In the winter, I used to stay warm by turning up the thermostat. Then I discovered (via HN) the Low-Tech Magazine article, "Insulation: first the body, then the home." [0] The article argued that it's much more efficient to focus on heating yourself rather than your whole living space.
I invested in high-quality wool clothes that I wear in layers and warm slippers. Now, I keep my home about 5 degrees F cooler than I used to for the same comfort, and it's a big reduction in oil and wood consumption for home heat.
[0] https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/02/body-insulation-ther...
I'm happy to pay the extra cost to heat the room I'm in with a space heater in the winter time.
My favorite t-shirt is now a lightweight filson 100% wool shirt that is just as comfortable by itself at 80 deg as it is under a button up shirt at 30 deg.
And doesn't get cold when wet like cotton does.
It really does fit the "life changing" topic if you've never tried it.
https://www.filson.com/tops/210g-merino-wool-short-sleeve-cr...
> Merino wool is able to ditch the itch thanks to its fiber's smaller diameter, or being “finer”. These fibers are more flexible and softly bend when pressed against the skin and, therefore, don't itch like other wool.
https://www.smartwool.com/discover/why-merino-wool/merino-wo...
There are other wools like possum wool with similar properties that are less ambiguous in terms of ethics. Merino can be ethically sourced.
If usage of animal products is a concern, that seems hardly relevent to a question of the feel of the material. I applaud the concern, just find the "could be" to be glib and/or ignorant
I'm happy to pay the extra cost
As an aside, we've got the externalities of climate change all wrong. Oil is a non renewable resource. We can't just give the planet a bunch of money and have it produce more oil for us to burn when we're uncomfortable. This cost is not really borne by you; it'll be borne by future generations.
It goes against common sense but is human nature.
I don't fault them for it, I'm guilty of it in some situations.
If you care about climate change, you should be advocating for completely green electricity generation, and carbon-neutral synthetic fuels. That would completely solve the fundamental problem.
Our society is fundamentally based on energy, and people like to use energy towards things that give them comfort. Taking away comfort is going to be a "nope" for most people.
It's unfortunate, but it does appear to have the opposite effect on some section of the populace. They just get pissed off and consume more out of spite. One thing to temper that is to massively tax (over-) consumption. Use taxes tend to be regressive, so to avoid targeting the poor, there needs to be some thought put into the tax structure.
If politics is the issue, let's not start about politics and partisanship? I don't know much about USA politics but it seems to me that this automatically turns your comment into something to ignore and dismiss for precisely half your population, as they're part of the party you're blaming as a whole (which might or might not be a fair thing to do).
Clean energy production is an everyone problem. I'd encourage not letting politicians pit you against other parts of the population, which is just an emotionally satisfying substitute to actually addressing fundamental problems.
You can both work with the current reality, where energy produced by non-renewable means should be used with more thought while advocating for a better solution for the future so you can have your luxury of heating the house to 25C if you so wish and can afford to...
I agree on not letting politicians pit one against other parts of the population, I also believe that people should take responsibility and be mindful of the luxuries they want and what's the cost to the general society, not only that you can afford to do it even though it's detrimental to others.
Although I agree that it isn't, in practicality most people do actually think that way, and have room in their heads for only one approach to a given problem.
And many people, for whatever reason, tend to prefer "solutions" that involve hating on some other part of the population. Politicians use this to great effect to avoid actually addressing problems.
This is the reason I so strongly advocate for focusing on fundamentals instead of the limited-return shame-based approaches.
And thus create a Veblen good, or a political status good.
Big trucks are a status symbol in part because they are gas guzzlers.
> completely green electricity generation
The problem with green electricity is that there is no such thing as green electricity.
The wind turbines? Massive blocks of concrete in the ground, heavy machinery to put it in, lifespan not so great. Solar? Destabilizes the grid, takes plenty of minerals to produce, do you know what happens with solar panels after their lifespan?
The only "green" electricity is one that isn't even produced to begin with.
> The wind turbines? Massive blocks of concrete in the ground, heavy machinery to put it in, lifespan not so great. Solar? Destabilizes the grid, takes plenty of minerals to produce, do you know what happens with solar panels after their lifespan?
These are all things that can be recycled given the correct application of energy. Not profitably as a standalone enterprise of course, but energetically positive in comparison to what a given installation produces in its lifetime. Therefore the added cost can be baked into the final cost of the energy produced.
> The only "green" electricity is one that isn't even produced to begin with.
Most of us don't care for your extreme version of "green", so I'll point back to my original comment. You're not going to be able to convince people to willingly give up comfort, so focus on reducing the impacts of people deciding to live that way. "Much better" is worse than "perfect", but "much better" is still better than what we're doing today. You're not going to get "perfect" unless humanity is wiped out completely.
Thing is with wind and solar, that’s the total harm done. When averaged out over the MWh they produce, you realise that in comparison to coal, oil or gas based power their CO2 impact is utterly negligible.
Is there more that can be done to reduce it further? Sure.
But saying because there is some lifecycle CO2 in their usage means they should be considered harmful is like saying cycling to work is harmful just like taking a helicopter, because rubber tyres aren’t entirely environmentally friendly. It’s honestly that absurd a comparison.
I'm in no way advocating for burning coal/oil/gas. I'm advocating for reduction.
If we were looking for an alternative, how is total (incl build/destruction) CO2 impact of wind/solar/etc compared to nuclear energy?
You know without any energy generation limitations, I once calculated that we could grow enough food to feed the world in less than 10000 skyscraper farms and return all those millions of hectares of cropland, pastures and plantations that we have terraformed over thousands of years to nature.
Yes, but we can try to do something about those "Green" activists who prevent the proliferation of the cleanest power on Earth: nuclear energy. Look at what did they do to Germany!
"Has Russia Been Financing Western Environmentalism?" (2022) [0]
"Putin Is Funding Green Groups to Discredit Natural Gas Fracking" (2017) [1]
"German green group branded a Russian ‘puppet’ over Nord Stream II gas pipeline" (2021) [2]
[0]: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18330/russia-funding-envi...
[1]: https://www.newsweek.com/putin-funding-green-groups-discredi...
[2]: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/german-green-group-brande...
Increased low carbon energy by more than the first twelve years of the messmer plan in spite of being betrayed by the SDR immediately and then having the conservatives cut funding further?
"The anti-nuclear movement was one of the key driving factors behind the foundation of the Green Party (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) in 1980." [0]
[0]: https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/history-behind-ge...
It's not customer's duty to pay more than they are asked, either in money or in inconvenience.
Citizen has no meaning in context of economy (except for taxation). So using it in context of economic activity mixes up two unrelated things.
Bad actors in the economy tend to exploit such mix ups to shift the burden away from them.
Read up on introduction and promotion of the concept of individual carbon footprint. Or the reality of recycling which was promoted as alternative to producers of plastic being directly responsible for introducing plastic into the environment.
What's the point of resources if they're not consumed? If we follow your advice to its logical conclusion, then we'd have oils that are consumed by nobody, because every generation doesn't want to consume it for fear of "cost [...] borne by future generations".
Just to add some nuance, this seems to imply everyone has the same environmental psychology. There are lots of (often competing) perspectives. If you have a utilitarian environmental psychology, you may think resources are there to be consumed for human benefit. If you instead have a stewardship environmental psychology, you may feel its your duty to protect those resources from being pilfered.
Stephen Kellert has a good description of these different perspectives in "The Biological Basis for Human Values of Nature". Some of his categories include: utilitarian, naturalistic, ecologistic-scientific, aesthetic, symbolic, humanistic, moralistic, dominionistic, and negativistic. Other researchers define the human-environment interactions differently. For example, [1] defines them in terms of master, apathy, steward, partner, participant, and user. So it's not hard to see why people's thoughts differ on this issue. Like with most human value systems, it's not likely that there is a singular "right" perspective.
[1] https://www.academia.edu/download/53480185/Yoshida_et_al._20...
That's not really the logical conclusion of my advice. In actuality, there's a lot of possibilities between "I'm the one buying it, so I'm the only one dealing with the consequences" and "Not use any oil at all". But I get it, it's easier to argue against strawmen.
It's also easier to feel smug and accuse people of strawmanning when you're engaging in motte and bailey :^)
Accusations of fallacy aside, what is your actual argument then? That there's some non-zero harm inflicted on future generations when we consume fossil fuels, because they won't be able to use them anymore? That would seem like the motte argument, because it's trivially true, but what does this translate in terms of how we should behave? A cost of $0.000001 would be trivially easy to defend, but also means I can turn my thermostat to 78F guilt free.
You also argue that we've "we've got the externalities of climate change all wrong", implying that the future generations not being able to use fossil fuels is somehow worse than people being displaced by climate change today. What is your basis for that?
(Using oil for heating is outrageous, of course; as Mendeleev have said, it is exactly the same as heating your fireplace with money bills).
this is because we don't use very much nuclear power. There is currently enough known uranium reserves to provide 2 years of global energy production at current rates.
Moving the blame from corporations to the individual is how companies have avoided doing anything to combat climate change and only serves to make the individuals who do the blaming self righteous and the ones being blamed bad.
In fact, the person trying to shift blame here is you: by downplaying the smaller yet still significant role of individuals in a sustainable future.
We could easily have abundant nuclear energy so that “home heating” would be a non-issue and trivial cost.
Everyone's all "we must care about the environment" but then you ask them why Germany isn't reforesting (after razing the cities they built on old forests) and why Europe is deforesting at an accelerated rate and it's all this and that.
Plus, y’know, winter clothes are the best clothes. Tweeds, woolens, gloves, coats, scarves, hats: all these are great!
I was amazed to find out that even in this air conditioned age we spend far more heating buildings than air conditioning them (four times as much, according to the first Google hit I just found). That means that it makes a lot more sense to dress warmly in the winter than lightly in the summer.
"radiant IR" (red glowing elements) type heaters are wonderful tools for heating the body instead of the air.
(But if you've got some kind of super-insulated house, then never mind.)
Also, I'm not sure if there is an easy way to actually increase humidity without reducing the temperature. From my experience, increasing humidity while keeping the overall temperature at the same time requires additional energy.
Also, less humid air may allow you to actually wear less cloths as it is more difficult for the air to get energy off your body.
So, in that environment adding moisture makes the air warmer. (with proper heating of course)
I learned from a swimming teacher "water transmits heat/cold 10 times faster than air", therefore a logical conclusion is that dry air is insulating more than moist air.
Heat and cold transfer in air happens, just take your shirt off, you feel the temperature change immediately. Go to a very, very cold climate with dry air, if there is no wind, it truly doesn't affect you that badly. Same with Arizona in the summer ("it's a dry heat" is a state motto, IIRC)
In my experience 60 is cold no matter what. But feeling cold at 70 degrees stinks.
In England or Ireland? Ya, damp all the time all winter. It just depends on the environment. (don't want anymore moisture in the air)
You simply need layers and good enough deodorant. A bit of experience helps as well - you learn how warm to keep your base layer after some time. If you sweat in non-standard places (like under breasts), spray deodorant might be your friend.
I personally deal with this because of hormones - I'm a female in my mid-40s, so I get to have hot flashes and night sweats during part of my cycle right now.
For instance, I've finally learned to embrace "long-john" style long underwear under my pants, but it's only possible because I'm working from home. They are amazing layers for warmth, but unlike additional shirts, hoodies, jackets, scarves, hats, long underwear can't be casually removed. You have to take off your shoes and your pants! So if (when) I was going into an office, I always made the choice to have cold legs during the commute but comfortable legs all day. Now I can wear them in the morning, take them off if the day warms up, and put them back on whenever the temp. drops again.
But overall I'll echo a few comments in here that some of the more expensive gear, even as base layers, really is better technology. And getting to know my body and my situational habits, it's been possible to figure out layering clothing that worked for me, but only because I was working in tech and felt like I had enough money to get it wrong a couple times... If I were still living on a student or even "average" budget, I would've been much shyer about trying some new $30 shirt just to see if it agreed with me.
https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2022/01/the-revenge-of-the-h...
(HN discussion from 2022 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30023681)
If anyone her wants to pay the postage from NZ, I'll happily send them around the world for no cost :)
Alternatively, keep some fingerless gloves around - or learn to knit/crochet/sew and make some (they aren't all that complicated for something basic). For around the house, you could honestly convert some socks if you aren't worried about how they might look. I'd get some of the no-fray glue they sell at craft stores if you go this route. These are great when you are idle.
What can the doctor do about it?
Yes, doctor said I have poor circulation in my extremities. Except she said that using Latin, so that was super helpful. /s
From what I've read, the body primarily measures core temp around the chest, so wearing lots of layers on the body can cause the extremities to get cold since the body goes "everything is warm enough, no need to even try and warm things up with extra blood flow!"
So paradoxically, wearing less clothes can help.
