What are the benefits of withdrawing from the distractions of the world? What do you replace it with?

[Ambivalent1]

The mainstream and the trivial things I overhear people discuss is empty and ridiculous. So many conversations people have each day are a waste of energy. The latest video game, movie, etc don't register with me as worthwhile.

 

[kwho]

You, as usual, ask the best questions!

 

[Tikva]

MAYBE-BAD-ADVICE ALERT

I stopped pretending to care lol.
If someone approaches me and starts talking about how their spinning class was lit, I reply (honestly!) "That's great!", and start talking about things that interest me—even suicide. People are aware of it and I feel better not pretending anymore, and it actually gives me more strength to feel the love from my people, and find different approaches.
Plus, some things are a way for others to express themselves- so maybe asking that customer mentioned above at my job: "Why do you like spinning classes so much?", will develop the conversation in a deep way. Or not.

 

[Ambivalent1]

MAYBE-BAD-ADVICE ALERT

I stopped pretending to care lol.
If someone approaches me and starts talking about how their spinning class was lit, I reply (honestly!) "That's great!", and start talking about things that interest me—even suicide. People are aware of it and I feel better not pretending anymore, and it actually gives me more strength to feel the love from my people, and find different approaches.
Plus, some things are a way for others to express themselves- so maybe asking that customer mentioned above at my job: "Why do you like spinning classes so much?", will develop the conversation in a deep way. Or not.

I talk about suicide too. It's my favorite topic.

 

[Mirrory Me]

It's an interesting habbit for people to throw money at the screen (it's a systematic bussiness), seems we have an addiction.

 

[grendel4578]

i like thinking of old nostalgic things i used to like as well as looking into obscure facts and history and things like that, it usually helps at least a little, and just isolating myself for some days

 

[Angst Filled Fuck Up]

I think the world is changing. Things like movies and video games feel stale and like they're dying out, in some sense. Just about every possible film has been done, and what do new games bring to the table other than incrementally enhanced graphics or some such? It's a bit like how cell phones feel tired, too. At one point they were new and innovative, with interesting designs and features. Now they're all just ubiquitous slabs with minimally improved features year over year. And that marginal difference or lack of true progress seems to be a common theme when it comes to distractions and interests.

Collectively I think we're all sort of hungering for something more. Maybe it's just me getting older, but I feel sick of just about everything out there and the traditional stuff we use to pass the time feels like it's not worth it anymore. That's a hallmark of depression too I guess, so maybe it's not a good idea to say it so sweepingly. But I know for my part there's this kind of gaping emptiness that nothing can fill. Granted that's due to a lack of purpose too, but on the whole it feels like I'm just sitting around waiting to die.

 

[NumbItAll]

I think the world is changing. Things like movies and video games feel stale and like they're dying out, in some sense. Just about every possible film has been done, and what do new games bring to the table other than incrementally enhanced graphics or some such? It's a bit like how cell phones feel tired, too. At one point they were new and innovative, with interesting designs and features. Now they're all just ubiquitous slabs with minimally improved features year over year. And that marginal difference or lack of true progress seems to be a common theme when it comes to distractions and interests.

Collectively I think we're all sort of hungering for something more. Maybe it's just me getting older, but I feel sick of just about everything out there and the traditional stuff we use to pass the time feels like it's not worth it anymore. That's a hallmark of depression too I guess, so maybe it's not a good idea to say it so sweepingly. But I know for my part there's this kind of gaping emptiness that nothing can fill. Granted that's due to a lack of purpose too, but on the whole it feels like I'm just sitting around waiting to die.

Yeah, as far as I can tell life is now basically just sitting around staring at screens and ordering things from Amazon. I don't think humans are really built for this.

Some random quotes that stuck out to me from things I was recently reading about AI / automation:

And these changes may extend to production as well. Just as we have experienced in the digital art world with Fidenzas, Ringers, and Autoglyphs, music in the future may be similarly generated with deep AI. Based on your mood, a music NFT generator could create a 1/1 piece of music to relieve stress after a long day, or pump you up for a workout.

We aren't competing against our machines, no matter how many human jobs they can do. We are competing with ourselves to create new challenges and to extend our capabilities and to improve our lives. In turn, these challenges will require even more capable machines and people to build them and train them and maintain them—until we can make machines that do those things too, and the cycle continues. If we feel like we are being surpassed by our own technology, it's because we aren't pushing ourselves hard enough, aren't being ambitious enough in our goals and dreams. Instead of worrying about what machines do, we should worry more about what they still cannot do.

Sounds great until you ask what the point of it actually is. Are we actually getting any happier? All these amazing advancements and yet mental health is worsening. But maybe I'm just an out of touch boomer now tbh. Not proposing any solutions here (there aren't any), just bored and looking for something to do like everyone else.