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Comment by lifeisstillgood | Hacker News Reader

We are descended from creatures that poised, concentrating on making no sound, waiting for a perfect moment to strike.

We are descended from creatures that sat by a lake in Kenya for millennia, carving and crafting arrowheads.

We can all concentrate like a boss.

It's distractions that are the problem. Our ancestors split shift on kids, which is still the biggest distractor.

But they never had neighbours, phones, TV, or better things to do.

Perhaps one day we shall fine distractors like we fine polluters. Till then its a question of quiet offices.

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distractions AND lack of clear path to clear benefit. You can craft arrows forever, because you clearly know that this will benefit you immensely: you'll get food and you like getting food. It will even make you a perfectionist because you don't want your weapon to break, fail, miss on you. You'll make it stiff, sharp, easy to handle.. it's almost not work it's protopleasure.

That's why primitive life is somehow easier[0] than modern life, you own your struggles. Here, it's dilluted in space, time and society. You have to negotiate, compromise, wait, be a cog in an absurd machine, swallow others belief and limits.. it wears you off

[0]hyperbole

Motivation is natural for us animals, else we wouldn't survive.

  Fish gotta swim, Bird gotta fly
  Man gotta ask himself Why why why

Be sure not discount stress and emotion.

I don't like assumptions based on very early Hans did or not did 10.000 years ago.

Indeed. Early Hans were not genetically distinct from us, but they did not have iPhones to distract them.

Solution? Throw away your iPhone.

If I end up carving arrowheads by the river, that won't help me much :)

It's true that distractions were fewer but the work we expect ourselves to do is also very different. It's unclear to me that just getting rid of the distractions would be enough.

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