But what do you do when you're spread-eagle naked in the shade and still sweating like a pig? That's not a place for humans =)
There is a saying where I live that wind is when the sheep don’t have curly hair anymore. And rain when the fish are swimming on your eye level.
In all seriousness though, it’s of course true.
Another factor is to keep the material thin between the fingers or it affects typing. Wish I could design my own (sigh).
My main issue in the winter is my feet. (And I hate slippers.) Maybe I'll get one of these and put it under my desk.
[0] https://www.birkenstock.com/us/arizona-essentials/arizona-ev...
[1] - https://www.thenorthface.com/en-us/sale-c829803/mens-thermob...
something like these https://www.primark.com/en-gb/p/thinsulate-knitted-gloves-bl.... The particular ones I have also seem to work somewhat on touchscreens which is useful for the commute home
This works even when my hands are the only part of my body that feel cold. The body is effectively prioritizing keeping my core warm instead of the extremities, so adding insulation to the body has the trickle-down effect of warming the hands. On the other hand, trying to warm just the hands never feels like enough.
The scarf goes on the inside of the coat.
If you put the scarf on the outside, like you think you've seen in TV and movies, it's just decoration. Put it on the inside and it's an insulation layer and it blocks the cold air from blowing down your front. Absolutely game-changing. (Also, have a good coat, but that one seems more obvious to people.)
Hollywood doesn't know what winter is :P
I can tie a scarf to be just slightly looser than the gaiter, and the extra space decreases the dampness massively, while still retaining almost all of the warmth.
It does get a bit moist after prolonged biking, but not badly, and that's not really against my skin.
The main effect is that there's a little pocket of exhaled warm air, just enough to mix with the next inhalation and help warm it a bit.
I don't know what happened but it is as if this was never a problem at all. And it is not "getting used to the bad thing" I just don't feel bad at all.
Breathing through the nose only helps.
After two weeks of doing that (I started around Christmas) it was not a problem anymore.
At my local college there are a lot of people from the Bahamas. They often wear hoodies and sandals with socks in the winter! It can get to -20C here and hoodies just won't cut it and sandals with socks could very quickly mean frost bite.
Yes scarfs are great since necks are a prime spot to loose heat during winter. A scarf or even a hood both together are even better. Long coats too none of these waits level ones get a coat at least past your waist preferably past your butt.
Layers are important more for temperature control. Even a hoodies and some sweaters can be warm if you have enough and one outside with wind protection.
Boots not sneakers to keep warm and the grip. So many people wear sneakers all winter now it blows me away. They're slippery, cold, and they probably cost more than winter boots these days.
But for a few years I lived in a very well insulated (smallish) apartment in a moderate climate. When it would get cold, I would turn the heat on. My bill would go up by a few dollars.
Then, I changed jobs and started working in a colder building. I spent more on warm clothes than I usually spent on heat! (And I had baseboard resistive heating, and I payed extra for wind power.)
A sweater and warm socks are game changers, as is a warm winter jacket and a good scarf. Add some tea and candles and the winter isn't half bad anymore. It's much easier to get through the cold months if you don't dread being outside.
So most likely you still need to keep heating on but it might not need to be super high - just enough to have convection from heater moving air at home and having some ventilation letting in a bit of outside air in and warm one getting moisture out.
I wish floor heating was more widespread where I live.
Just silly not to focus the heat where the need is. Do you light up the whole house to illuminate your desk?
I'm not guessing or imagining anything, I know it's much worse.
I focus the heat where the need is - the air around me. Otherwise, everything you touch is cold, the air you breath is cold, exposed skin gets cold. Sex only under blankets? No thanks.
To be clear, I'm not talking about freezing, everything under 18 degrees C is really cold for me, and under 23 degrees C is somewhat cold.
People talk about wearing fingerless gloves at home - yeah I did that as a kid because we were poor, never doing it again unless I go broke.
That's what happens when central planning makes the above observation.
I just moved and now renting a place with electric water heater with pump moving that heated water around via radiators. It is quite large apartment with shitty, to be honest, insulation. The difference between "I put several layers of clothes on" and "I am wearing a t-shirt" is about 600 kWh per month. The same amount of energy is needed to prodice 30 kg of aluminium or run a single rack in a datacenter for just 2 days.
Never in your life your energy consumption can be compared with industrial usage. Likewise, never in you life your water consuption can reach a visible fraction of agricultural irrigation. Stop listening to coprorate PR.
If every home ran a server rack for two days a month, or produced 30kg of aluminum, that would obviously add up extremely quickly.
Congratulations...
At some point, I yelled, "It's like you don't even want to see any of my things when I'm not using them!" Then I stopped for a second. For the first time in my life, it made sense.
The whole point of putting things away is to hide them! No one wants to look at your crap when you're not using it.
Its just not even on my radar
(Perhaps related: a `util` class is basically a junk drawer in a kitchen. Some kitchens are basically just giant junk drawers. Good luck finding anything, but hey putting things away is super easy - just put it wherever it fits!)
Life hack: if you keep all your bottom cabinets open, you don't have to bend over to see what's inside :^)
Open shelving is a thing. No one said your cabinets need to have doors.
I'd been living here for like 5 months at that point and had completely blocked out the noise of a dead fire alarm in my basement.
Same way the top shelf of the fridge disappears. Bad angle.
Both require bending over then standing.
Edit: There’s just enough room to back up and see it all in the cabinet. I’m sorry I lied.
But I also think it's a difference in how we were raised, because he does not push his chair in after leaving a table either..........
It's funny you mention the cabinets. My wife and I can tell whenever my siblings have been over: they're all incorrigible cabinet goblins.
I still leave cabinets open, but it's typically because I'm using it as a reminder to return whatever I had taken from the cabinet. Of course, my Cabinet Sight still has a ways to go, so the thing doesn't get returned until I actually notice the open cabinet the next day.
Perhaps this is a regional thing... living in Michigan I've always let the water warm up first (perhaps drought is a concern where you live?)
Also, most showers I've used automatically switch back to tub mode once the water shuts off. Maybe he's used to that style!
this is nice indeed, but not universal sadly
> Do you get in the shower before turning it on?
In some large buildings I've lived in, it takes like 1 second for the water to be warm -- it's magnificent. So yeah, if you have a shower-over-tub in that kind of place it is easier to get in, have the 12 ounces of cold water go harmlessly into the tub, then switch to shower.
My better half has very few things that catch my attention in a less than positive way, one is not turning off the lights. It’s like a museum tour to learn what has been visited that day.
They have had the lights turned off for them their whole life despite being super independent otherwise. So I just used it as an excuse to install some Caseta wifi light switches and suddenly the lights were turned off before bed because it was remembered but too much work to do once in bed. But because the Apple Watch had an extension app it was easy enough to do. It doesn’t mean everything should be automated but it was one that kept a small thing into a fun and easy going solve. It made it easier to consider motorized blinds due.
I am not an organized person, I see a horizontal surface and I put stuff on it. But leaving doors open? I don’t think I even take my hand off the cabinet door when I open it. One hand for the door, one for the thing I’m getting.
The only door I leave open is the washing machine, so it can dry out. It gets closed the next time I’m in the laundry room though.
It's just as easy for the next person to put it down as it was for me to put it up.
I guess it doesn’t really matter if your toilet is in its own room, but at least most houses in the US have the toilet next to the sink (where your toothbrush is).
Put the seat down before you flush, because it’s more sanitary.
[1] https://microbiologysociety.org/news/society-news/does-putti...
[1] I think Mary Roach talked about this in this interview by Adam Savage, but don't remember exactly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfZ9RrxQ5NM
But also, what does dusting have to do with leaving doors open?
I am probably in like the 99th percentile of aloof people
We have an ongoing battle about where whisks live: with the blender and beaters, or with the cooking spoons and ladle.
Our rule is “whoever empties the dishwasher gets to put things where they think they belong”.
I have not tried using one as a ladle but I have low expectations.
Our home has a two-stage "recycle bin" policy, though: some of my stuff "gets moved" to a random box in the cellar; if I don't ask for it for a few months, it gets "donated". You know.
There’s a similar trick for papers covering your desk; without looking, shove them all in a Manila folder, date, and seal. If you haven’t felt compelled to open it in three months, throw it away without opening.
Admittedly the utility depends on how much you/your office likes paper. Or if you go to an office.
My family moved into our house when I was 3. Around age 9 we were going to finish the basement and a stack of boxes from the move came into discussion. When I proposed the idea, it was not really considered by my parents.
I've proposed it again to my wife after a move or two, and again she didn't take me up on it.
Maybe someday I'll get to give the method a shot.
This needs to be ~1 year, to make sure there's nothing important for taxes in the pile.
Just put random crap in a box with a date in it. You can take it out if it is useful but you can't put new stuff in. Once the date is up, toss/sell it.
Basically expiration date for stuff.
I like having tools in my home, don't get me wrong, but storage being free is an illusion. I still think the cost to be worth it.
You're spending mental power indexing all the things you have. I assume you pay for your dwelling, dollars-per-sqft is a thing to consider.
Doing the Amazon route (which is exactly what I do) means I know I have every cables I could ever need within 24 hours. And I don't have to remember where I last put it, and I don't have to deal with knotted cables, and I don't have to wonder when a thing doesn't work, is it the cable?
I'd say Amazon is not necessarily a guarantee of that.
Instant access to useful items is valuable. Think of it like... caching for tools. I like having items I need within reach. I'd love a bag like Hermione's in Harry Potter.
Waiting 24h is a lot if you're in flow and you want that thing _now_ dammit!
Even then, it's most likely even more expensive, because if it's just an off-the-shelf HDMI cable, you'd probably have one around. Look for the cheapest SCSI cable, if you don't think so.
I don't want to say 'store everything', but just backordering stuff is much more expensive in my experience.
Video game output cables are already hard to find for cheap.
The bins sit neatly on a shelf and I know exactly where to find any type of cable I need. The cable wraps prevent them from turning into giant tangled messes.
Not zip ties.
I'm not the person you're asking.
The diameter of the circle depends on the cable length and thickness. 2m USB cable should be 10cm, 3m power cord should be 20cm, and 10m Ethernet cable should be 30cm.
[1] https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/8-x-1-2-Black-and-Gray-Cable-Ti...
I actually tested all my microUSB cables and found out majority of them had trouble delivering over 1A of power through them -> bin.
For the rarer ones I kept one of each (usb-a->usb-b, mini-usb etc), the ones that were the best quality.
Never.
I never would do that and my wife never did this.
I notice this in reverse as well, it's probably best when moving in with someone to get a new place and set expectations early.
It helped me to start putting things away in drawers and so on, but also to think about how often I use them, or if I still need them.
The tv show was about "proffesional organizers".
(this wasn't factoring in WFH, of course—I think most of the important original work was done in like the 70s)
Pfff, fancy posh TV lady with her ACTUAL DEDICATED STORAGE SPACE in SPACIOUS HOME.
Well, there is another reason. When your room has a consistent default state, it's easier to look around the room and notice anything that is unusual. It makes the room into a sort of sensor. When it is always changing states — things here one day, there another — any changes can be missed. Subconsciously, we usually feel calmer when we know what's going on around us, which is facilitated by an orderly living/working environment.
Yet compare that to if I'm staying in a hotel. I just look around on the 5 surfaces -- nightstand, dresser, desk, bathroom counter, bingo, of course it was in one of those places and it sticks out obviously. 10 seconds max.
Devil's in the details of course, and I haven't yet been able to declutter, but I intuitively know you're right.
https://nathanwpyle.threadless.com/designs/we-own-things/hom...
When I hide things I just forget that I have half of them almost immediately. Let alone remembering where I have them.
I can have things that get "put away" i.e. in a container/cabinet/drawer/room IF that container will be something that I open and access at least every other day. Otherwise, things that get put away out of sight are GONE until I accidentally stumble across them years later.
Limited exception: if there is a tool or device or something that is so uniquely suited for a task that when presented with a task where it would be useful I will immediately think of the tool—and thus remember that I have it—I can safely store it away, as long as the place I'll put it is the first place that I'd look for it.
Kitchen bowls/pans/etc (though one of the Exception items is a really cool apple corer-peeler-slicer thing that can be in the back of a cabinet for months but I'll never forget it during apple-baking season)
FOOD IN THE FRIDGE is the worst (food in the pantry not much better)
Flavours of liquor, if I don't have them all out in the open on the bar-buffet
Oh hey let me look in the drawers of my desk RIGHT NOW and list semi-useful stuff I forgot was there:
Whiteboard markers
Business envelopes
A backup hard drive
Most of a ream of printer paper
A pair of thin knit gloves that I've used in the past to type when the room was cold but I haven't seen or thought about in years
A small wad of foreign money from two trips ago that actually would have been useful on my last trip abroad
A supply of staples
...that's not an exhaustive list. And it'd be longer, except three of the eight drawers are empty because I try not to keep stuff in drawers, because I'll forget about them.
