

[mark f]

Some of the greatest times of my life have been "wasting time" with my wife and/or daughter. We just kick back, snuggle and watch the tube or listen to some music, and then we share our souls, or at least we try to on various levels. Before I had my second, self-created family, I had many friends as well as my original family and we did the same thing. It worked and still works well, up to a point, especially when something we do now brings back special memories from the past. I'm probably not going where this was meant to go, but I thought it was worth sharing with my third family here and now.

[planet news]

If we're talking about love, well... I guess love blows this whole theory of affect out of the water doesn't it? :o

[Sexy Celebrity]

Well, you could say that doing things like watching TV and snuggling with the loved ones isn't really "wasted time" -- I thought things like that were supposed to be priceless and more valuable than anything else, right? Hell, doing those things is, in my opinion, better than going to work and feeling productive. I know a lot of dark natured people would disagree, but spending time with loved ones is not wasted time at all. It may not be all that matters, but it's usually the most important thing.

[planet news]

I'm not sure what to think about the "enjoyment" that comes out of love in relation to the other enjoyments. Chances are they're not the same thing. And I certainly don't know what it's like to love your child and want everything for them, although I occasionally think I might understand it, if only in relation to other things. I certainly don't get my own parent's seemingly sourceless desire to help me out. Even now as I get older, they're still actively looking out for my well-being.

Love seems to trump everything in human experience. It makes every little thing the most profound thing ever. I'm not sure how to account for it purely materialistically. Seems like the self and other are primary components of it; not just the body as a vessel for intensities. The Christians (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Loves) have some nice theories though. :cool:

[Sexy Celebrity]

And I certainly don't know what it's like to love your child and want everything for them, although I occasionally think I might understand it

http://www.funxite.com/media/82-welsh-prostitute.jpg

I was going to tell you to pick up a lady and have a kid with her so you'd know what it's like to love your child enough that you'd want everything for them, but I found this picture of a sheep dressed like a prostitute and I thought it was more amusing for my post.

[planet news]

This is now a zoophilia thread. gogogo

[Sexy Celebrity]

Mary from Mary Had a Little Lamb grew up and became a pimptress. It's a shame what's happening to fairy tales these days.

[planet news]

Don't even get me started about Gene Wilder's segment in Allen's Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask.

[Sexy Celebrity]

Oh, I know what you're talking about. I've seen that - used to own it, even, but not anymore. I kinda wish I still did, but I remember being very bored with Woody Allen's scenes as a court jester. I did like the gigantic boob and the crossdresser, though.

[planet news]

Watched it at a young age when the title carried absolutely no irony. I actually learned something. Thought it was probably one of the dirtiest films I'd ever seen.

[planet news]

This was about two years ago.

[Brodinski]

Some of the greatest times of my life have been "wasting time" with my wife and/or daughter. We just kick back, snuggle and watch the tube or listen to some music, and then we share our souls, or at least we try to on various levels. Before I had my second, self-created family, I had many friends as well as my original family and we did the same thing. It worked and still works well, up to a point, especially when something we do now brings back special memories from the past. I'm probably not going where this was meant to go, but I thought it was worth sharing with my third family here and now.

Like Sexy already brought up, I definitely wouldn't classify that as wasting time. If you really love someone, any moment you spend with them talking or snuggling isn't a wasted one. When I think about my life a little over a year ago and the way it is now, it's much better and that's an understatement. This is a whole other discussion though.

My best friend - who's been working for about 2 years now - tells me that he usually gets home at 5 pm, tired as ****, then takes a quick shower to shrug off the fatigue, eats dinner, goes spend some time with his girl, then comes home at about 9 and says doing futile things feels soooo good then. 5 days out of 7, it's pretty much the only time during the da when he still has time to do such things (browsing the internet, playing games, watch series).

In a couple of months when I'm part of the active population myself, I might revisit this thread to claim WASTING TIME IS GODLIKE. I wonder how I'm going to juggle my various activities in life then. Right now, I study, spend time with my girl at night, go running, go to the gym and cook my meals, because my mom hasn't a clue what eating healthy really means. I doubt if I'll find time for all of that when I'm working.

We'll see.

Also, SC & PN, for your last couple of posts:

[SammyJ88]

Yeah Brodinski i feel the same sometimes, I had about 3 months off work not too long ago and didnt do anything really significant, and sometimes feel i wasted some valuable time when i could've got some things done that I have wanted too for a while. I'm working again now (a whole different career), just started the training and had to fly to Adelaide, it feels good finishing the day, throw some music on, go to the pub with mates etc just enjoying myself after a day of work. I sometimes think that if you regret not doing something, just remember there is still time to do it and maybe plan ahead go learn to play the guitar, learn another lanuage, be productive, or whatever it is you think you could of done with your life, just chilling out is sometimes the best thing to do :).

Other than thinking what time I have wasted, I often think what other "paths" I could have chosen, for example I got offered 2 jobs and accepted this current one, but I sometimes think where i would be now if I had gone with the other. I guess curiosity will always get the better of us.

[earlsmoviepicks]

To me, balance is the thing. I love to enjoy myself, go fishing, mess around doing meaningless little projects, watch movies, hang around slackjawed, etc. But you also have to have a goal every once in a while. Hard part is maintaining a proper balance between the 2.

