DisruptiveDave

I completed three "micro apps" solely for myself (well, one for my wife and I) over the last month, all vibe coded. I sent two of them (sort of micro mindfulness tools) to a therapist friend. "WOW, I didn't know you could do all that!"

What I told her was, I, in fact, could not do all that. I'm a marketer who's been in software companies for 15 years. Zero coding ability. However, through repeated exposure to programmers, PMs, and designers - and because a major part of my role is to develop a nuanced understanding of how our products create value for users - I've learned how to think like a product designer and developer (albeit to a non-professional degree).

That's the part of the "anyone can now build software" sentiments that seems to be skipped over. Anyone can now have their ideas coded for them, but that doesn't automatically create the ability to make all the right decisions during the design and build process. It doesn't create thoughtfulness and consideration and the willingness to say "no" to a feature because, while it seems cool, it will detract from the core purpose of the overall tool.

There's a pretty good video from HealthyGamerGGG (think I got his name right) on YouTube titled something like: Is ADHD A Superpower for Meditating? It sounds click-baity but I find him quite appealing. As a lifelong ADHDer, meditation has been more beneficial to me than any medicine or other practice.

May I suggest "Man And His Symbols" by Car Jung? It was his final writing and, I believe, his only one that focused on the common(ish) reader as the audience. The basis of the book (and generally his studies and beliefs) is that the subconscious is as meaningful as the conscious, it just communicates in ways that are harder to access in modern society, and therefore it's been pushed away and ignored.

Joy is whatever is happening right now minus your opinion of it. (personally, I'd revise that by swapping "joy" with "contentment" or "peace")

This is buddhism and mindfulness in a nutshell. The only thing about your existence that does not change is that which is aware.

the ol' "name and tame"

Right, it won't change the fact that the finger injury is sending pain signals to your brain. But it just might change what you do in reaction to that signal.

Getting out of school at 2:30 instead of daycare at 5pm says otherwise (my current stressor....).

"never attribute to malice what can be attributed to incompetence"

Ya know what, searching for a picture, printing it out, and taking a pic in this app = not doomscrolling, so, mission accomplished?

I think we need to recognize the constant striving for happiness, and the inevitable disappointment when we don't reach it, as the unhealthy behavior that it is. It's okay, normal, even necessary to feel sad and pissed off at the world sometimes. It doesn't automatically mean something is wrong with you.

No, it doesn't mean something is wrong with you. But repeating that vicious cycle over and over and over and over again is a problem. I had a conversation with my wife the other night about seemingly inane and harmless complaining. "If we counted the number of these kinds of complaints coming from our mouths daily it would be in the dozens, perhaps more." This is death (via discontentment) by a thousand self-administered cuts. Once you see this clearly, when the veil is pulled back, you can't unsee it. It's an epidemic. The fact that it's unrecognizable to most and it is considered "natural" is guaranteeing the problem will never be solved.

I had a thought recently: What if we voted for policies instead of people? A bunch of policies are put forward, we vote on those, then we choose people to implement them/oversee their implementation. I'm sure this falls down under any level of analysis, but as someone who has avoided politics all his life, it seems soooooo ridiculously silly to hold this popularity contest / PR event we call elections.

Ha, I don't live there anymore! The actual "miss"!

Side note, I miss the East River ferry. It made my commute 100x more enjoyable than the subway (except when the ferries would leave my dock early and then yell at me for it).

I think you just proved a point here. That's not "happiness" in the sustainable sense. That's instant gratification. The former requires sacrifice and cultivation while the latter requires nothing but giving in to whatever your monkey mind desires, which of course results in the never-ending loop of chasing the next high.

In my junior year of college (very early 2000s), a senior friend was accused of rape by a classmate. Within two days he had to hide out at my girlfriend's house because a large group of large athletes was on the hunt for him to beat him up. Within weeks he was expelled from school. I don't recall the police ever being contacted.

Turns out the girl was ashamed she voluntarily slept with him. She admitted it to friends a couple months later. That was too late, of course. She received zero punishment. He was "lucky" that the police weren't notified on Day 1.

5 weeks out from my first. Read 4 books. Went to 6 classes. Made lots of spreadsheets for some reason.

Mostly, just getting as comfortable as possible with "me and wifey will figure it all out, like we always do." What's coming will come, and we'll face it when it does.

Also, "have fucking fun, dude" reminders on the hour to myself.

Every. Single. One.

There is not a single interaction in which in-person-ness doesn't add value.

Necessary is a different ball game though. That wasn't my beef. My beef is with anyone truly believing that physicality holds no value.

Telecom technology has matured enough to make personal presence unnecessary

Holy moly that's sad if anyone actually believes this.

For the record, DMC were not sponsored or incentivized by adidas until well after the song was produced and distributed. Basically adidas jumped on an existing trend.

But then it doesn't apply to the course - which aims to produce a result with less hardship.

And my point is it will fail. You won't get the best result without the hardship, and it's disingenuous to claim so. That's my opinion.

Which is what most of us most of the time seek - I have a car because it's less hardship than walking 57km a day in rain to my work. I have an apartment because it's less hardship than living in a tent in a big city. I wear warm clothes in the winter because it's less hardship than being very cold constantly. I read articles because it's less hardship than watching long protracted videos.

I get what you're saying. But I see this as a problem long term. I see an optimization of comfort and "get to the end result as fast and 'efficient' as possible" and I don't like what that says for the future of human beings. Again, my opinion. Neither of us is wrong or right here.

Feel like we're talking about slightly different things here. Bravery has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about what you, as a human being, gain from going through a challenge. A challenge that you need to actively work at overcoming. Your example of your dad doesn't qualify here. That's just dealing with pain, not actively developing a new skill over time.

Let's say I, as a non-runner, decide I want to run a marathon in 6 months. Everything that happens between now and then - setting a goal, learning how to train, putting in the work every single day, fighting through the foot pain, skipping out on that ice cream, etc. - will serve me well beyond the singular race.

That's what I'm talking about. My original post was referencing silly marketing language that improving yourself shouldn't feel like work. Imagine someone stated that "training for a marathon shouldn't feel like work." Yes, it motherfucking should. Otherwise you're just skipping out on the stuff that will make you a better/stronger person in favor of some outcome that doesn't truly matter in the long term.

Do you not see value in overcoming challenges? In experiencing difficulties and pushing through self-imposed barriers? Do you not think someone who trains to climb Mt Everest, experiences the multitude of ups and downs (pun!) along the way, might have developed skills that will serve them in other situations?

Let's imagine someone goes to the gym everyday and never feels a struggle whatsoever. Just straight up leisure. Somehow that person ends up with the desired results of working out.

Now someone else goes through the same process, but it's at least a partial struggle. That person has bouts of wanting to give up, of having to fight through pain and discomfort. That person wakes up half the time and their monkey brain is telling them to skip the gym today, just go back to sleep.

Person B has earned much more than a six pack in this scenario.

Working on yourself shouldn't feel like work

Yes, it should. It should be difficult, challenging, at times it should make you want to give up, confusing, even painful. It should take quite a while, too.

Smaller. And easier to identify.

About a year ago we had to pretty much shut down FB advertising as we simply could not come close to rectifying the click numbers they were reporting to us. That trust broke down much further when you considered conversions and more human-like activity down our funnels.

That said, for another business, FB is absolutely killing it for us.

The difference is in target market size and niche.

I don't believe it, I've experienced it many times. Zero recline in the last row.

And the last middle seat in the entire plane? What happens there?

Another: The general public cares about privacy but not more than they care about the perception of belonging and being a part of any sensation that has to do with social media.