Then there is me looking for something for half an hour or more then finally finding it exactly where it was supposed to be.
Ah, the 'housekeeper strategy.'
The BEST thing about the $600 a month we spend having weekly housekeeping is that it brutally forces us to put shit at least SORT OF "away" in a frenzy every Sunday night. Because if we don't, the housekeepers will stuff it into the a random drawer or cupboard, or throw it away, or otherwise stack it in a random place. So at least if WE do it, we'll have an idea where we would have put it when we're looking for it.
This isn't the wrong choice by the way -- I mean, they couldn't clean if they had to respect the random spot where they find each little item.
Accounts>2020>July>july_20.xlsx
For other stuff is a nightmare because it often could be in 2 places. Maybe you have a folder for <bosses_name> and one for HR...now your boss asks you for that hr thing he asked you to do 2 years ago, where is it?
I give my non-hierarchical files filenames with as much meta data as possible, and stick them all in one folder. Search does the rest.
I save my temporary files in my downloads folder. Now and again I delete stuff from a year or so ago.
Symlinks are an obvious solution for OSes that support them, without having to resort to tagging and/or search search
The kids (4 and 5) have adapted to this wonderfully. It really helps them. It makes cleanup a trivial task because everything is known to belong somewhere specific.
Related to this: the recognition that everything is harder in a messy home. If you have stuff everywhere, you are paying a small tax any time you want to find or do something. Even cluttering your cupboards and drawers means you're tediously sifting through too much stuff or constantly worried about knocking something over while getting something else out. It's been especially good to avoid the dance of removing items to get the items underneath, then putting them back.
Finally: the lesson that when you keep stuff, you are paying a "tax" on keeping it. Throw away stuff you don't think you'll ever need again. It's cheaper to re-buy 1 or 2 things than to keep 100 of them for years and years. That storage space could be better used.
Bonus: If everything has a home, and you run out of homes, you quickly recognize that you have too much stuff and it might be time to make trade-offs. This puts an upper bound on the amount of stuff in our home.
Note that this could all easily sound super hardcore but it's not. It's just a general guide we have. We aren't forcing our kids to throw excess toys away and we're not writing a book about it. A flexible tool to guide behaviour, not enforce it.
We DO have a "junk drawer" but it's really just a "assorted kitchen stuff" drawer. You'll find birthday candles, matches, elastics, twist ties, etc. but that's their home.
Super fun semantics talk because we love semantics: maybe your junk drawer isn't a junk drawer? Maybe you know exactly what's there and why. Homes are of all different sizes and maybe that works perfectly because you don't need things like a battery cupboard.
I can't help but hear that in a northeastern accent like from the folks from This Old House :)
This blew my mind wide open. Absolutely game changing. The space works for us, not the other way around!!
Conversation from last weekend -
"I want those brown shoes. They're so nice and fit like they're made for me"
"You're shoes are overflowing your side, into mine and now into the corridor. I think you have too many."
"I don't have any that are like boots. I want brown ones for the city.I'll wear to my $event"
"You got yellow ones last month. They look like boots"
"They're for a hike. These are for the city. I don't like being told about my shoes."
And then there were more shoes.
Same night -
"I need to donate my old clothes"
My several attempts to understand this have been fruitless.
This might belong on the short list of things to work around, rather than work through.
It's nobody's fault shoes are bigger than earrings except the architect/builder who didn't accommodate that in the closet. :-)
I'm a guy, and I do this, too. I have two identical pair of boots. One pair is for "clean" things, such as going to the store, the office, etc. The other pair is for "dirty" things, such as yardwork, hiking, gardening, woodworking, etc.
As my "clean" boots age and wear, I swap them out for a new pair, and the previous "clean" boots become my new "dirty" boots. It's a cycle I've been running for decades now.
The hike vs city distinction makes sense to me, regardless of gender.
I was having a hard time thinking about what I'm doing wrong, but I think this is close enough. I'm so inspired to steal some variant of this disclaimer especially this part: "We aren't forcing x to do y and we're not writing a book about it."
“This is great for the kids!” Maybe! Or, equally plausibly it’s annoying, but they don’t tell you.
The first thing that comes to mind is how to communicate this without people thinking, "oh those poor kids, they've been brainwashed into being neat freaks." I guess the answer comes in: 5yo is not like this and that's fine. Their rooms are usually a mess because they're kids. And our house is usually a disaster because we have kids and are tired. Just because everything has a home, doesn't mean we're perfect about it... far from it. The kitchen would usually horrify you.
The kids genuinely love it because when they ask to get out the slime or do arts and crafts, and we say, "but first you have to clean up your other toys," that's a task they are 100% capable of doing themselves. It gives them agency.
Haha, your world is going to be rocked in two decades, when your kid casually mentions something you thought they “loved” but really thought was stupid. It’s almost like you’ve forgotten your own childhood!
It's even got an entry in TVTropes![3]
But why would you have a "sorrowful empathy" because I have a passing knowledge about childhood and children? You can't seriously think you're going to always know what your children are thinking or that they're even being entirely straightforward with you now, can you? Surely they have their own lives by now even a little bit, some space for their own that you're not involved in and don't know about.
[0] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15473508/
[1] https://archive.nytimes.com/parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009...
[2] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/201407/parents-j...
[3] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DoesntKnowTheirO...
Maybe it's not well known! Maybe it's extremely rare! Maybe I've got biases! Who knows, I certainly wouldn't. You have no idea what my qualifications are, what my expertise is, and generally there are no social consequences for me spouting nonsense, so there are not a lot of good reasons to listen to whatever my argument may be, right or wrong.
Even if they really liked it and adopted it, then they would not be able to cause chaos and destruction, to embrace disorder, noise, unpredictability of things (both physical and social/abstract). This would be to their disadvantage.
Too much order, not allowing for chaos is _not_ good for kids. Ways of chaos and destruction should be welcome. Order should be welcome. Walking lightly between the two, while maintaining contact _and_ giving kids freedom is not an easy task, I think.
To add to this, I have a dedicated place for almost anything, as I code things rather spatially than visually, so I think it's great. I just think it is important to leave lots of freedom for kids. It's like difference between "I see you did not put all things away today" vs. "How are you doing in 'everything needs to have a home' department, today?"
All the best!
I eventually realised he bought things without thinking about where to put them, when he got home with it. So it just sort of would get abandoned wherever. There was no assigned "away" for him, and I was assuming there was. Baffling, but at least it wasn't passive-aggressive like I had thought. Some of my habits eventually wore off on him, thankfully.
A related theme is: I don't have anywhere to put this even after thinking about it -- then you probably have too much stuff!
And it took much longer until I realized it's actually not silly.
Now I try to live this way, with limited but increasing success.
I seldom run into the problem of not having anywhere to put something. On the other hand, I often run into the problem of being unsure of how best to categorize something so that I can decide where it should belong.
But if it's an extra pair of glasses or something fragile, you don't want it getting tossed around other things like metal tools or otherwise damaging things.
Other times, I leave things out of place in the open deliberately to remind myself to do something. This could be placing a bill or usually other paper items right at the end of the dinner table to force myself to remember taking care of it. Another example is leaving a cardboard box near the front door to recycle it later. It's intended to ugly up my space to bug me and take care of it.
So, I often use my physical space as a natural to-do list of sorts. Works well!
or not enough clear surfaces x)
Ok, learned something. I never think about where anything will be placed when I buy them. I basically hope that I can move stuff and it will fit. No wonder my place is always messy. I know this is basic but I never even thought about it. Live and learn... Thx!
I keep several shelves full of stacking storage boxes in my garage. I’ve given each of these a unique number, written in permanent marker on the front face and lid of each. I chuck things mostly randomly in whatever box has some space, and then I track those newly added/removed items in a spreadsheet (more specifically, I just use a text file and treat the line numbers as the respective bin number — primitive, but works better for my workflow than something like Google Sheets).
I’ve found that trying to keep an immense inventory “organized” is too daunting (what happens if I overflow one bin — do I dedicate an entire bin to the one or two items that wouldn’t fit, leaving this bin mostly empty? Ugh!), and the only real utility with keeping things categorically collocated is to retrieve/store items efficiently anyway — by introducing a layer of indirection, I get the end result I’m looking for with a fraction of the work.
I've been applying that to my own life lately, and I think he's right.
I have a lot of stuff, probably too much. Some of it I haven't touched in years but only a relatively small portion of it would I consider getting rid of. I tend to go through cycles of interests where I will work on some category of thing for a few months and produce a few items and then I'll exhaust my creativity in the matter and leave it to lie fallow. Later on I'll pick up the pursuit again and I happily have everything I need to hand. Nothing is worse than being in the midst of making something and realizing you haven't got the part you need, you're left with a few options: to buy it, scavenge it, or make it; all of which take time and effort away from the thing you are working on.
The minimalist life may appeal to some, I can understand the sentiment. I've spent holidays away from home in a serenely empty cabin with nothing but nature and a book. It's pleasant but it grows tiresome after a while and I yearn to be back in the shed, tinkering and building.
I find my ad hoc organizational style is by far the most effective for me. It's like a LIFO data structure. The most frequently used items (phone, laptop, TV remote) are in the easiest to reach places. My beach and fishing stuff are near the door in the summer, the salt and shovel make their way there in the winter.
I think people with the rotational-evolving quality tend to organize things in time rather than space, which doesn't look right to most people who think the other way around.
I tend to be the Goldilocks principle. I do get rid of things that I know I'll never use--especially if they're bulky. But I don't mind keeping things around that I may get back into someday. Or want for the occasional thing. And I can keep some magazines and piles of books lying around, seasonal clothing piles, travel stuff grab boxes, etc. laying around without them taking over. If people were coming over, I might spend an hour tidying up but it's a happy medium for me for the most part.
Does it count if everything goes into one big box?
Or if I just declare the living room as the home for my stuff?
This, absolutely.
They take up more cupboard and bench space around the house then the additional 2 people did before.
Makes it challenging in a house to find space when you need it, if it's already filled simply because there was a free space.
If you’re in the bottom drawers, less closet space, back of the fridge, at the bottom of the pile, the the more awkward storage space, fewer drawers, appliances that like to be seen but not used, or more of your stuff is in storage it might not entirely be you.
At the same time it’s valuable to learn to build shared storage solutions jointly to let both (and little ones) put the items most used, important or at hand is a critical skill to develop together, early on.
Otherwise deferral or indifference can be quite tough when one of you might have a change of heart.
There are many thinna that happen in life where you will literally not remember to do.something (medication, etc) if it’s not sitting out on the counter.
You can't hide their makeup that they are not using, the 10 bottles of shampoo with different colors and allegedly different properties, the 7 bottles of hair conditioner etc etc
So everyday I wake up to something like this, but worse
https://i0.wp.com/blog.cliomakeup.com/wp-content/uploads/201...
Lucky us we have two bathrooms, so we can keep one tidy, right?
WRONG!
The second bathroom is for the exclusive use of our 2 cats.
Could I have a say about it?
Of course not.
Is it logical?
Absolutely not.
People don't want to see other people's crap, but are more than happy to live surrounded by their own.
If there's a paradise, many people deserve it just for going through all of this, every day.
[1] https://images.thdstatic.com/productImages/a34bd723-d555-429...
Clutter intolerance can have a profound impact on daily life for sufferers. Many will engage in maladaptive coping strategies such as ritualistic tidying and avoiding cluttered rooms or spaces. Whether tolerance can be improved through therapy is an area of active research. Unfortunately, clutter intolerance is thought to be neurobiological.
“There, doesn't that feel better?”
“Yes [I will say anything that will make you go away, and then I will cower in the corner of a room that is no longer my bedroom in a suite that is no longer my home]”
It's also a battle because of the clutter, 10% of it is mine, and I never move their stuff.
The problem comes in when there's something that could reasonably be trash (usually a box that I might need to return something) gets tossed. :(
EDIT: change "private zones" to "public zones"
This reminds me of the difference between 'tidy' and 'organised' .. They are independent properties and an area may be very tidy while being very disorganized and vice versa.. Eg. typical thing where if there is a pile of random crap on a table someone will dump it all into a drawer. The area is now more 'tidy' but also more disorganized.
Tidiness is superficial, whereas being organized has practical benefits.
Trust me, I suck at tidying and have a cluttered mess, so I'm not being Marie Kondo here.
Your logic works but only so far. If you put nothing "away" all your "working surfaces" will eventually be covered with crap -- except of course it's not crap, it's your things that you intended to keep easily at hand. It'll make it so that it's a chore to find things and also a chore to have a useful space to actually DO anything. Sure, leave out a set of favorite often-used stuff, like say, bread on the counter instead of away in a pantry, your most-worn shoes on the floor by the door, whatever. But curating that set of stuff that is important enough to be "just left out" is important, and it's a REAL challenge for me!!