[honeykid]

I'm with SC on this. You'll be dead one day and it won't make any difference. Personally, I'm just waiting to die.

[Sexy Celebrity]

I just think people get a lot of this ******** guilt about wasting time from school or something - you know, teachers instilling in everyone that they need to be little workhorses and always be working to better the world in some way or something. I used to be one of their little pet monsters like that while everyone else was cutting loose and having fun and I just think the people who were always more laidback were the ones that were right. While there are things to do in this world, most people would rather have fun. Life feels very competitive in that everyone is always trying to find ways to have it easier. I think it's human nature.

I also think there's a gender thing going on here. I think men are naturally more prone to do less, while women are always compelled to do lots of things and complain when men don't do as much as they do. At least, that's how I see it. I think there are varying levels of tasks that we all do and nothing is really better just because you might do more. You can work your ass off in a retail store day after day or you could sit comfortably in an office and work on boring spreadsheets and make more money. Who's living better? Who's happier?

I think most of it is guilt, though, brought about by nags, do-gooders, people that want you to take all the responsibility while they get away free, and obsessive, neurotic types. I think that's where this "wasting time anxiety" comes from. Just do what you've got to do and then enjoy as much as you can. Like I said before, we have it made these days. We can be lazier and we can waste time on the internet or something -- this is our gift, this is what the lifetime we're alive in has to work with. Along with video games and everything else. All of the other great people throughout history would have probably slacked off on video games and the internet, too. You know Christopher Columbus would have been sitting at a laptop the whole time he sailed over to America. People have always looked for down time - and look at where we are - humanity has created so much down time entertainment. Why, though? Because it is vitally important. Because it's wanted. Because it is LIFE!

[mark f]

I always went to movies, even long before any Internet or tech explosion. However, I also always played lots of sports too, especially basketball and racquetball after I graduated from college. I've never followed the crowd and have no guilt about it now. I do think that I must have taken some of my later sedentary life too seriously though every time I feel pain in places where there shouldn't be any unless I wasn't such a lard ass. Honestly, it feels like I was a sportsaholic just a few months ago but it's been almost 30 years now since my halcyon days. If there's one cliche you haven't experienced yet, you certainly will eventually. Time really does fly.

[Deadite]

If you enjoy what you're doing and it matters to you, well, then that's all that matters.

[Yoda]

I'll have to respectfully disagree with my esteemed colleague, Senor Celebrity. Obviously you can take almost anything too far, but I think your average person is way, way more in danger of killing time too much rather than working themselves too much.

It is, indeed, kind of depressing and frustrating to think about how you could ALWAYS do better. But great things come out of that sort of frustration, that sort of perfectionism. IT's a fine line, maybe, but I'd rather be working a bit too hard than not enough.

It's also, increasingly, the thing that will set you apart from others. If everyone is falling victim to fritting away time on FarmVille or whatever, it's going to stand out that much more, and offer than much more of an advantage, if you can resist it.

Of course, I also firmly believe that when you're banging your head against a wall you need to stop and force yourself to relax a little, because you'll do better work in the long run if you're refreshed. Better to work smart than work hard. But better to work hard than not to work at all, too.

Heck, if I hadn't decided to work my butt off in my free time, there'd be no MoFo.

[Tacitus]

When I became decrepitudinated (why does spellcheck say 'decontaminated' there? Have they not heard of my word? :p), I went from working 12-13 hour days to spending the same time sitting on my arse at home. As most of my friends are able-bodied bright young(ish) things, the hours of 9-5 are the most solitary in my day.

I've got to put the time in somehow and every method has become delightfully guilt-free - There's no difference in my mind between servicing my neighbour's car and playing a video game; listening to Roger Deakins' Fargo commentary at 10am or spending an hour pondering whether I'd look like a serial killer if I shaved my beard off and kept the moustache. I kinda do.

Keeping one's brain amused in whatever way does not mean wasting time. Going to the pub when you should be doing your accounts ... well ... does.

[Sexy Celebrity]

Señor Celebrity... I like that.

I agree with you, but then I also think you sort of sound like the anxiety producing person I was talking about in my other post. I merely wanted to tell the people who stress too much about this that it's okay to not stress about overworking yourself. I think that kind of thinking could also do some harm in some way. I'm the type of person that obsessively thinks about something over and over again (mental problem on my part, I'm sure) so if I got caught in a "I'm wasting my time!" loop, I'd completely unravel in that mess to the point where I couldn't enjoy anything. So, I offered a solution, a way to the other end of the bridge.

Based on my own experiences, I think if you're going to spend your free time doing something like designing and working on a website, the inspiration to do this would just hit you at some point and it would feel right. I think people have to give serious considerion to their feelings and not just what they're thinking. Though, I see no problem in letting your mind know it needs to do something or that you want to do something. I think in your off time, when your brain relaxes, or sleeps, it'll work below your level of consciousness to find solutions to problems and then you'll later know - and feel - what to do. That's just my theory, though.

