
Idle Hands Are the Dreamer's Tools - pepys
https://theamericanscholar.org/idle-hands-are-the-dreamers-tools/
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Jun8
A million times this! As they say: "Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted
time". This quote is usually attributed to Bertrand Russell, but he didn't say
it ([https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/06/11/time-you-
enjoy/](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/06/11/time-you-enjoy/)), he _has_
written a good essay titled "In Praise of Idleness", though,
[https://harpers.org/archive/1932/10/in-praise-of-
idleness/](https://harpers.org/archive/1932/10/in-praise-of-idleness/).
However, I think there he was talking about idleness as the opposite of work
forced on you.

Nowadays it's clear that the enemy is not this type of work ("morality of the
Slave State", as Russel puts it), which, since explicit, can always be fought
against, but "fun-work" that you are tricked into doing: browsing the
internet/HN/FB/Instagram/Spotify/etc. continuously to get your daily kicks.
Even in the restroom! My son's room is _packed_ with all kinds of cool mind-
expanding toys, he's usually flustered about which one to play with.

~~~
koolba
> Even in the restroom!

This line stands out as one sits down.

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freshcatch_
Something went horribly wrong when we started demanding never ending work
weeks and 24/7 attention to work.

~~~
some_account
As McKenna said: culture is not your friend.

~~~
fogzen
“What civilization is is 6 billion people trying to make themselves happy by
standing on each other’s shoulders and kicking each other’s teeth in. It’s not
a pleasant situation. And yet you can stand back and look at this planet and
see that we have the money, the power, the medical understanding, the
scientific know-how, the love, and the community to produce a kind of human
paradise.” - Terence McKenna

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EZ-E
This article reminds me that in working days, I thought I barely had any time
to "think for myself"

Wake up, shower, grab coffee and commute (mostly looking at my phone)

Work as a developer (looking at the computer, some occasional short
discussions with colleagues)

Eat at desk (looking at computer or phone)

Commute back (looking at phone)

Back home, maybe watch TV series or play a game (screen again)

It got me thinking that my mind was focused on a screen for 80%+ of the day.
No time to be "idle" and to let my mind wander. Screens, notifications, alerts
and apps designed to suck out as much attention and screen time out of me
dominate the day.

Since then, I thought of changing my field of work and do something more
manual, or that requires me to interact with people. I also picked up playing
instruments and "real" life hobbies since then in an attempt to get away from
the screens.

~~~
zby
When I was still working as a programmer I noticed that many, maybe most,
breakthroughs in my work I made at breaks - at lunches, tea breaks, waking to
meetings, etc. I was stuck and not making any progress trying to work through
the problem - and then when my mind shifted the solution was coming to my mind
from a completely different perspective than what I was trying. It is
counterproductive to get glued to the screen the whole day - it might work
when you solve easy problems, but in programming you all the time need to
solve problems never encountered before.

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keithpeter
[https://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en/visitor/places-to-
visit/m...](https://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en/visitor/places-to-
visit/museums-and-historic-houses/plas-newydd.aspx)

Should anyone find themselves in Llangollen I would recommend a visit to Plas
Newydd (New Hall). There is a sense of quiet there still. Dinas Bran Castle is
worth the climb.

There are quiet places in most towns if you look for them. Back room of a
bookshop, a churchyard, a small garden.