In my experience women do this a lot. I don't know if it's some kind of an evolutionary thing. On the one hand that it was something women traditionally did and can't let go, on the other that it is/was a way to make themselves more important. You become very important when somebody needs you all the time to tell them where things are.
It talks about needing less space in general and being more free, simply by having fewer things, since things beget things; the more things you have, the more organizational containers you need, in turn creating yet more things and yet more space to store them in. Since then, I've tried to actively limit the amount of things and space they take up, since I hate clutter, but I hate organization as well.
I chose the word "yelled" because it was the simplest way to imply the frustration/betrayal/hurt I was feeling at the time. In retrospect, I could have said, "cried out," and captured the emotion/action more accurately without sacrificing brevity. But that phrase didn't occur to me at the time.
Words are hard.
I realized also that this is a TERRIBLE reminder system. I started putting everything in OneNote and my calendar via the Getting Things Done Methodology, and I'm honestly upset that no one ever taught me such a system a long time ago. I've been told a million times to "use a planner", "write things down", "use a calendar", "use a notebook" etc. etc., but no one ever told me HOW to use those things. Getting Things Done is awesome because it told me almost exactly how to use that stuff, and the effect has been life-changing for me. My spaces have never been cleaner, and I've never been more effective in my life.
Some people have mental disease that makes them annoyed where the flat surfaces are covered with immediately useful and easily accessible stuff and act up. "Oh look at those flat surfaces that don't get used for anything useful 99% of the time, how neat and tidy"
Some other kind of people have different disease of just leavin shit lying around for months and never use it, where it should be put back in storage (or bin) weeks ago already. "Don't touch my stuff, if you move it I won't remember where it is!" (then promptly forgets and wastes time searching thru clutter anyway.
Sane compromise is somewhere in the middle. Don't constantly hide the favourite knife every fucking day, ain't nobody got time for that shit. But probably clean it so the next time you use it you won't waste time on that. Cutting board can stay out, you use it every day, multiple times anyway.
Make your home work for you, don’t work for your home.
If that means the best way for you to live your life is to leave things out so you can find them more easily, then do that. Chances are though that having a “home” for everything (mentioned in other comments) is going to work better for you. It’s a process of learning and iteration.
Part of the motivation is the minor discomfort of seeing so many projects open and set aside. For me the solution is to complete projects, not categorize and hide everything.
She freaked out when I told her, but it came with two keys and I gave her one so she doesn't think I'm hiding anything from her.
Also I firmly believe really nice drawer hardware, like soft close and good runners can encourage this behaviour by making operation enjoyable. Grew up with very satisfyingly click put to open drawers, in retrospect not as functional as direct pulling, but man that click conditioned me to want to tidy.
Ideally I'd have ceiling-to-floor shelves EVERYWHERE.
GTD says your mind is not so much storing to-do's as for processing them. Likewise, the contents of spaces. Memorizing contents is unnecessary mind clutter.
Cabinets without doors, and shelves without doors are critical too. I'm not sure why but if I do not have regular visible sight of things, they may as well not exist and I will quickly forget that they are there, leading to all kinds of chaos.
I think that it is rather to have them all in one place, and that they do not take the place of other things or are in your way.
The fact that they are hidden is because they are behind a door, probably to avoid that catching dust.
What was that HN article recently of Las Vegas and windows on buildings more of something causes distress and less is more soothing to a point.
Realizing that sitting for 8 to 12 hours per day coding is catastrophic for my health.
Understanding the incredibly high and hidden cost of conflict and anger. Films romanticize fighting the good fight. Avoiding a fight (legal, arguments, etc) until you absolutely can’t is worth a lot.
Creativity and intellectual progress happen in a quiet relaxed and happy environment.
Leadership starts with humility.
Big companies signal unassailable leads and competence but tend to be wildly dysfunctional which makes them vulnerable.
Yoga fixes lifelong back pain that drugs, swimming obsessively, chiropractors and workouts could not fix.
Confronting death isn’t that scary, even for an atheist.
We don’t deserve dogs.
Everyone is the main character in their story, including you.
You can be good at just about anything you love doing but can’t be good at many things.
You can’t buy time but managing your time obsessively has its own cost.
Early mornings are a very special time because no one else is up and it is the quietest and most productive part of the day.
That resonates strongly with me. It's better to just take the loss because entering a conflict because of it will cost more, even if you win, in almost all cases.
I used to look at dogs and think that if any other sentient species came by, the things we'd done to an apex predator would be sufficient to mark our species for quarantine at best, but I was playing with a friend's dog the other day and it occurred to me that we've aggressively selected for the happiest, most loyal, friendliest critters we can find - that's what we want, that's what we want to be around*. The world's complicated and our actions in it don't always reflect us at our best, but there's something redemptive about our choice in companions.
(*Yes, some dogs are bred to be dicks, and some people are dicks, but most dogs are good dogs, and most people are, too.)
In some countries, dog owners don’t give a shit and let their dogs poop everywhere (France for example).
Many dog owners can’t handle their dogs.
Dogs are scary for some people, especially children. Most dog owners don’t understand this and say "it’s a good dog, he doesn’t do anything" instead of doing the only sane thing: "you’re scared? I take the dog away".
It only takes one dick owner with a dick dog to instill fear in people (children) with significant and long-lasting consequences for their lives.
So yeah, some dogs are cute and whatnot, but unless you have a remote ranch or a huge property, and dogs can be dogs there, we actually need less dogs.
I suspect from your comment you have not had a good dog in your life before. I’m sorry for you for that.
Dogs, when raised well and taken care of, have incredible emotional intelligence and can communicate extremely well with humans. This combination can make them real friends and companions, not just cute animals. When people say, “man’s best friend” they really mean it.
I'm still annoyed at whoever let their dog crap in my yard and didn't clean it up. I stepped in it while doing yard work, didn't discover it until the next day, then spent two hours and multiple runs through the washer cleaning the darned shoes to a usable state.
Clean up after your dog.
I grew up in the American rust belt, and when taking family walks around the neighborhood, my parents were eternally yelling at me to not step in that broken glass, or that dog poop.
This is an understatement. I’ve never seen sidewalks made out of dog poop instead of asphalt until France. It’s endemic, it’s everywhere, and people feel entitled to leave their dog poop where it dropped. You really have to see it to believe it.
For the exact same reason, so also are very late nights (~1 to 5am).
> Yoga fixes lifelong back pain that drugs, swimming obsessively, chiropractors and workouts could not fix.
I'm healing a back problem that Yoga would definitely just make it worse
This is known to be great project management advice _and_ terrible relationship advice.
For interpersonal relationships, signaling misalignment early, directly, openly, with a sympathetic and reconciling demeanor, has been the best choice for me. Can't find sources anymore, sorry.
For projects, I won't expend more effort than what I have to.
Where does the project work stop and the interpersonal work starts, that's a vague art that demands a bit of intuition.
Used Chinese knock off for a long time, a Soocas. Recently thought about upgrading from $30 Chinese to $80 Chinese (OClean), the latter failed after 2 months. YMMMV ofc, but after that, and reading on HN about Chinese stealing IP from Europe, we thought about getting a Phillips (which my dentist recommended). It was a Black Friday deal, and knowing the differene between 5100 or 5XXX and one of the top brushes, Diamondclean, was like 1/4th of a dentist visit - we got the latter. And both me and wife think it's awesome. + you get a travel etui. The app sucks just like the Soocas and OClean app, but the vibration every 30s is enough "smartness" for me.
Funny that the cheap Chinese sonic brush (Soocas) is still working well and I'm thinking about getting a shoe cleaning brush set for it.
Phillips toothbrush doesn't last as long on one charge as the Chinese brushes do.
Why does a 3 year old video for repairing Sonicare toothbrush have 425K reviews on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3PBPU2jXbo, with 2.8K upvotes and 192 downvotes. It breaks because a screw goes loose inside the toothbrush.
I recommend you avoid Phillips electric toothbrush completely. I used a oral-B electric toothbrush for at least 8 years with no issues. And Phillips breaks in 6 months.
I say 6-ish, but it's got to be longer than that, because it was three addresses and a job ago.
I recommend buying the cheapest option and getting a warranty with them. I wish Philips could just figure out how to waterproof them properly instead of creating so much waste.
Chances are you already have a lot bacteria in your mouth and once you eat your breakfast (which for many is sugary) they immediately eat and consume this and produce acid. So, brush before breakfast, supposedly.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t4RgBZlKlJI
Evolution expects us to grind away about a millimeter of our teeth while we are young by eating rougher things to make way for wisdom teeth, for example.
For healthy teeth, you should be very hydrated. If your mouth isn’t watering, you might not be hydrated enough.
> One of the areas where human crystal formation happens
Especially one of the areas where you want crystals to form. Unlike in your urinary and bladders. ;)
Feels like engineering: It's all trade-offs.
The evidence is just lacking, people are just using judgement to advise on something that we can't detect one way or another with research.
When it comes to dental care it's not even clear, based on research (Cochrane review in 2019) it flossing makes any difference let alone a clinically useful difference.
The current advice is just based on reasoning that either you brush first or wait a hour after eating due to the abrasive action of brushing.
Over the random internet randos views.
But thanks none the less!
(And for whatever it's worth, all dental check-ups since some point in my early teens at the latest have just been a quick look around and yep all good - I'm not saying this from a position (touching wood I don't eat my hat next time of course) of terrible dental health.)
You're absolutely correct, because I don't floss that often, but every time I do a whole meal comes out, so I'm incredibly envious of your naturally clean teeth XD
Same with hair, and bacteria on surfaces.
Completely hookwinked Jo public.
Didn’t people not brush at all in the past but still had perfect teeth?
I feel like replacing "brushing teeth" with literally anything and your sentence is also correct and a good way to think. Especially the things we think are easy. There's a reason it took us thousands of years to do certain things.
How long would you recommend to wait? Or perhaps a good rinsing of teeth before brushing would be enough?
* Disclaimer: I am not a dentist, you should find a good one and talk to them for real advice.
But before brushing or after brushing??!!
So I think that given this rigorous scientific data, you can safely avoid brushing for the most part
And I switched to only brushing with an electric toothbrush before bed, and don't really floss and think I've only had one small cavity since then and the hygienist said my teeth looked quite good in general.
Worth noting that I have a good diet and rarely eat sugar beyond yogurt.
Public service announcement: this one is controversial. IMHO it's wrong, based on bad science and agendas, and harmful because it deters people from nutritious foods. I recommend everyone do their own reading to form their own opinion.
It's sad how political food and nutrition is because it causes misinformation and malnutrition.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/St...
Medicine’s misunderstanding of cholesterol is one of those mistakes which became very profitable for the pharmaceutical industry.
Guns aren’t lawful; Nooses give; Gas smells awful; You might as well live.
At least for me, I rinse out my mouth before I brush, so I don't expect to have detectable gunk left over. I also use a tongue scraper after, so I'm usually feeling pretty clean when I'm done.
Wellp, that's something I've never heard before. Even at the dentist, when she does a cleaning, flossing comes last.
https://www.healthline.com/health/dental-and-oral-health/flo...
I _do_ spit out excess toothpaste, which I understand still leaves enough toothpaste in your mouth for it to do it's thing.
Then my cousin discovered he’s allergic to SLS. I quit toothpaste with SLS and I never get them anymore. It’s rare but you never know who else struggles with it and doesn’t know.
And don’t use Listerine etc, their alcohol content is way too high and leads to cancer over time apparently.
The solubility of enamel is insanely low so the effect should be minor at most, but still.
Same here. It's completely changed my life. For mini-me, the built-in timer helps them be sure to brush enough.
Floss. For the love of God, floss. People carry around chronic gum infections in between teeth. Ask me how I know.
At a certain point you know where your "problem areas" are and where food tend to get stuck.
There is also a lack of peer reviewed studies showing that you can drown in water but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
So have I. And several dentists have actually recommended manual brushing to me as well.
On the other hand, water flossing has been a boon against dental plaque and bad breath. I used to never floss.
Disgusting mistake... A lot of food particles get stuck in the teeth interstitial spaces, macerating in there overnight or even several days... Yuck. :x
I've had the same base model for 10+ years going strong.
Ditto “vet” food for pets, they’re very biased.
Anyway, not telling you how to live. For me it’s well worth the 0.5% of the rest of my life but you do you. Maybe you have better teeth than me and won’t need to spend hours at the dentist over your lifetime to buy their second country house or pay for their divorce, or maybe you don’t get bits of rotten food between your teeth.
I’ve decided the trade off is worth it for me, but you really don’t have to reach the same conclusion about yourself :)
I destroyed my gums when my parents got me an electric toothbrush when I was 13 - and AFAIK - there's still not really any way to repair it.
Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong! Would make my day to be wrong.
Usually kooky ideas do nothing, but every now and then one works for no explicable reason.
I always thought I was a scientist by needing to understand a magnetism before trying, but actually real science is often just trying a bunch of random solutions, finding what works, and only then trying to work out mechanism!