Not everyone is gonna be able to create something like Movie Forums in their free time -- that's just something you were made to do. I think there's a variety of different things people can do -- and they don't always have to take a lot of work. Of course running a website is gonna take a lot of work, but you are geared to invest so much into it - it's nothing to you, probably.

Well, I don't know what I'm really trying to get at.

Another thing I think may be a cause of feeling like you're wasting time, though, is that freedom is intolerable. Boredom is intolerable. Dull your activities and your life will become a vacuum, like outer space, that will want to create things to fill it up. It's the law and order of nature. Movie Forums is something Yoda probably created to fill up his life -- in a way, it's like he gets to play God and form this little universe with all of us in it, all of us contemplating our little movie religions.

[Brodinski]

Life feels very competitive in that everyone is always trying to find ways to have it easier.

That's not what makes life competitive. Always wanting to do better than others is what makes it competitive. I have friends who work in companies where there's cutthroat competition going on in their department to make the next big promotion or - when you're still young - to just make a promotion asap. There's nothing competitive in finding ways to live life easier. I can cut back on my daily activities or - in a work situation - do nothing more than what is absolutely required so as to keep my job. That's not being competitive. That's being lazy.[/quote]

[Yoda]

:laugh: Well, I guess the Rules page is kind of like the Ten Commandments, though there are only eight of them. And you may all have many other forums before this one. And God knows you all probably covet the living daylights out of each other's wives and stuff.

One really good question is whether or not we can really help how we approach this sort of thing. For example, if you just naturally are the kind of person who frets about how you spend your free time, or feels like you should be doing more...can you really change that? Or will you just be pushing your natural inclinations beneath the surface? Some people work very hard to be more carefree than they naturally are, and it can make them even more stressed.

That's kind of where I think I am. Yeah, I often think "crap, I should be doing X instead of playing Fallout 3 again," but I also think that it doesn't matter how many games I play, or how often I allow myself to do it; it's not who I am. I feel relaxed when I know I'm done and I know I've done a good job. And I'm glad I'm this way.

It's also important to draw a distinction between genuinely living life and doing fulfilling "fun" things and just doing whatever to while away the time. Lots of people lay on their deathbeds wishing they'd done more non-work things. Travel more, spend more time with their kids, play more sports, etc. But nobody's going to die wishing they'd played more Just Cause 2. :laugh: And I think that kind of time "wasting" is the kind that was being referred to, though the discussion has expanded a bit since.

[Tacitus]

It's funny but I actually feel more stressed now that I have time on my hands than when I was working every hour god sent to pay a mortgage in a job with a high employee attrition rate. I was also married back then and anyone who knows her realises that I should have been very stressed indeed.

I've got more time to dwell on things, I suppose, and all the while I was working we had 2 good salaries coming in affording us a couple of holidays a year. Ah, the swings and roundabouts of outrageous fortune!

[Sexy Celebrity]

I was also married back then and anyone who knows her realises that I should have been very stressed indeed.

Oh, you poor thing. I forgot you're divorced. That must be why we both have hair problems.

[Sexy Celebrity]

That's not what makes life competitive. Always wanting to do better than others is what makes it competitive. I have friends who work in companies where there's cutthroat competition going on in their department to make the next big promotion or - when you're still young - to just make a promotion asap. There's nothing competitive in finding ways to live life easier. I can cut back on my daily activities or - in a work situation - do nothing more than what is absolutely required so as to keep my job. That's not being competitive. That's being lazy.

Yeah, but I think there's still good reasons for why people act competitively. People still gain something. When men win at competitions, they have a testosterone boost and they're more likely to get sex out of it than the loser. That's definitely easier living, depending on whoever has sex with you. Winning at competitions can make you more liked and more appreciated and having those kinds of things makes your life easier.

[planet news]

But nobody's going to die wishing they'd played more Just Cause 2.If I never play a single video game in my life, I will die wishing I played at least one video game. Any video game. Just Cause 2, whatever that is, belongs to that set.

Anything can be creative if you approach it the right way.

[ash_is_the_gal]

just never waste time when you think you've got a health problem. it could be something really terrible and you may spend the rest of your short life in constant pain or set backs due to it.

[ash_is_the_gal]

You can work your ass off in a retail store day after day or you could sit comfortably in an office and work on boring spreadsheets and make more money. Who's living better? Who's happier?

alreeeeet, i feel compelled to say that even though i have been working in a comfortable office for the past 5 years does not mean i don't work as hard as people in retail. i mean, it might be harder physically on people who are on their feet all day, but i worked retail for years before i was where i am now, and i've never felt like i work "less hard" since i've moved on to my current job. there are definitely perks to having this job, and there are things about retail that suuuuuuuucked beyond reason, and i won't deny that i'm happier with this job due to the people, the mental challenges it holds, and the benefits. but i know plenty of people who would die of boredom in an office and therefore refuse to work in one. retail, though, is mainly a horrible thing to get into at least in this country, because it's hard to get full-time hours, benefits, and proper vacation time on Holidays. i never was working full-time when i was in retail.



okay, sorry, a bit off-topic, please continue. :shrug:

[ash_is_the_gal]

Lots of people lay on their deathbeds wishing they'd done more non-work things. Travel more, spend more time with their kids, play more sports, etc. But nobody's going to die wishing they'd played more Just Cause 2. :laugh: And I think that kind of time "wasting" is the kind that was being referred to, though the discussion has expanded a bit since.

actually... there are times i do regret that i didn't play video games more. but that's because my boyfriend plays video games a lot, and when we play together, it seems to be some sort of bonding experience and it feels special and nice. so i guess maybe that isn't the same thing. i'm not really regretting not playing video games, i'm just regretting not spending more time doing something with my boyfriend that i know he loves.

nevermind. :( sorry for all the triple posting.

