I gave up TV, then qualified for Olympic marathon trials and got my PhD | Hacker News Reader

I gave up TV, then qualified for Olympic marathon trials and got my PhD

washingtonpost.com

26 pointssonabinu36 comments

We at least have an option of not buying TV. Internet addiction is far worse. The sad part is I can not even avoid my laptop as it is where I do all my work. The device on which we work is slowly the biggest source of our time sink

And now its all ad-free binge watching...sigh.

Just edit your hosts file and route your most time consuming websites (i.e. hackernews) to localhost:

127.0.0.1 news.ycombinator.com www.facebook.com www.youtube.com

On OS X 10.8, routing to 127.0.0.1 did not block the site reliably (with Firefox), but 0.0.0.0 did and still does on OS X 10.11 (with Firefox and Chrome).

You might consider using an app like Freedom, Cold Turkey, or SelfControl to block certain websites at different times.

Some people consider such tools to be a crutch, but unless you'd advise a dieter to keep cookies on their living-room table, you should agree that those people are silly.

The headline implies she went from zero to hero after quitting TV, but she'd already submitted her PhD thesis and was already close to her marathon time goal. I don't think TV was the difference.

Besides, the implication is TV is some morally bankrupt mind-killer, but there's plenty of intelligent programming out there, not everything is "The Bachelor."

Next week's article: I gave up my obsession with marathon training, then spent more time with my family."

Next next week's: I gave up obsessing over my family, then was able to clear my Netflix queue."

> I was feeling proud until I realized I had started to transfer my TV time to Twitter and Facebook. How was that better?

As the author observes, even if you stop watching TV, it doesn't mean you'll automatically be more productive. It's a struggle.

Narcissism, I would argue, is a far more dangerous thing than TV. The author's narcissism lets her celebrate all these unlikable cliches: being a fitness guru, being an "aspiring writer," being an academic overachiever, having a perfect husband and incoming baby or whatever. Then the style: preachy, written in the first person, chronologically. As though the only way to write about yourself is like an upbeat propaganda travel log.

The beautiful thing about a show like Friends is that it takes broken people and makes them likeable. Girls does a great job at mocking a character like the author, and arguably does more to encourage people to do good for themselves than the author does.

Depression has a nasty way of driving us to cut down other people with self-esteem.

I think it's good to depart your self-esteem from immediate social stimuli. People will strut, so let them, and don't react with low latency.

I agree with you here. This is written in the preachy way that people post to Facebook and then say "#blessed" at the end. The whole purpose of this is to say how their lives are better than yours.

Isn't this the main purpose of FB anyway - to boast how much your life is better then everyone's else?

Yes I agree. There are countless number of people who get their PhDs and also are good athletes... I don't see why her story is remarkable. There was nothing about what her thesis was about or what kind of book she was writing...It's not clear what her contribution to science or literature was actually.

The article did not have much content beyond success related words such as PhD, writing and marathon. Someone might as well write an article about their 200k salary.

> It's not clear what her contribution to science or literature was actually.

Her dissertation is here: https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/70983...

Title is "A Novel Role for Fyn in ApoER2 Regulation"

I can't help but wonder whether you have questioned her contribution to science if she was a man and wrote the same article. I'll let you say whether you think you would though, as I could only speculate.

Thanks for the link. I didn't pick up from the article that she was a neuroscientist. When I read the article I wasn't even sure if she was in biology or physics or math or sociology. I don't know why her gender would affect whether or not I think the person should have written about their contribution to science and literature rather than just associating herself with words related to success.

I agree completely. Couldn't have put it better myself. It's written in that oh-so-common upbeat and preachy style so common to the web these days.

Articles on Medium, blogs about 'giving it all up' and backpacking etc. Barf.

Reminds me of the onion article: http://www.theonion.com/article/area-man-constantly-mentioni...

I don't own a TV, but I doubt it makes me any more productive. There are plenty of other ways to waste time if you're not motivated.

I gave up TV, those things didn't happen, but my wife left me, and took the kids and the dog

I'm sorry to hear that.

You should try stand-up comedy

Correlation...

But did she take the truck?

It's a zero sum game, of course. For each person who achieves their goals after stopping watching TV, someone else has theirs crushed.

In college my grades went down significantly when I started dating my future wife Sophomore year. I was a 4.0 Freshman year and only a 3.75 Sophomore year. Definitely causation...

Sorry, I know you're being tongue and cheek, it just made me think of the anecdote :)

One could argue that if I didn't start dating her and get married I would be much more "successful" right now.

Protip: When somebody brings up their wife leaving them and taking the kids, save the marital bliss talk for later.

I never said we were still together or blissful... in fact I said I would have probably been more successful if I didn't get married.

Although the thought hadn't crossed my mind I was being insensitive because I am 80% sure the OP post was a joke. Intentionally in stark contract with the article.

Hence why the other replies are:

> You should try stand-up comedy

> But did she take the truck?

(a joke reference to American Country Western Songs)

If I am wrong and his wife did leave him and take the dog my condolences.

This article makes the assumption that people are not watching TV as a mental decompressor. Depending on your job and hours you may very well not have the physical and mental energy left over to engage in extreme physical and mental activity.

Ego depletion is a controversial model.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego_depletion#Reproducibility_...

I'm pretty sure the article mentions this specifically.

I was also a bit offended by the premise that TV (or video games) has any causal relationship with achievement. I think it's the other way around, some people are not ambitious and spend their idle time watching TV. But watching TV does not keep you from realizing your ambitions. Completely uncorrelated in my view.

I'm a high-producing programmer, and TV and video games play an essential role for me (as does exercise) to restore mental energy.

Actually, I'm a PhD student myself, and Netflix/Amazon/Twitch is how I decompress at the end of a long day of classes and/or research. I guess it depends on the person; some people find physical activity enjoyable, while others (like myself) see it as something that must be done in order to stay healthy.

I have personally found that TV and social media checking are not particularly restorative activities after a stressful day. Light exercise or a nap on the other hand are like a magic elixir. Perhaps the ultimate YMMV.

Some people decompress in weird ways. Ways I decompress...

- Writing code unrelated to what I write at work

- Reading business books

- Exercise

- Mindfulness

- Doing math lessons on Khan Academy

- Watching TV

Arguably 3/5 of those are just as mentally taxing as what I do all day at work yet somehow I am able to recharge. I think for me it is more about changing direction than difficulty.

I gave up _not_ watching TV and found myself more engaged with friends, family and colleagues. A world where nobody watched TV might be a more cultural and educated place, but in the world we actually live in, cutting yourself from it has negative consequences. Everything in moderation.

I watch plenty of TV, but managed to get a Ph.D. in a hard field. Don't worry, TV viewers - you can have it all!

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