Testing and keeping an open mind is a worthwhile mindset, even if you only get the occasional win.
To each their own!
You said you have a serious ongoing problem, and aszantu‘s suggestion sounds unrelated, but the cost of trying is low, and nurturing the attitude that you may be able to fix things is worthwhile. You seem to have diagnosed the cause as one thing, but perhaps there are other causes too.
I had a problem with bleeding gums (nothing like yours), and Google results suggested lots of different diagnoses and solutions. I tried a few different ideas that were low cost (time, effort, $, risk) and one worked for me. YMMV. Good luck.
PS: “understand a magnetism” — damn you autocorrect — understand a mechanism.
As for your gums, they don't grow back I believe, but you can get surgery of sorts by using other parts of your mouth and stick them in your gums. See; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF6EgSM5TlA
If you're teeth-grinder at night, a few tiny pieces of eggshells help keep the grinding at bay, because you can grind on a piece of eggshell without danger and then relax again.
Clearly youve figured something out and I've been doing something wrong my whole life.
You’re ditching it because sometimes you lose track of the time (and don’t want to push the button again) for something that doesn’t have a timer at all?
Must say, I just checked back HN and am surprised by this comment all grayed out. It is a real experience and life choice that's working for me. Not sure what to make of it. Guess just don't bother disagreeing online :)
If a basic model does it, I'd guess they all do it!
Also don't forget you can ignore the vibrations, just continue after the 2 minutes and count in your head if you need it.
I finally tried a name brand brush from Costco when my wife insisted and it blew my mind. Actually excited to go to the dentist to see what they say this time when I’m not full of plaque for once
How did you get into the habit?
Specifically, the one you connect to your phone coaches you on the right amount of pressure and time to use throughout your mouth.
There’s a good little joke in here.
FWIW, I’ve gone back and forth on electric toothbrushes and settled on non-electric. I’ve found that a medium-firmness bristle and a rigorous and thorough brushing is what leaves me feeling cleanest. Plus it’s simple, easy to replace, and easier to properly dispose of.
Then again, maybe a super high end electric would change my mind.
Maybe it's like a lot of things - expensive coffee beans, 144 Hz monitors, dvorak keyboards - the "it's lifechanging!" people are vocal, but 99.9% of people don't care about it at all.
A few months later she went together with her sister to their annual dentist checkup. The dentist praised her sister for how clean her teeth were, while he told my gf hers were "OK". What was it that her sister was doing differently? She was using an electric toothbrush.
I'm pretty certain you can guess what was the very first thing my then gf did coming out of the dentist.
P.S. If you never tried these gizmos, get a portable, battery powered one, so you can use it over the bathtub (or in the bathtub). They tend to soak everything around you.
I worked my way up to a fairly high pressure and it regularly removes stuff that I missed with my electric toothbrush. It also leaves you with a very fresh and clean mouth feel.
I also wasn't very sure about them when I first looked into it, but it's really not a snake-oil product. It's also not the holy grail of dental health, just a reasonable alternative to flossing.
Depending on how quickly you lose pressure you might also consider using it with filtered water
It's used in combination with brushing, of course - water-pik then brush.
It's a WF-02 ... it's the kind with 3 AA cells that I have rechargeables in (this is better for my bathroom setup).
Btw. I went through bunch of cheap noname toothbrushes to realize there is reason you pay for Philips and Oral-B brands, all cheap toothbrushes will fail within few weeks/months due to humidity or other failures, didn't have such experience with those two famous brands, wife and me use Oral-B Pulsonic Slim for years (extremely slim and light, but less powerful), for son who had problem with teeth I bought a bit better (heavier but more powerful) Philips HX6511 (still quite cheap, next time I'd buy this also for myself). Daughter has still cheap Xiaomi, waiting when it will finally break (from 4 I bought 3 broken), then will probably go for same Philips.
Btw. be aware most of the electric toothbrushes still use old NiCd batteries with memory effect, so to achieve maximum battery life/longetivity you should NOT leave tootbrush in charger, but charge it only when it runs out of battery, if you keep it in charger stand it is significantly decreasing battery life with each charging to the point it is useless already by the end of warranty.
Also most sauce recipes are probably overcomplicated. Most need less than 5 ingredients. You probably don't need all that onion and garlic, but one of them. Definitely not two tablespoons of dried oregano.
The way you cut onions and garlic changes the flavor a lot too. Finely minced garlic, from a food processor or garlic press can be overpowering yet not deliver the flavor. One trick is to crush the garlic and let the oil it's in carry the flavor. Half an onion can work really well in a sauce you cooking for half an hour.
Why is this bad with rice? When I make a stew I often put some rice in, with the expectation that the rice will absorb some of the stew.
I think stew might be an exception, because you want it to be porridge-like. But for many sauces, that's too soggy. You usually want it to soak for a few seconds to minutes but not an hour.
I don't believe there's a 'gourmet method' or anything like that which can get better results than just 'correctly cooked' pasta.
But, you can measure the perfect cooking time/hydration by measuring the length ratio of cooked/dry (assuming spaghetti): https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2201/2201.09621.pdf
Perhaps you could use this to devise a protocol to parboil the pasta, and then finish hydrating it to the perfect consistency in the hot sauce.
https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-cook-pasta-salt-water-boi...
I've switched to his method. It works really well. Doesn't take as long to boil, uses less gas, uses less water, uses less salt (b/c you waste less in the water). Now I just heat the water to boiling, throw in the pasta, let it come back to a boil, stir a bunch, turn off the heat, and put the lid on. Works every time.
I was visiting a friend and had it all cooked together in the pan for the first time and it was eye opening.
My wife and I always heat the pesto a little in the pan - is that not the right thing to do?
BUT: Once I started cooking I started coaching her back. Specifically, I taught her to defrost her burgers before grilling.
My parents were on the lower end of rural middle-class so on the rare occasion we went to a restaurant, steak was avoided as the most expensive thing on the menu, and as kids, we didn't have the option of steak anyway. Our meats while growing up were mainly fish, chicken, pork, and hamburger. When I was a teen, my mom got a deal on a big box of steaks somehow and cooked them on the grill every other night for dinner. She made it sound like we were living like royalty but no matter what kind of sauces or seasonings I slathered on, they were always dry and tasteless. I voluntarily skipped a lot of dinners that summer and thought I just hated steak.
In my mid-20s, I befriended a Brazilian. He invited my spouse and I over for a barbecue. When we got there, I found out the only thing going on the grill was steak, a.k.a. Brazilian Beef. Basically thick chunks of steak "marinated" in rock salt then cooked over open coals to sear the outside, but never long enough to get the inside more than medium-rare. I probably mentioned not caring for steak but he assured me I was going to like it. And wow, he was right. So tasty, so juicy. Decades later, I still make it every chance I get.
My wife and I sometimes talk about how our parents basically ruined whole categories of food for us until we got out into the world and experienced (or learned for ourselves) how things were _supposed_ to be cooked.
Funny enough the other day I had a liverwurst sandwich, something my Grandmother would have easily recognized, except I bought it from a local whole animal butcher. What was once one of the cheapest forms of meat is now rare gourmet sandwich.
At this point, when I meet people my age who describe themselves as "picky eaters" my internal response is "Your parents were probably just bad cooks." At least the experience taught me to take responsibility for what I put into my body.
Interestingly, the wikipedia page for super tasters mentions that "some studies also show that increased sensitivity to bitter tastes may be a cause of selective eating." Interesting potential feedback loop.
I remember Anthony Bourdain asking his Sicilian family this question, and the table erupted in hot debate. I'm not sure you are "wrong".
Morocco is the leading supplier to the EU, accounting for 70% of the EU's total imports, followed by Turkey.
Same ie potatoes in eastern Europe, a base in many many 'traditional' dishes. Yes if we look maybe 10 generations back, not so much for say 30 generations
So much of creativity is the result of mixing diverse elements in unique ways. And it's especially rich to rant about "purity" or cultural "ownership" regarding something that is fundamentally the result of such a fusion.
EDIT: Speaking of which, if you haven't tried pasta or pizza with a Portuguese pepper-tomato sauce, you're missing out.
Make noodle soup and let it sit in the fridge for a week. It will expand.
1) Salt your pasta water! Pasta is meant to be cooked in salty water that, according and excellently-put by Samin Nosrat (Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat) - "is reminiscent of the sea".
2) Save and use a splash of ("dirty") pasta water - aka the water the pasta was just cooked in - when you're tossing the pasta with the sauce. The water is filled with delightful liquified starch from the pasta, and it helps the sauce coat the pasta more thoroughly.
Had lots of funny moments in my life relating to salting pasta water. Almost all the people I know put like two pinches of salt into the water. Which causes them to look at me like I'm a psycho when I pour salt in for almost a full second, straight out of the container.
I can +1 both of your tips, I follow them both since I learned to cook and they're a (small but effective) game-changer.
INB4, "save your pasta water." I don't have a big kitchen or freezer, a pot full of water is a giant waste of space for me.
As for "salty water vs. salty sauce", the better way from a culinary perspective is both. Over salting one thing to compensate for another thing often leads to uneven flavor; if everything is salted roughly appropriately it all kinda comes together without any extra effort. I suggest trying it, hell maybe even do an A/B test. It's subtle, but salt penetrating the pasta during cooking makes it taste that much better.
disclaimer: it might be /slightly/ energy inefficient.
But salt your water, salting the sauce is just not the same.
- Ingredients cook differently when salted. Not sure about pasta specifically: I _think_ I can taste a difference between pasta cooked in salted water and pasta salted after being cooked, but I'm not certain.
- Definitely don't keep pasta water around, it's just for the sauce you're currently making
I can't ever say I've felt like cooking pasta without salt is "under salted." Is it as savory and delicious as what I'd buy at a restaurant? No - but having done it like that in the past I just think the benefits are marginal for how much you waste.
I make pasta _very_ often, I love it and want it to be as good as it possibly can, so I'm very happy optimising for taste. FWIW I use a tablespoon of salt per portion, and get a 1.3kg pack of salt every few months: hardly a huge waste!
- A good ratio of salt/water is one tablespoon per litre (or gallon). Reduce if the sauce is going to be very salty already (eg carbonara). We're talking kosher salt here (specifically Diamon Crystal), if using table salt it's probably going to be half of that: salt density varies a lot depending on the type.
- Cook your pasta is _as little_ water as possible. For some reason there's some myth that you want to cook pasta in a large volume of water: that's BS. What makes pasta water "liquid gold" is the starch that comes from the pasta, you want that as concentrated as possible.
A gallon is 3.5-4 litres. This doesn't seem right.
Cook your pasta is _as little_ water as possible.
This advice is worthless without some baseline like g of pasta to l water or how much water to cover your pasta with. You should cook your pasta in a large volume of water so the water will still be hot when you add the pasta and the pasta will be cooked as quickly as possible. Too little water and you risk the pasta sticking to itself as well. All this in mind, properly cooked pasta with diluted pasta water is a better outcome than starchy pasta water with pasta that has an odd texture. Maybe that last bit is personal preference, but when eating pasta, the first thing I notice is the texture of the pasta, not the starchiness of the pasta water. Hell, maybe we're thinking about the same amount of water, and you've just seen people try to cook with comically large amounts, I dunno.
And in dishes with less salt, you'd normally salt the pasta and not the sauce.
Any idea why the pasta carries it better? I usually add it to the sauce, the idea being both that I need to use less salt (healthier), and that it interacts with the herbs I added to the sauce.
It really doesn't. Oil doesn't mix with water. The only thing it does is oiling your pasta when you drain the water, which prevents the sauce from sticking correctly.
Pasta naturally don't stick together if you use a pot large enough, with enough water. And even then it doesn't stick, I honestly don't know how people make their pasta stick.
that's another secret to making pasta: abundant water, not just barely covering it.
Secondly, not stirring at all. Boiling will do some circulation, but you have to keep some amount of stirring to prevent a small sticking turn into a burned to the pan problem.
1. Choose your soffritto base. Onion or garlic are fine, more exotic variations include scalogno or porro.
2. Choose your tomato. Canned, fresh, whatever, just keep in mind that fresh ones may need longer cooking times. As for canned, check that they contain no seasoning at all!
3. Choose your grease. Oil or butter are fine, the standard is olive oil though. It may be hard to find proper olive oil outside of Italy I'm told.
4. Start cooking. Put your oil in a large pan, enough to contain all the pasta you plan to use afterwards. Not too much oil: just enough to cover the pan with a thin layer. Don't start heating the pan.
5. Cut your onion or whatever in small pieces and add them to the oil. Now turn on the heat at a reasonable level. Not too high but not low. Don't touch the onion!
6. When the onion looks a bit browny (not dark brown), add the tomato and lower at minimum the heat. If you have a thermometer, ideally you don't want to cross 60 degrees celsius over all the cooking period. This period can vary between 10 minutes and 60 minutes, it gives different tastes (all good) to the sauce. If you opt for the shortest time, go back at step 5 and at the same time start the next step.