[Sexy Celebrity]

I don't like playing video games because they became more and more complicated. When I was a little kid, I played Nintendo all the time, but it was easy. Now these games are just too much -- like that one game, Halo. All that running around. Boring.

I will tell you, though, that I played Michael Jackson: The Experience on Wii not too long ago -- the game where you dance to his songs. OH MY GOD, THAT WAS HARD! And I felt like a fool. How do they expect you to look at the screen and get those moves right? Plus, I was embarrassed when I lost a point because I didn't grab my crotch.

[ash_is_the_gal]

I don't like playing video games because they became more and more complicated. When I was a little kid, I played Nintendo all the time, but it was easy. Now these games are just too much -- like that one game, Halo. All that running around. Boring.


oh, but the good thing about video games now is there are so many different kinds to choose from. they aren't all super complicated!

[Sexy Celebrity]

I like my Facebook Family Feud more than anything, although I haven't played that in awhile and I'm not sure if it's still around.

[rufnek]

do you guys often feel like you've just wasted time? Like you've done nothing productive?

No. First of all, I don't care if what I'm doing appears productive to someone else. If I enjoy it, I'll do it. Life is too short to worry all the time whether you're making the "best use" of your time or if someone else thinks you're wasting time. I always figured they're the ones wasting time worrying about what I am or am not doing.

If I'm doing something I enjoy with someone I enjoy (or even by myself--I'm comfortable enough with who I am to spend time alone), then the time's not wasted.

Does it get better when you've actually got a job, because then you've got less spare time and DEFINITELY wanna make the most of it?

I don't know how to answer this because my career in journalism has always been interesting, usually fun, and often challenging. It's given me access to people and places I might never have seen otherwise, and I get a lot of satisfaction from my work. When your work is fun, why would you want to take time off?

Marriage and raising children does make more demands on your time. Seems like for years I was taking my kids to karate practice or soccer games, picking up them and their friends at various places. But I was spending time with my family, people I love and enjoy being with. I still think of those moments I spent chauffering around the son I lost. I never regreted a second spent with him or my other children. Or grandkids.

[Sedai]

Sorry to hear about your loss, Rufnek. My condolences.

[KasperKristensen]

I love wasting time. It's one of my favorite pastimes.

[Yoda]

No. First of all, I don't care if what I'm doing appears productive to someone else. If I enjoy it, I'll do it. Life is too short to worry all the time whether you're making the "best use" of your time or if someone else thinks you're wasting time. I always figured they're the ones wasting time worrying about what I am or am not doing.
True, but putting on my pedantic hat (do I ever take it off?), the question was about whether anyone feels this way, not about what other people think. I don't think other people's opinions ever entered into it. I don't care much if other people feel I'm being productive, but that doesn't mean I don't think I should be sometimes. This is about our own opinions of our own actions.

If I'm doing something I enjoy with someone I enjoy (or even by myself--I'm comfortable enough with who I am to spend time alone), then the time's not wasted.
Absolutely. But all this means is that those things aren't wasting time, not that there's no such thing as wasting time. Heck, I'm sure all of us have lost most of a day watching TV at least one. That's the sort of thing Brodinski seems to be talking about here, I think.

I guess what I'm saying is, I like your post and all the thoughts in it, but I don't think it answers the question being asked.

[Deadite]

Just Cause 2 was a pretty fun game. :D

[Yoda]

It really was/is.

[Tacitus]

Oh, you poor thing. I forgot you're divorced. That must be why we both have hair problems.

Y'know, joking aside, there might be something in that. I first noticed that the top of my head was visible from space around a time of massive stress in my life. I'd also lost a ton of weight and was drinking a little too frequently so not looking after myself could well have been a factor.

I guess, with my serious head on, that I'm thankful to have time to waste.

In a similar vein to rufnek, and I'm really trying not to sound mawkish here and drag the thread off topic, I watched my best friend die from cancer at 25. He neither smoked (at all) nor drank (much) and was as fit as a lot of professional athletes.

Aaaanyway. You're only wasting time if you put something important off in order to do something frivolous. Differences in what we feel is important or frivolous will mean we'll be here to the cows come home. ;)

Being productive, to me, is when I'm not bored.

[rufnek]

Sorry to hear about your loss, Rufnek. My condolences.

Thank you. My son died Sept. 2, 2007, so I've had some years to adjust to his loss. You never really get over losing a child, of course. Earlier this week my daughter and a grandson came down from Abilene for a brief visit. My mother-in-law is ill and has been living in our spare bedroom for several weeks, so Michele and Brandon stayed with my son Mark and his wife. Driving over to visit with them I couldn't help but remember when I was last with all three of my children and how much I'd love to be able to repeat that experence again.

