Hacker News Reader

Comment by guerrilla | Hacker News Reader

Meta: Why are there fads like this? Like do people not see this? Everyone's suddenly so interested in how great boredom is, before this it was some other crap, then something else. I don't have a point but I just find it mildly irritating for some reason. It does make sense to collectively research things and exchange ideas but at the same time there's something off about it when it comes to mass media, like it's lazy or something.

View on HN

Fads come in waves because it's easier and safer to do or discuss something when it's already on the mind of people around you.

Perhaps the irritation comes from having seen enough media that you've started to see this meta-level pattern, which is stale and eternal.

[Snarky overused The Matrix movie reference goes here.]

People have been interested in intentionally inducing boredom for literally hundreds of thousands of years (under the name "meditation"), so I think it is safe to say it is not a fad by now.

Counterpoint: That's a very superficial conception of meditation.

Meditation is more about learning to focus attention on boring things and discovering that the effort itself is rewarding. It's a lame materialistic description, but it's much closer to the truth. Doing gym stuff is a good analogy: moving weights around and to their original position looks silly to an outsider, but that's because the outsiders try to judge with their minds what can only be understood thru direct experience.

I can understand going to the gym with my mind. People want to look good and be fit

For how long have you practiced meditation?

Meditation was originally used by monks to literally kill the ego/mind. It has nothing to with boredom and can become downright dangerous if practiced in excess - just look up dangers of meditation.

The ego and the mind are not the same.

Herd mentality. We all have it to some extent, even when actively trying to suppress it (me for example). It made human society what it is, and most probably was a great survival advantage early on.

Now it makes masses susceptible to populists, but wasn't it always the case? Just that masses before were even more meaningless and powerless without things like voting rights.

+1 for suppressing herd mentality.

If I find myself in agreement with a majority of people, I usually don't have a long distance to travel to work out where I've gone wrong.

I, too, find it incredibly obvious. Today's fads that are at all adjacent to self-help or productivity are usually doing either of the following:

- Inverting an existing idea

- Excessively applying mechanistic explanations to human problems (see Huberman and dopamine)

To me it's really obvious, but I'm sure there's a constant supply of new buyers who don't know any better.

It's like all trends. Think about fashion. Something new stands out because it's novel. Then it's everywhere because people are seeking it out first to be contrarian or seeking an edge, and then to feel safe. Then something new stands out, and it all repeats.

We're all dissatisfied and trying to fill the void, I guess

Stumble on a well, pump it dry, keep on stumblin'

We know A, B and C are useful. Media just likes to copy each other so when one writes that one of those are good others wants to write the same thing so you see:

Media: A is the shit, everyone do A!

Media few years later: B is best, B B B!

Media even more later: C, never forget C!

It’s even more hilarious when the media’s “source” turns out to be a 20 year old “life coach” with little formal training or other unique circumstance.

"His business was 'approaching bankruptcy', until he harnessed the power of self-delusion"

Reply on news.ycombinator.com