7. Put 1l of water for every 100g of pasta in a pot. Add salt. With experience you'll get the right amount, usually I use about a small fist for two people (160-200g). Heat up the water and wait until boiling.
8. Drop the pasta in the water. Start a chronometer. Almost immediately mix it or otherwise it will stick. Wait a couple of minutes and mix again.
9. Meanwhile the sauce will start bubbling and, depending on your kitchen, you may need to mix it. If you see large discrepancies in texture, definitely mix. Otherwise don't. If it becomes too dry, add some water from the cooking pasta to the sauce.
10. When the chronometer is at cooking_time_on_pasta_packaging - 2 minutes, take a glass of water and fill it with water from the pasta pot. Dry the pasta, and put it in the pan with the sauce. Make the heat level for the pan a bit higher.
11. Cook it until "al dente", that is still a bit hard at the inside, but not completely. If the sauce dries too much (it should, if not turn the heat higher), add the water you kept in the glass. This step is where science stops and art begins: you need to calibrate your taste to your desired results and in turn calibrate water and heating. During all this step, mix your pasta in the same direction continuously. This is called "risottatura". Taste the pasta while cooking often.
11. Take everything off the fire, serve, add parmisan.
Edit: look at maccard comment for water and salt because I don't recall the right quantities. After a while you go by eye.
Edit 2: preventing more comments on oil, that is merely my very limited experience and I'd say, as a rule of thumb (not incontrovertible truth), that if you like your oil alone with bread it is a good oil.
Personally, I prefer cooking first for 5-6 minutes and then putting it in the sauce. Just my personal preference of course.
> Canned, fresh, whatever, just keep in mind that fresh ones may need longer cooking times.
Unless you know you've got _excellent_ fresh tomatoes, canned ones will win.
> Oil or butter are fine
Cooking your onion in butter is going to give a very very different result to using oil. Personally speaking, not one I would recommend.
> It may be hard to find proper olive oil outside of Italy I'm told.
High quality dop/docg olive oil is readily available all over the world, and there are plenty of places all around the mediterranean that have olive oil as good as Italian oil.
> Put 1l of water for every 100g of pasta in a pot. Add salt.
This is way too much water. serious eats[0] has an excellent article that is well worth reading if you care about pasta. You also should give an indication of how much salt to use - it's way way way more than you think it is. Like, tablespoon of salt per litre of water salty.
[0] https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-cook-pasta-salt-water-boi...
About oil it's clear, I think, if not sorry, that that is my experience, and as such should be interpreted. If you have good oil, all is good. I like to use butter, it's not standard but it's used. Of course you need less butter than the same amount of oil you'd use.
As for water/salt, you may be right and I will update my comment. I go by eye because I'm accustomed to the right quantities (or I taste the water for salt) so I was going by memory.
South, oil.
North, butter.
My grandmother (from Parma) firmly believed that olive oil was to be used uncooked for salads and similar.
JFYI:
https://www.cittadellolio.it/2017/06/15/olio-cucina-4-secoli...
In that case your entire post can be replaced with "use high quality ingredients, cook them".
> Anyway, using fresh tomatoes, especially if small, changes a dish completely because of its texture.
The texture is different, but "fresh" tomatoes that are readily available to most people even in season from their greengrocers are a poor substitue for even supermarket tinned tomatoes. My experience in Italy (and france/spain/croatia) is that excellent stuff is _available_, but it's not necessary "just" to use italian tomatoes - there's plenty of awful tomatoes available, and a large amount of the high quality tomatoes that _are_ grown in italy are canned and available outside italy; again DOCG San Marzano Tinned Tomatoes are available in supermarkets here in the UK.
> About oil it's clear, I think, if not sorry, that that is my experience, and as such should be interpreted.
It _really_ didn't come across as that to me, it came
Another point: I don't think my whole comment can be reduced to the quality of ingredients. Of course better ingredient better your plate, but the process is important. Take good quality ingredients and mix everything in a pot, you don't get a good pasta (specific recipies excluded, general rule of thumb)
I would agree on this one. I live in France, so not that far from Italy, and our fresh tomatoes suck compared to Italian fresh tomatoes. Italian cuisine use simple products with few transformations because their products are amazing. If I try to do something as basic as tomato-mozzarella at home, it'll never be as good as the same Italian recipe because our tomatoes don't grow in the same weather.
Italian cuisine is very hard to make at home as well as they do it because of the quality of their raw products.
> High quality dop/docg olive oil is readily available all over the world, and there are plenty of places all around the mediterranean that have olive oil as good as Italian oil.
There's a whole rabbit hole you can go down here. It's not clear cut AFAICT.[0]
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_oil_regulation_and_adult...
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_fraud#Examples
[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/rebeccahughes/2022/06/02/cheese...
[2] https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2022/12/e2m-of-fake-champa...
It may be available, but readily available seems like a bit of a stretch to me. It can be deceptively difficult to obtain.
> It's reliably reported that 80% of the Italian olive oil on the market is fraudulent.[0]
[0] https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2016/02/10/the...
Spanish and Greeks have nothing to be shy about here.
Portugal as well.
If you have a recipe in mind to make, look it up on Serious Eats. Their MO is to give you ideas on how to level up each recipe (compared to food network or similar) and explain the principles behind the techniques.
And when you add in the tomato puree (or your preference), add a tiny bit of sugar. If the sauce looks like it has a sheen, it's ruined. Just a tiny amount will do.
Do this and your sauce will taste 10 times better. Not a fan of anchovies, but you won't even be able to tell.
You can just mix tomato sauce, oregano, salt, and pepper, then slap it on the pie. It cooks in the oven. No need to pre-cook it.
[EDIT] unless you're gonna use it for dipping. There's a reason places have a separate "marinara", often, for that purpose. Even giving your pizza sauce a quick simmer will make it a lot better for dipping. Raw pizza sauce is... palatable, but not great, for dipping.
Risotto would like a word.
Also different rices.
I usually sauté garlic in oil separately, discard the garlic and then use the oil as a sort of super garlic flavor concentrate.
I used to believe the actual ingredients were ~80% of the puzzle of cooking. I now believe they're closer to ~20% for most cases. The process you follow is way more important than anything else.
Just take a sweet onion for instance. The difference 2-3 minutes makes in a hot pan is incredible. If you simply chopped it up and threw it directly into whatever, you will wind up with something that tastes substantially less flavorful.
The way they hire actors to play out wholesome videos and upload them to YouTube as if it's organic content, with massive fake users to comment and push up false claims and down vote brigade all negative comments should tell you all you need about this shady company.
This website doesn’t work on my iPhone’s screen. It’s impossible to discern most of the numbers, and the UI doesn’t instill confidence. Are they just using this garbage to hock their glasses to people who don’t need them?
This website is thoroughly broken, and nobody should even use it as a suggestion that they are or aren’t colorblind.
I, without color-blindness, can't make out any numbers. A coworker who is red/green colorblind also could not make out any numbers. Then the results, as I said, show that the whole process was broken from the start.
It really should be a part of general screening upon admittance to primary school. Then again, this was 30 years ago, so maybe it is now.
Projection screen was lowered, lights turned off, and a series of multi-coloured dots on many slides were displayed one after another on the screen.
In the dots, there were numbers / letters in colours different from the general background colour of the slide.
Adult: "Can everyone see the number?"
Almost everyone: "YESSSSSS."
One boy: "Ummm - there's no number on the screen!"
Pregnant pause.
One boy: "Oh yeah. Now I see it."
Almost everyone turns their head to look at that one boy.
Test continues.
Afterwards, the one boy was selected for further consultation...
This is when it would've been good to ask someone about it.
Me: "Why don't you turn on the shower, wait for it to get warm, then get in?"
Him, realizing he'd been using a shower wrong for over 6 decades: "... huh."
> The best part of having cold showers every day? You'll never get arthritis!
> The worst part? You'll have cold showers every day.
Is that so? My joints in fingers and toes can hurt quite badly after being to too much cold water. Doesn't feel like it's helping them in any way - quite the opposite.
This can save a lot of water if you're the type to let your shower run until it is warm. So some jurisdictions encourage their installation.
I've just started looking into either getting a tank-less water heater in the master bathroom or a recirculating system to save water. I like that the recirculating system would help with the entire house, not just that one bathroom, but it is looking to be quite expensive and wasteful of energy, unless we can do something like have switches in the bathrooms and kitchen to manually turn on the recirculator for a few minutes before use instead of running the water for a few minutes.
Fossil gas tankless units are nice because they can be installed on the exterior of a home and are maintenance free, but emit CO2 and can be expensive depending on your gas costs (they’re better for seasonal dwellings imho). Ideal combination is resistive instant heaters at points of use with a heat pump water heater for the whole dwelling.
When you turn on the shower, the head operates normally while the water is cold. When the water becomes warm a valve in the head closes to stop the flow. There is a button on the head you press to open the valve, which then stays open until you turn off the water.
The idea is that many people turn on the shower to warm up but don't just wait around in the bathroom to jump in as soon as the water is warm. They go do other things like start their coffee machine or wake up the kids or check the news and weather. Between the time the shower warms up and they get around to coming to see if it is warm they might waster several minutes worth of warm water.
With this clever shower head they don't waste that water. Also, if they can hear the shower running from wherever they are doing other stuff when they hear it stop they know the warm water is ready.
This seems natural to me, but I've never met anyone else who does it this way.
At other apartments, I’ve had more involved systems.
This thread is making me think of that blog title: Reality has a surprising amount of detail.
It's probably most useful when the hot water comes up quick, less useful when you have to wait a while for that. And it fails horribly when the hot water isn't working.
I've never felt the need to adjust though, except for shower-only stalls and the like.
As I understand it (and I am NOT a plumber) -- when you turn on the hot water, it pushes hot water up the line. Turn off the water, and that water will cool. But, if you add a one-way valve that allows flow from hot to cold, it will allow the higher pressure hot water line to flow into the cold water line so that it keeps hot water to the tap so that you don't have to wait (in my case) 5 minutes to flush out the cold water that has accumulated before getting to the hot water.
A plumber friend suggested this to me when I complained about my master bathroom (the furthest in the house away from the heater) taking SO LONG to warm up. Then he came out and installed it in about 15 minutes (which would probably amount to a one hour minimum charge for a plumber not doing it for free) plus a $10 part he had us buy on Amazon.
TLDR, now instead of taking 5 minutes to heat up from ice cold to warm to eventually hot, the hot water is warm from the second I open it, and hot within about 15-20 seconds.
It seems like a no brainer, but the prices are so high (like £700 / $900) that it would take many many years to pay back the cost, so it wasn't worth it.
So you should turn it off when you go on vacation.
This mainly saves time, but it also saves water if your shower mixer valve doesn't go to 100% hot. (It's generally good to keep the hot limiter below 100%, to avoid full-body scalding.)
Then when you get in, you pull a cord and it releases the full pressure of nice hot water.
I do it to help others, not myself.
With the method you described, it takes longer, with more water usage, to get into position, plus you let some water spray out into the rest of the bathroom as you transition inside it.
The Superman method: put your hand up to block the blast.
The Spiderman method: jump to the opposite side of the shower to avoid the blast.
The clever method: turn on the shower and wait outside.
I wasted so much time and energy on this but as I get older I've realised there is so little of what we can actually control vs what we think we can do. Most of the time just saying Yes and waiting for things to actually happen is so much easier. A lot of time what you worry about never happens and if it does it isn't always as bad as you make things out to be in your head. A lot of times it turns out to be actually good and it would've been a shame to avoid it.
Also when you say yes to people, a lot of time the other person never actually follows through the thing you didn't want. Otoh if you would argue or say No beforehand it always has the opposite effect.
I guess for most people this is common sense but I did this wrong for a large younger part of my life.
The reason I suggest therapy is because it can be a number of reasons for the underlying anxiety. I think it's mostly a symptom of something else, rather than a standalone issue.
There are many techniques that don't require a counselor/therapist. I highly recommend the youtube channel healthygamer_gg. There's a great community and many suggestions for well understood steps you can take on your own.
Also, realizing you're not he only one feeling this way can help a TON!
For people with deep seated emotional/behavioral problems, I would strongly recommend against it. The coaches in the program aren't trained to be therapists, they're only there to facilitate discussions and prevent subgrouping. The kind of work involved with trauma and neglect is much better handled by a licensed therapist. Can't speak to individual coaching, but I imagine it's similar based on what I've asked about the coach's training. The only upside to the group coaching is it's cheap at $30 for a 90min session each week.
After fixing a lot of problems in my life, I joined the program expecting to talk to other people that are 90% of the way to getting their shit together but most of the people in group had much deeper, unresolved dysfunctions that __really__ brought me down. By all means, reach out and seek companionship in hard times, but individual therapy yields much stronger results.