Like I said you never get over it; it leaves a hole in your heart and in your life that nothing can heal. But at least now I can talk of it without going to pieces. Guess that's progress of a sort.

[ash_is_the_gal]

jesus. now i'm crying.

[rufnek]

True, but putting on my pedantic hat (do I ever take it off?), the question was about whether anyone feels this way, not about what other people think. I don't think other people's opinions ever entered into it. I don't care much if other people feel I'm being productive, but that doesn't mean I don't think I should be sometimes. This is about our own opinions of our own actions.

Oh, no, not the pedantic hat! (Is that the same thing that assigns Warthall students to their particular groups?)

I guess my view is if we're doing something we enjoy, we don't think it's a waste of time until someone else looks down their nose and starts telling you of all the chores you should have done instead of "wasting your time."

I mean I'm certainly not gonna jump myself over it! There are many Monday mornings I recall, "Oh, I should have taken my truck in to get the oil changed." But there's always next weekend. I've spent a lifetime meeting deadlines at work, so I guess I put off doing other stuff on my own time to make for it. I never beat myself up if I don't do what I should.

I guess what I'm saying is, I like your post and all the thoughts in it, but I don't think it answers the question being asked.

:laugh: Yeah, I guess I often provide the answer I prefer regardless of the question being asked.

But it seems to me that when anyone expounded on me "wasting time" it was a parent, a wife, or a sergeant or officer evaluating me. And I just don't play well with authority. Of course, there have been times wasted because of someone else. I remember once while in a "repo depot" replacement center awaiting assignment and they would come up with chit details to keep us busy. I was picked with a bunch one time to go sand down some sheets of plywood. Had no idea why we were doing so--sergeant said sand, and we sanded. Until he came back and saw we 6-8 troops were just sanding those boards as smooth as a baby's butt. He says, "Oh, hell, you guys are going to be finished way before the alloted time (meaning he and we would have to go back to the repo depot and possibly given another job). So he took away our fine-grain sandpaper and gave us little steel-wool Brillo pads to sand with. Slow, slow work, but by the time we finished those boards were slicker than snot.

Guess compared with that, my subsequent idleness is no waste of time.

[Yoda]

Your point about other people evaluating is well taken, and I'm sure that's a big part of the guilt people might feel for being unproductive. But surely you've, I don't know, watched a few hours of TV only to realize afterwards that you didn't really get anything out of it, that it was just "empty calories," no? Or clicked around playing Solitaire on the computer to kill 30 minutes out of sheer laziness? Do you not ever do this, or do you not regard it as worthless?

[Sedai]

I waste a ton of time, but I do so happily with people I love, so I guess it isn't really wasted.

[The Prestige]

Interesting thread. Hmm, I think i'm mostly with Ash and Mark in that I enjoy 'wasting time' when I can afford to. As i've already told some of the members on here, i'm not doing much these days ever since my contract at work came up. I wake up when I want, I exercise when I want and, there's now window for me to get my wank on and I can go almost anywhere and do whatever I want to do all day everyday. I've spent a lot of time on the net recently and while I probably could have put some of that time to look for a job or doing some creative, I didn't because, well, at that point in time, I did what felt like doing.

My point is that if you're browsing random forums or playing video games even though you feel you could be doing something more worthwhile, the chances are that deep down you really WANT to do these things and the fact that you thinking you could be doing something better is more a less internal manisfestation of your guilt for enjoying it is you're doing.

So I guess that I don't feel like i'm wasting time because I know i'm too disciplined not allow myself to do anything, and that by doing these seemingly mundane things not only relieves stress, but it allows me to gather my thoughts and systematically plan ahead for the upcoming months.

Hope I made myself clear :/

[Sexy Celebrity]

But surely you've, I don't know, watched a few hours of TV only to realize afterwards that you didn't really get anything out of it, that it was just "empty calories," no?

Ugh. How can you - the webmaster of a movie website - someone who came up with the idea to have lists of movies that we can refer to when we wanna check off those that we have seen (which entices us to watch more movies so we can finish those lists) - be so quick to wanna make us feel guilty for watching hours of TV? And why are you treating it like food and saying it's "empty calories"? You sound like some weight loss guru. Maybe I better work a ThighMaster the next time I have a Jake Gyllenhaal movie marathon.

Lord, it's like being told to diet and eat healthy on a Fatty Food Forum. "Alright, everyone! Be sure to fill out your Top 10 Fast Food Restaurants. And then y'all better go on a diet 'cause I know y'all gotta weigh in at least 380. Mmmmhmmm. Salty Chicken, I know the reason you haven't replied to my last post is because you're taking your time with that KFC bucket you just talked about in the "What was the last Fast Food meal you bought?" thread."

[Deadite]

Does anything we do ultimately really matter?

In the, ya know, final analysis. :D

[Yoda]

Well, most of the movies on those Lists are not what I would call "empty calories." And you'll notice I didn't mention movies -- I chose TV, specifically, but there's a lot more stuff on there that has little artistic or aesthetic merit. I almost never feel guilty about watching a movie, especially if it's on one of the Lists, because those are almost exclusively worth the time it takes to watch them.

