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Comment by wccrawford | Hacker News Reader

I really hate it when people try to turn a negative into a positive like this.

It's wonderful that he's managing to use 2 hours of his day that would otherwise be unproductive and un-fun, but if he had those 2 hours at home, he could choose to do so many more things, including spending them with family or friends.

If you're the type of person who can't do anything productive or healthy unless forced into it, a forced commute could be helpful, I guess. If you have control of yourself and your destiny, a forced commute is a negative thing.

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I agree that the commute situation in the article is negative. However, it's possible to have a discussion on a deeper level that what's being presented here. For example, each way my commute is 50 minutes by bus or 25 minutes by car. I can see people falling on either side of that tradeoff.

+ Car gives me 1 hour of extra time at home and 1 hour in the car, per day. High in cost, high in stress (for me), high in freedom.

+ Bus gives me 2 hours on the bus, per day. Low in cost, medium in stress, low in freedom.

On a personal level I can't utilize the hour each day driving very well. So if I drive I think I get an effective 1.5 hours of work out of it (50% utilization while driving, 1 hour at home). Whereas with the bus I get 2 hours of work pretty reliably. As a recent college graduate, the additional hours of work and savings fit me perfectly. This is a time period where it's smart to rapidly increase your technical competency and savings. As I grow older and have a family, the tradeoff looks different. I think then it would make more sense to spend the money and lose a bit of work time, but have a lot more time at home and a lot more freedom.

Indeed. Nothing is stopping him from reading that book for 2 hours every day in his comfortable couch.

I think it is a matter of "opportunity cost". If you take the commute as a given then the question wrt to the technical tome is: "What must I give up to read this book?" On the train the answer is: "Sleep, stare out the window, solve crossword".

Contrast with home where the answer is: "anything and everything." Then reading a giant technical treatise is not quite as appealing an option.

I'm not advocating long commutes but there is perhaps something to be said for artificially limiting one's choices at times.

I agree with this 100%. I feel guilty staring out a window - that's wasteful - but I don't feel guilty spending an extra half hour with my girlfriend or investing the time preparing myself a nicer dinner.

Reminds me of what I've been hearing orthodox jews say my entire life about the Sabbath. About how great it is because you are forced to not work at least one day a week and spend time with your family etc. For those not familiar, Orthodox jews don't work from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown and can't even "use" electricity or do any labor etc. If you use a refrigerator it has to be rigged so the light is always on and doesn't come on only when the door is opened. Things like that.

Ref: http://judaism.about.com/od/sabbathdayshabb2/f/electricity.h...

If I told you I'm more productive in the office than I am at home you'd probably tell me that's a fairly common reaction from those of us who have been on either side of that fence. This guy tells you he's more productive on his commute than at home and he's "...the type of person who can't do anything productive or healthy unless forced into it." I find that thinking unsound.

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