That said his videos are excellent. He really knows his stuff and can help people start down the path improvement or to resolve simpler issues, but for deep seated issues individual therapy, not coaching, is probably a better choice.
Yeah, my impression is Dr. K is trying to get a lot of mal-adjusted people to start down he road to being emotionally healthy, but there’s such a pent-up need for this it's going to be a shitshow for a long time. So there's going to be a lot of toxicity coming out in those group session and if you're beyond the very beginning of your journey avoid them.
There are many ways of doing this, but consciously recognizing it and labeling is as such then allowing yourself to be okay with the possibility of the bad thing happening.
If it is a big worry sometimes you need to make it as specific as possible. Like getting fired. What exact steps would happen? What would your boss say specifically? And is that exact scenario likely to happen?
If you're still having trouble do the above, but at the end change who its about, to a co-worker for example, then ask again is this a likely scenario. And if it is then the outcome won't be that bad. If it isn't then you also have your answer.
Another is to describe the worry in detail to another person because to describe it you need to make it specific and linearize it. This is why talking it/rubber ducking out works so well. They can also point out gaps and whatnot. Usually my the time your done the worry is gone.
Many friends feel like they're not actually helping here, but just listening is the help and it makes a big difference. On the flip side you may feel like you're wasting the other person’s time because at the end there's nothing to do. His is also false, most people are happy to help even if they don't know what they did.
Anxiety/worry usually comes from unexamined fears which throw every possible bad result into your head. But pinning down specific stories you can eliminate many of them.
Maybe you can acknowledge your worry, and rather than ruminating on it and letting it eat at you, you can come up with a plan to deal with the thing that's worrying you. Maybe that plan is to wait until it specifically requires your action, and give yourself permission to not worry about it for now.
What I want to say is that there is time and place for worrying. And sure, worrying about everything is counter productive.
But when it's the default you get the American medical system.
> Also when you say yes to people, a lot of time the other person never actually follows through the thing you didn't want. Otoh if you would argue or say No beforehand it always has the opposite effect.
I recently started doing this and it's amazing. I was the one saying 'no' to so many 'offers' (as a full stack developer, from idea people), and always ended up being the negative guy that doesn't want to do things.
Recently I've started enthousiastically saying "Yeah, that sounds great! In order to get started, I'd need <whatever_thing_that_they_need_to_do> from you.". Up till now no one has followed up. When we talk about it next, I am as excited as in the beginning and mentioned the thing that they need to do again, and they usually go like "Oh yeah! I need to do that." and then I never hear about it again. It's a shocker to me.
It's really easy for people to put stuff on your to-do list, reflecting even a tiny task on them before you accept it makes so many requests go away.
Related to this for me, I generally make it clear that sending an email request does not mean a task is transferred to me. We need to have a conversation and agree before it goes on my list..
Just a tiny clarification that requires 20 minutes of work is plenty.
Yes to this too! Conscious business taught me all about the difference between reasonable and unreasonable requests how to make reasonable ones. There's more pieces than I expected.
He also noted that the people who actually did it would follow through and one such person was the author of "Pearls before Swine".
I subsequently realized that my “no” is often more involved because I actually have the idea more thought out than whoever was proposing the idea.
Then I realized that most “yes” in many contexts just means “no”. :-/ (And “no” means “no and you’re dumb” lol)
I do see the Illusion of Control aspect in myself and others, and it’s weird being on the other side of that now and trying to explain to people that what they want isn’t what they need and also that we can put as much effort in as we like or we can just plan to do it twice and get on with it.
The latter is a problem magnified by management, who don’t want to pay for anything twice and will apply huge social pressure in service of the sunk cost fallacy.
Can you give an example? Like “do you want to go ice skating Saturday?” also doesn't seem to fit your comment.
When you uncoil the cable it will be laying flat on the ground with no twists.
An alternative for massive cables it lay it out in a figure 8 on the ground. That will also pay out without twists.
Extension: The upright vacuum cleaner you've been using that releases the cord from the handle by twisting the top hook down? If it is leaving you with a twisted mess of cord, that means you haven't been winding it up in a figure 8.
Even more, since you got this far: Do this with your short cables too. Your USB and audio cables will last longer. When you have a twisted cable, a torque shows up at each individual wire where it meets its connector. The repeated twisting and untwisting leads to connection failure.
And when you get a new cable that is rolled up (any Apple cable), unroll it instead of pulling the ends apart. Then you cable need never have twists put into it.
This also works better for air hoses, water hoses, etc. If the thing isn't on a winding/unwinding reel, use the double-loop method; everything will last longer and you'll save yourself a lot of trouble.
A quarter twist per loop is all it takes for nicely rolled cords your whole life!
Rereading your comment, yours is a more complicated one. I'll have to look it up. I've never needed more than a quarter twist per loop.
An alternative method is gravity. Hold the cable up by one end and let it untwist. Obviously, don't do this for 10 foot (3m) cables unless you're very tall.
20ish years later, seeing the homelessness, property crime, and housing crisis in the Bay Area, I am convinced I was wrong and wish that the area had built a ton more housing in the past. There used to be so many artists that were able to survive on a part-time cafe job back then. That's no longer possible and it's a bummer and makes the area so much more mundane.
I do still consider open space and parks important and valuable and don't support building new housing on a lot of those types of places.
(2:38min if you want to skip ahead)
As to San Francisco homeless coming from outside the Bay Area, that's true for only around 10% of the population. Most (70%) became homeless in San Francisco and many others became homeless in other parts of the Bay Area. See the `PLACE OF RESIDENCE` section from https://hsh.sfgov.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2019HIRDRep...
We don't want people homeless but on the other hand, we don't want people producing unsafe housing just to keep costs down.
It's a particularly nasty problem that I've only seen discussed in that one article.
People see someone making $6/hour and think that passing a law that minimum wage must be $8 means that person will now make $8, but technically the law only says "it is now illegal to pay that person $6."
Some businesses may be able to afford the raise and still turn a profit, but for others, if that person's labor is worth $7/hour to your bottom line, it is suddenly no longer a good business decision to keep them employed.
not all companies of course, but as an aggregate, companies will follow this rule
So the minimum wage is really about deciding what type of society we want to live in. Do we want servants, or do we want opportunity? In developed countries, jobs below the minimum wage get automated or some form of government assistance pays for the jobs that can't be, for better or worse.
A better word for deregulation might be decivilization.
It means stuff like "houses must be single story", "no apartments", "yards required", "minimum 2500 square feet", "setback from street".
[1] - Although I have seen a lot of threads about how the requirements for multiple exits in US apartment buildings is probably unjustified. See also elevator requirements.
I was 28 the first time a friend told me "I love you" in a pure friendship way (and while sober), and without being a part of a special situation. I've also done it afterwards, and because I had never told my friend i love them, it made the message even stronger.
It feels wrong that we don't do this more often.
Share the love.
Like, my best friends, I love them in a sense I guess…but I wouldn’t say that. It just doesn’t feel natural to me. I’d characterize our relationship as close, and that I care about them a lot, but “love” isn’t something that comes to mind outside of my parents or someone I’ve been in a long term relationship with.
I’m not sure why. Maybe it has to do with being an only child. Maybe it has to do with all my grandparents dying when I was young, and not being that close with extended family, so there was never really anyone to love outside of my parents for the vast majority of my life prior to any long term relationships.
I'm also an only child. I wasn't told "I love you", I was told "shut up". Being able to say "I love you" to somebody in the context we're discussing has been a game changer for me. It's just so freeing.
Like, even when I’m around extended family that says love you, I just feel awkward and almost forced to respond with love you too back to them. Like I care for them of course…but I would never say I love you to one of them without them saying it to me first.
Awkward is the feeling of trying something new (a form of play). Similar to giddiness.
Like trying out a new style of clothing, it's just the feeling of a new experience.
It's an intense sensation because we don't allow ourselves to feel as adults and assume it means I did something wrong/bad. No, it's just the experience of doing something different than you've always done. The context can tell you if it is problematic, but usually, it isn't something others notice.
When that happens, a funny thought pops into my head -- love is a four letter word.
i’m not sure extended family is the right analog for this love. as you hint, that family is kinda forced on you, and that implicit v.s. opt-in nature of family vs friendship has big implications for how open you can be with each other, for example. it’s really its own thing.
However, in my own life, I've found that there isn't some limited supply of love I have to share with others—in fact, it's been the opposite experience. The more freely I love those around me, the more fulfilling I find those relationships to be.
I am more reticent to use that language quite so flippantly with those I am actually romantically interested in though. When the potential for misunderstanding is there (i.e. romantic love vs platonic love or eros vs. philia vs. agape love to use koine greek terms), I tend to err on the side of caution so I don't accidentally communicate a level of depth that I don't intend.
You can say "te amo" to your significant other and "te quiero" to your friends and family.
Instead they're all lumped into "love". Ugh.
They still refuse to do the proper technique. They cut themselves regularly. Their stubbornness knows no bounds. Even when it involves literal blood at least once a week.
Once I realized my wrist should be straight when using a knife and adjusted my stance to be slightly angled away from the cutting board, my knife skills leveled up a ton.
The only cooking knives really meant to be held always by the handle entirely are heavy butcher cleavers, that have all the weight in the blade and you're meant to sling it around. Even a paring knife is often best used by holding the blade.
I was taught to choke up on the blade by a Western chef as well.
Then I went to Japan and was told to only hold the handle for their style of knives. Apparently, they balance the weight of the blade and handle differently there.
I tried to choke up on the blade at a very professional knife store in a market and was immediately corrected by one of the Japanese chefs there.
Then, the following evening, we went to a Michelin star rated kaiseki, all of the chefs were holding the knives by only the handle, no choking.
I realized I probably looked very foreign choking up on the blade in that store earlier. Humbling moment!
There is something which grabs your attention and fills you with admiration when you see a Master displaying his expertise so effortlessly and easily.
I am now going to watch more of Mr. Jacques Pepin.
This has led me to change employment, often, but not that often. It has made me approach many challenges from multiple angles.
Maybe it didn't made me rich (so far) but I feel much wiser and I observe people on the other side, they are stuck in their beliefs and loyalty. So many clever people, smarter than me, but lost to ideas, opportunities and self- improvement.
This is the best response here. Too many people are stuck in a self defeating mindset of expecting life to happen to them, and blaming others when it doesn't, rather than taking charge for themselves.
We underestimate the importance of positive factors and overestimate the importance of negative factors. I think the best approach to dealing with this is:
1) practice Gratitude for the foundational positives
2) accept the foundational negatives
3) Embrace your sphere of control and deliberately choose compounding actions that build on the strengths and mitigate the weaknesses to improve your life.
Long story short: even the best farm and the best butcher (which are getting exceedingly rare) are still using, abusing, and ultimately killing intelligent beings. This also does something to the people that do the killing: https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-50986683
> I now think that the extreme abuse of animals by the food industry on behalf of ignorant consumers is probably the worst evil of the 21st century.
I agree, there's no comparison, billions of land animals a year, trillions including sea life. I can't count that high.
The pain has gotten worse year after year. You watch otherwise smart people give bad arguments, or complete ignorance. To maintain any kind of social life you have to deal with being uncomfortable with those around you.
Hopefully we can have small impactful moments upon other's lives.
In that sense, it seems to me that a plant-based diet is still the preferable choice if one wants to reduce unnecessary suffering.
Do you have any sources you could share which support this claim? A cursory search has turned up nothing approaching convincing evidence.
It's an admittedly fun argument, but it has flaws that I think make it unsuitable as a strategy for destroying vegetarians with facts and logic. It relies on abstract, black-box constructions of notions like sensation, awareness or intelligence based on analogy and observation, whereas in animals we can also rely on arguments based on equivalent biological structures. The breadth of that construction also has some intriguing but pretty challenging implications: you might also need to accept sentient traffic jams and Kubernetes clusters that feel pain.
Beyond all that, though, I think the major flaw in your reasoning is it treats concepts like awareness or moral worth as binaries, with language like "every bit as much" and "only because". Of course, one reason we don't treat wheat with empathy or offer it moral equivalence is because wheat doesn't look like us, but that's far from the only reason. Wheat is simply a less complex form of life than a fly, and certainly less complex than Google Chrome, neither of which I feel much compunction about killing when they are consuming my resources.
If you're going to accept an incredibly broad definition of awareness, then that definition also needs to be nuanced and gradated or else you end up saying nothing only with more words. You can absolutely define feeling such that grass can feel, but if that's also "every bit as much" as what humans feel then you've arrived at a notion of feeling that's almost tautological and struggles to support any meaningful consequences. We and the grass are also carbon, I suppose... or energy? I'm not sure why it matters. I care about the version of feeling that made me cry at the end of Homeward Bound, and plants don't have that, no matter what you call it.