Also, I just like the phrase "empty calories," because it describes what I'm thinking so well. Just sort of chewing, rather than nourishing.

[KasperKristensen]

Does anything we do ultimately really matter?

In the, ya know, final analysis. :D

http://kaspertoftkristensen.blogspot.com/2011/05/day-alien-came-round.html . Nope. :D

[Yoda]

Whether it matters or not, the only sensible way to live is as if they do.

[Sexy Celebrity]

Well, most of the movies on those Lists are not what I would call "empty calories." And you'll notice I didn't mention movies -- I chose TV, specifically, but there's a lot more stuff on there that has little artistic or aesthetic merit. I almost never feel guilty about watching a movie, especially if it's on one of the Lists, because those are almost exclusively worth the time it takes to watch them.

Also, I just like the phrase "empty calories," because it describes what I'm thinking so well. Just sort of chewing, rather than nourishing.

I get that but I still think movies could be considered "empty calories" as well when it comes to being productive or not. You could spend the day watching the original Star Wars trilogy for the first time, but if you're doing when you should be doing something else important, you're still wasting your time. It doesn't matter if you're watching that or a Jersey Shore marathon. Good movies can be counterproductive, too. You might even be taking them in the wrong way. Perhaps it's best to only watch movies on dates. Ya never know -- the movie might be better for ya that way. Watching the movie alone could be wasteful.

[Deadite]

Anything you do will never be enough for some people.

[Deadite]

http://kaspertoftkristensen.blogspot.com/2011/05/day-alien-came-round.html . Nope. :D

:cool:

[Deadite]

Anyways, here's a couple quotes that seem relevant, and then I'm out cause this thread be a bummer.

"...one had to expect very little—almost nothing—from life, Aaron knew, one had to be grateful, not always trying to seize the days like some maniac of living, but to give oneself up, be seized by the days, the months and years, be taken up in the froth of sun and moon, some pale and smoothie-ed river-cloud of life, a long, drawn-out, gray sort of enlightenment, so that when it was time to die, one did not scream swear words and knock things down, did not make a scene, but went easily with understanding and tact, and quietly, in a lightly pummeled way, having been consoled-having allowed to be consoled-by the soft, generous, worthlessness of it all, having allowed to be massaged by the daily beating of life, instead of just beaten." ~Tao Lin

"Lately, they were always reassuring each other that nothing was wrong; and probably it was true—life wasn’t supposed to be incredible, after all. Life wasn’t some incredible movie. Life was all the movies, ever, happening at once. There were good ones, bad ones, some went straight to video." ~Tao Lin

http://www.ifanboy.com/images/ifanboy/Watchmen0301.jpg

[planet news]

Tao Lin is hilarious to the point of brilliance.

This thread would be good, but one has defined value, "mattering", or significance.

My idea is creation and affect, creation and affect, creation and affect...

[Tacitus]

I chose TV, specifically, but there's a lot more stuff on there that has little artistic or aesthetic merit.

I've never been one for making vows or promises (one marriage was enough for me!) but one thing I did resolve when I stopped work was to not switch the TV on (for TV programmes, that is) until the 6pm news unless there's a sporting or one-off news related show on, like Obama making his showreel for the Irish-American vote base or today's Grand Prix.

I'll go round to someone's house in the middle of the day and can feel myself getting slowly engulfed in the miasma of daytime TV.

My grand idea of Celebrity That's My Arse: LIVE! is probably never gonna be picked up by a broadcaster unless I work in some antiques or house buying into the concept. Maybe if I get Philip Schofield to present it?

[ash_is_the_gal]

Well, most of the movies on those Lists are not what I would call "empty calories." And you'll notice I didn't mention movies -- I chose TV, specifically, but there's a lot more stuff on there that has little artistic or aesthetic merit. I almost never feel guilty about watching a movie, especially if it's on one of the Lists, because those are almost exclusively worth the time it takes to watch them.

Also, I just like the phrase "empty calories," because it describes what I'm thinking so well. Just sort of chewing, rather than nourishing.

i agree wholeheartedly with this, though i'm not really sure if this can be passed off as fact, just opinion. i suppose you could argue that movies (especially List movies) are never a waste of time because when we view them, we are viewing a part of a culture and history.

but i almost always feel like i've accomplished something small when i watch a classic movie. i feel less like that about a movie if it's new, unless it's supposed to be very good. i probably just sound like a movie snob, though.

so would you say it's a waste of time to watch a movie you've already seen? that is the question!

[Sexy Celebrity]

but i almost always feel like i've accomplished something small when i watch a classic movie. i feel less like that about a movie if it's new, unless it's supposed to be very good. i probably just sound like a movie snob, though.

so would you say it's a waste of time to watch a movie you've already seen? that is the question!

Good points. Watching a movie for a second or third time can definitely be viewed as wasting time that way. But then again, if it's a classic, Yoda could just say, "Ohhhhh! I'm just gathering up some notes for an essay I'm working on about it!"

I can feel like I've wasted time on any movie if it's boring or doesn't do something for me. Doesn't matter how classic it is. If I get nothing from it, I get nothing from it. Might just be my problem, but then why is it my problem and why did I feel that way? On the other hand, if I watch a new movie and it's good and I really like it, that's more often than not a non-wasteful time spent. Everyone is always asking you what new movies you've seen. People are curious about newer movies than older movies, in general, most of the time. That way it's more beneficial to watch newer movies -- it gives you something to talk about and you're seen as more "up to date".

[ash_is_the_gal]

Everyone is always asking you what new movies you've seen. People are curious about newer movies than older movies, in general, most of the time. That way it's more beneficial to watch newer movies -- it gives you something to talk about and you're seen as more "up to date".

that all depends on who you like discussing movies with. i prefer you guys, and almost all of you are more well-watched than me, so watching old stuff comes in pretty handy around here, bub!

but also, like i said, it's history. in some ways, i like watching older and "classic" stuff because it tells us so much how things have changed over the years. not just in a factual sense, but movies themselves. movies like Citizen Kane are interesting to watch if you just watch it from this standpoint alone.

but i know what you mean. i don't really feel like i've wasted my time at all if i'm watching a movie and enjoyed it.

[Brodinski]

I can feel like I've wasted time on any movie if it's boring or doesn't do something for me. Doesn't matter how classic it is. If I get nothing from it, I get nothing from it.

Nah. You always take something away from watching a film. If you watch Malick's The Tree of Life and you're bored to death by it, then you know that you're not a proponent of Malick's style, meaning you don't have to bother watching his other films (except Badlands & Days of Heaven, they're a little different than the other 3).

It's never going to be utterly useless to watch a film, even if it's a complete POS. You can tear it down on a movie forum provided you can argue your case or just when it comes up in a conversation with friends.

[mark f]

People are curious about newer movies than older movies, in general, most of the time. That way it's more beneficial to watch newer movies -- it gives you something to talk about and you're seen as more "up to date".

You like talking to high school kids about movies? Most of my students talk about the cool cars, women and action/F/X in a "newer movie" and I know they're "up to date" because they still try to sneak a text off in the middle of class. However, I have a difficult time talking to them about the movies they see almost every weekend because in the long run, they don't have much to say about something which takes up so much of their lives. To them, it's more a ritual than a life-affecting experience.


so would you say it's a waste of time to watch a movie you've already seen? that is the question!

Also, I realize that some people never watch a movie a second tme, but that certainly limits the way you can relate to it. Once you've seen a painting would you never look at it again? How about listening to a song or an album? I've already heard that; let's move along... I don't care who you are. Movies will have different meanings for you based on the different times you watch them. I'm not even talking about "studying" them or digging deeper. That's a whole other rationale altogether for watching them repeatedly.

[Sexy Celebrity]

Just so we're on the same page, I never said I was against watching movies more than once, nor am I against watching classic films -- this was all about the theory of wasting time.

[mark f]

My second part above addresses a question from ash. Sorry if that caused any misunderstandings. I've edited that post to make that clearer.

[rufnek]

Your point about other people evaluating is well taken, and I'm sure that's a big part of the guilt people might feel for being unproductive. But surely you've, I don't know, watched a few hours of TV only to realize afterwards that you didn't really get anything out of it, that it was just "empty calories," no? Or clicked around playing Solitaire on the computer to kill 30 minutes out of sheer laziness? Do you not ever do this, or do you not regard it as worthless?

I'm a great procrastinator, so killing time putting off something I don't want to do is never wasted to me. I've seen movies I didn't like (and usually walked out to do something more fun) and I've seen TV programs that inspired me to switch over and watch a test pattern instead. Learned something from each experience, however. Learned not to watch that film or program again, so it's not a complete waste of time. My wife thinks I waste a lot of time writing to this forum. Likely she's right. But I enjoy it even if it ain't on a par with brain surgery or bringing peace to the world. It distracts me and helps me unwind.

[Yoda]

Fair enough. Though the "lesson" of watching a crappy movie seems awfully close to a waste, or at least it always does to me.

For the record, I'm a huge believer in even seemingly pointless activities being valuable for purposes of relaxation. I think that's very important. But right or wrong, there are some of them that seem so vapid to me that I can't even feel they're productive for that purpose. I suspect, when you get down to the margins like this, it's just a difference of mindset or perspective.

I will say that the more I expose myself to great art of one kind or another, the worse this feelings gets, because I become more acutely aware of how much fantastic stuff is out there, and how impossible it is to make time for all of it.

[planet news]

Take this for what you will. Just jotting down some private ideas in a public setting. :)

Enjoyment:


If the substance mixes well with you, you enjoy it (delicious candy).
If the substance doesn't mix well with you, you don't enjoy it (poison).
Substances that don't mix well with you can be ill-made or you can be ill-made (what is delicious candy to some species is poison for others).
What is or is not ill-made is therefore always relative.
Normalizing standards for what is or is not ill-made depends on the populations involved.

The main idea here is that, in order to enjoy, you can either change the kinds of substances you take in or you can change yourself and acquire a taste for certain substances.

[Yoda]

The main idea here is that, in order to enjoy, you can either change the kinds of substances you take in or you can change yourself and acquire a taste for certain substances.
This right here. This is too vague to positively endorse one or the other, but in practice I find I think the latter is better.

Relevant quote: "The mind, once expanded to the dimensions of larger ideas, never returns to its original size." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

When you become aware of what great things are out there waiting to be found, it becomes very difficult to settle for anything less with much regularity.

[ash_is_the_gal]

You like talking to high school kids about movies? Most of my students talk about the cool cars, women and action/F/X in a "newer movie" and I know they're "up to date" because they still try to sneak a text off in the middle of class. However, I have a difficult time talking to them about the movies they see almost every weekend because in the long run, they don't have much to say about something which takes up so much of their lives. To them, it's more a ritual than a life-affecting experience.

high school kids are not the only types of people who only watch new releases. my parents hardly watch any kind of movies except for what's on the New Release shelf at the video store. when i used to work at Blockbuster, 98% of the customers rented movies that were less than a month old. this is not uncommon and it's not only a juvenile habit. the truth is, i have a hard time finding people who really enjoy discussing movies with me off of this forum, unless i want to have a "hey, what movie did u see last weekend" chit chat with someone. but then again, most people are boring. :D

good point with the painting analogy. you're right. watching something you love multiple times is not a waste of time, especially if there is a large gap in between viewings. we change so much that our opinions and how we view things are bound to change, too.

i still fear that my once a month viewing of Pretty in Pink may be looked upon as a waste of time to some, though. :(

[planet news]

"The mind, once expanded to the dimensions of larger ideas, never returns to its original size."[/I] -- Oliver Wendell HolmesI agree of course agree for this same "reason": becoming bodies without organs, etc.

I want to expand later on a theory of substance "residues" relating to your Holmes quote. All substances leave residues. We are, in many ways, built from residues. But there are also preexisting structures.

[Sexy Celebrity]

I agree of course agree for this same "reason": becoming bodies without organs, etc.

Planet... I love you... but I am sick and tired of always coming across you saying that we need to become bodies without organs. No, we don't. If we were without organs, we would be dead. End of story.

[Sexy Celebrity]

I would love to be without organs, and I've come across people who don't even want to think about the inner workings of their bodies, but the fact of the matter is we've got organs. I am actually really depressed over the fact that I can't even see my own organs and never have and never will unless they are removed or something occurs where perhaps my stomach is cut open and my guts spill out and I remain conscious and get a good look.

But, yeah, I hate the fact that I have lived this long and haven't seen what's been keeping me company underneath my skin. I can feel my heart beating and all that, but I really do wonder what it all looks like in there. I hope I have sexy organs. How terrible it would be if I had an ugly pancreas. There isn't any kind of scanner that shows you your organs, is there? I mean, I know there's X-rays and things, but I want vivid, high definition images. I know that sounds morbid, but I've seen how I look on the outside -- since these things are stuck with me for life, I'd be proud to see what they look like. Of course, I just hope I don't under any circumstances where my life is on the line or I lose the organ permanently.

[planet news]

Planet... I love you... but I am sick and tired of always coming across you saying that we need to become bodies without organs. No, we don't. If we were without organs, we would be dead. End of story.WE ARE IMMORTAL
PRINCES OF THE UNIVERSE

But no, seriously. It just means we should view ourselves as without substantive organs but merely apex's of flows. Our organs are just like buckets that retain the residues of the substances flowing through us in certain shapes.

And this is almost entirely speaking about the mental of which we actually have some semblance of control over.

The neverending story...

[Yoda]

WE ARE IMMORTAL
PRINCES OF THE UNIVERSE

But no, seriously. It just means we should view ourselves as without substantive organs but merely apex's of flows. Our organs are just like buckets that retain the residues of the substances flowing through us in certain shapes.

And this is almost entirely speaking about the mental of which we actually have some semblance of control over.

The neverending story...
http://cdn.theurbandaily.com/files/2010/07/cocaine.gif

"Cocaine is a hell of a drug."

[planet news]

lol'd

big time

[Tacitus]

"Time you enjoy wasting isn't wasted time" - Bertrand Russell

Y'know when and where I heard that? Just now playing Fallout: New Vegas. ;)

I'm quite enjoying it thus my time has never been more productive...

[rufnek]

Fair enough. Though the "lesson" of watching a crappy movie seems awfully close to a waste, or at least it always does to me.

There were many times my first marriage seemed a gigantic waste of time. But I got a great daughter out of it, who still brightens my life each time I'm with her or we speak on the phone.

Learned, too, I'm a hell of a lot tougher than I thought. That I not only survive but prosper, and got the last laugh. As long as you learn something it's not a waste, and if it toughens you so much the better.

[Yoda]

I don't doubt it. But while I'm sure we can all find examples of core experiences or difficulties that seem wasted at the time but actually teach us, I don't know if that really applies to instances where we're sitting on the coach eating Cheetos and watching "The Price is Right."

[rufnek]

". . .eating Cheetos and watching "The Price is Right."

:laugh: Brings to mind an old joke involving Cheetos and porno films.

[earlsmoviepicks]

I am a hardcore believer in the old Babylonian proverb, "The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span the hours spent in fishing".