All these contradictions disappear if you're willing to say that different forms of life have different levels of awareness, and different degrees of moral worth. Intuitively, I care less about the death of an animal than the death of a person, and I care less about the death of a plant than an animal. That exact mapping from being to moral worth is going to be pretty tricky to define, but I think it's pretty hard to argue that animals should have none at all.
If animals have non-zero moral worth, then there is some area between the curves of your enjoyment and their suffering within which it is okay to eat them, and outside of which it isn't. I don't have any desire to tell you what your curves should be, but as a matter of my own observation, I haven't found vegetarian food in general less enjoyable than food with meat in it. There are exceptions, of course, and I still eat meat sometimes, but as a practical matter I found the exchange rate from dining enjoyment to animal wellbeing very favourable. You might too.
Beans, tofu, peas all are excellent sources of proteins.
Download and archive links are provided here: https://www.dominionmovement.com/watch
I get your point and don't disagree that animal suffering is terrible, but I wish people were more moderate in their language and not so quick to jump to hyperbole. No one can care about everything, and everyone's thing is 'the worst thing'.
But I don't need people to share my opinion, you are right in that this is an important topic for me. What I just would like to happen is that people realize that eating animal products is evil enough to change their diet.
A little context: Growing up, no one ever talked about managing their money. No one had any money to manage. Everyone in my circle lived paycheck-to-paycheck. Any talk about money management was for rich folk, and that wasn't us. So basically, I never learned any of this stuff. Next, my career hit its stride right after the Enron scandal, and then the early-2000s dot-com meltdown. So I just saw investment/retirement accounts, and the stock market in general, as a big con to steal my money. (If you don't know about the Enron scandal, and you wanna be depressed, read up.) Anyway, I was full of FUD, and I was just gonna keep stuffing money in my mattress.
Then, a random conversation with a trusted colleague led to him spending an entire afternoon explaining it all to me. He explained that his various investments were extremely low-risk, and he was still making thousands every year, and that my mattress-stuffing strategy was leaving a lot of easy money on the table. It was the way he explained it all, and the fact that I trusted/respected him that changed everything for me. I'll always owe him.
Vanguard are good because the Vanguard company itself is owned by the funds it manages (which are owned by the customers), not by other people who take a percentage of the profits away.
Never think of yourself as wrong, invalid, defective or unworthy. That's wrong. Don't do it.
For about 90 % of my life I've thought about myself as defective in many ways.
- In puberty I thought I was defective because other boys were talking about their crushes, how they'd like to f--- this girl or that girl or how they got a boner just looking at them. Later almost everyone got a girlfriend or two. None of that happened for me, so I felt defective. Turns out I'm gay.
- Also in puberty I'd get random boners when sitting down in the bus. It made me feel ashamed and like a pervert, so I stopped sitting down in public transit. Turns out many boys experience this in puberty because, well... the vibrations. They're called "bus boners".
- I always struggled a lot remembering faces and names. I felt bad about it because I thought it meant I didn't care or try enough. I've always had issues forming relationships and again I felt bad and thought I just had to try harder and make a better effort, which didn't work. And various other issues, and for each of them I thought it was a defect of myself. Turns out I'm on the spectrum and my parents didn't bother telling me about being diagnosed as a child. I only found out when bored me stumbled over online autism tests and literally all of them came out strongly autistic-neurodivergent.
Another piece is understanding your body's feelings and your emotions. Many people aren't taught how to understand their feelings and emotions, especially men. This is NOT automatic. It is not difficult, but it can be very hard and unpleasant. Everyone needs to be taught how to process emotions, emotionally healthy people are taught this as children.
But to balance this a bit.
You, as a person, are never wrong, but you are still accountable for your actions/words. This is an important distinction to keep in mind.
However, his knowledge and prepared materials are great, though they seem to be aimed at an extremely jaded and cynical audience.
Therapist Explains Why You Don't Feel Anything Anymore... (Alexithymia 101) [1] is great entry point.
Another fantastic resource is The power of vulnerability[2].
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pQBdZ3RdfA&t=1
[2] https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_vulnerabi...
This knot will not come undone:
https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/secureknot.htm
And you can still untie by pulling on one of the ends. Though you have to make sure that while untying, you don't allow the loop to go over the other end of the shoelace.
Ian's Knot [1] not only is super-fast (once you've learned it properly), it also ensures you are tying a strong knot.
Also, a heel lock [2] is a independent thing which is also good to learn.
[1] https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBbc6TackDQI've taught all of my children to do it this way. Super fast, reliable way to tie a square knotted bow.
Though it is somewhat of a misnomer that it is called an 'Ian knot', because it isn't a novel knot, rather a technique to arrive at one already commonly known.
To be honest, the kind of shoes I'm mostly wearing nowadays work very well without having to untie and retie the knot, so I don't do that very often anyway.
Worked hard believing it would be rewarded.
You should work hard but on yourselves not for others. I did working hard for others for a decade and ended up in the same place after. I started working for/on myself, I am happier now if not richer.
1) Say what you're going to do.
2) Do it.
2a) Bonus: If something changes, immediately say what has changed and reconfirm the agreement.
3) Say what you did.
Those three steps go a long way toward being recognized for your contributions.
Even if you're not seeing the rewards of your hard work now, they will come one day.
Let's say you've spent the last 10 years working your arse off for a shitty boss who doesn't appreciate you. At least you're far more competent than if you'd been lazy for 10 years under the same shitty boss.
Go find a better situation and you'll be grateful for the skills you've picked up, even if it hurt to acquire them.
Examples of incorrect application:
* working hard at something not valuable
* working hard at something valuable then giving it away well below market rate
*working hard at something valuable then poorly presenting it, e.g. bad marketing
The second happens when you never ask for a raise/promotion, switch to a market rate job, or start a business that captures the value of the skill.
It made her rethink how she treated her husband. She married him because she knew he was intelligent and kind, so why does she look for evidence to the contrary and berate him for it? She says their marriage was much better after she realized her fault in this. That article left a deep impression on me as to how I should treat my partner/people I respect.
Back a long time ago, about a year into my relationship, my partner managed to spill an entire crockpot of apple cider all over the backseat of my car she was borrowing to take to a friend's place. I reminded her several times to make sure to shut it tight and to secure it somewhere on the floor in the middle of the rest of her stuff so it wouldn't tip and spill.
Of course she didn't do any of that and it got absolutely all over my seats and was a sticky gross mess. I later heard she spent the whole rest of the night over there fretting and worrying about how mad I was gonna be when she got home. And she was literally dumbstruck when my only response was "Alright no worries, sounds good" when she'd gotten back and offered to pay to get the interior detailed after explaining what happened.
"Aren't you mad," she asked and I just said "Not really, it's fixable and you already said you'd fix it, not much to be mad about."
The book points out that when someone (like your child) does wrong by you, they know it, and you punishing them for it just "pays up the balance." And since the slate is clean, they just pay for the next mistake the same way. Without learning anything.
The correct response (and the response you show with your partner) is to let them experience the natural consequences. You trusted her with something, she couldn't follow through, so it would be totally reasonable not to let her do it in the future. But she did right by you in the end (as a natural consequence) and you both feel vindicated as a result. You see she really cares and she sees you're patient with her mistakes. I think it's a powerful concept that encourages being non-judgemental while still asserting your own desires.
Nothing builds teams like having a common enemy. :-)
On the bright side, I also got reassurance that outside the lipid panel, everything else (sugar, kidney and liver function, PSA, etc.) seems normal.
Other than laziness and procrastination, a huge part of me was dreading being told I need a prostate exam and colonoscopy, but fortunately I don’t need either for at least 3 more years.
- Exercise can help lower cholesterol slightly. But try to have a reasonable balance between cardio and resistance training. Too much cardio risks having some muscles actually weaken if you maintain a large calorie deficit.
- Diet-wise, you want to go for sustainable weight management, so no extreme or gimmicky diets. Avoid Atkins and Keto (unless a professional tells you you actually need to avoid carbs), extreme fasting, etc.
- 3 moderate meals a day are better than 2 or 1 large feast(s) because they keep your metabolism going for most of the day. Your body can adapt to feast/famine and can go into ketosis, but these are survival mechanisms and harmful, even counterproductive, if you keep your body in these modes for long periods of time (you might even gain weight in feast/famine mode because when you do eat, your body converts as much sugar into fat as it possibly can, in order to prepare reserves for the next “famine”).
- Some fasting is good for spirituality and to teach self-control, but it should not be a permanent state (I plan to fast Mondays and Thursdays as much as possible, leading up to Ramadan in about 50 days). Fasting every single day for the rest of your life is not realistic and probably does more harm than good.
- Eat raw nuts (raw almonds have been observed to lower total cholesterol, lower LDL, and raise the HDL/LDL ratio) as much as you can within your calorie allowance. In general, more plant-based protein and fats, and less animal-based is very helpful (but watch out for high saturated fat from coconuts, and too much soy can mess up men’s hormones). Edit: the soy evidence is not conclusive - see comments below.
- Keep your calorie allowance reasonable and sustainable, and try to eat a good variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, legume, meats, etc. with moderation in everything.
Rest of the advice seems good. Lower fat in diet (specifically dairy fats), increase exercise, higher fiber, lower sugar, more nuts/avocados/salmon.
Treat the disease and not the numbers - so look at all your risk factors for atherosclerosis.
Study showing some effect: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15735098/
Study showing little effect: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11880595/
While the evidence is inconclusive, I wouldn’t take chances if I were trying to have kids. I would imagine getting __all__ of your protein from soy could potentially be harmful, perhaps even in ways other than decreasing testosterone and sperm count.
In general, everything in moderation is best.
What evidence is there for this statement? What is considered "fasting?" I can't see how a 12-hour feeding window would be problematic. I could understand some people might develop "disordered eating" if their approach is unsustainable, but "more harm than good" isn't true for those that can do it.
One reason for fasting is that it improves insulin sensitivity.
From: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/intermittent-fasting-sur...
"Based on this, researchers from the University of Alabama conducted a study with a small group of obese men with prediabetes. They compared a form of intermittent fasting called "early time-restricted feeding," where all meals were fit into an early eight-hour period of the day (7 am to 3 pm), or spread out over 12 hours (between 7 am and 7 pm). Both groups maintained their weight (did not gain or lose) but after five weeks, the eight-hours group had dramatically lower insulin levels and significantly improved insulin sensitivity, as well as significantly lower blood pressure. The best part? The eight-hours group also had significantly decreased appetite. They weren’t starving."
- When I say “fasting” I mean not eating for a good chunk of the day. My Muslim background made me overlook the need to define that clearly.
- I doubt most people can sustain fasting indefinitely, so “disordered eating” and metabolism going out of whack is the most likely outcome.
- If someone has a good reason to fast indefinitely - based on professional advice - then they should go for it. But, like other extreme measures, it’s probably not for the general population.
I can only speak to my case, so YMMV. Through a liver blood panel, I learned that I had high bilirubin, SHBG, and GGH - which indicate compromised gallbladder and liver function. One doctor suggested I have my gallbladder removed.
Instead, through research on pubmed and examine.com, I was pointed to TUDCA - a bile salt that helps clear cholesterol and biliary sludge. After two months of supplementation, I've seen a severe reduction in intestinal discomfort - and I suspect a follow-up blood test will show a reduction in my high liver panel and LDL.
If you have abnormally high LDL for your body type and lifestyle, I would encourage you to get a liver panel and look into TUDCA.
IIUC, they no longer believe that lipid cholesterol levels are directly correlated with intake of dietary cholesterol. See, for example: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you...
> The biggest influence on blood cholesterol level is the mix of fats and carbohydrates in your diet—not the amount of cholesterol you eat from food.
> Although it remains important to limit the amount of cholesterol you eat, especially if you have diabetes, for most people dietary cholesterol is not as problematic as once believed.
I would recommend committing to getting a full blood panel (specific to your sex, male or female) at least every 6 months, especially if you are going to be making significant changes to your diet. This was a game-changer for me. I started working with a practice that does health optimization and blood work/labs and has doctors who know how to interpret the results and give recommendations based on them. For me, I had several biomarkers significantly improve by consuming more red meat. I hadn't been trying to avoid red meat consciously, just somehow over the years I started consuming a lot more chicken and turkey and really wasn't having enough beef, etc.
However risk factors are individual so take everyones commentary as educational but apply on what's relevant look at your on individual use case.
It’s sugar.
Struggling with that - as in at most once a year?
However translate that to general parameters as you see fit.
I'd think a small amount every other month or so might be safer - you don't want to look forward to that annual treat and go too crazy!
Edit: FWIW, I’m not planning on abandoning red meat and eggs, but striving for no more than 4 eggs a week and 1, or max 2, servings of red meat. I would rather enjoy beef and lamb for the rest of my life and avoid ever having to eat only egg whites.
https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pr240_E....
https://worldanimalfoundation.org/advocate/farm-animals/para....
> In the case of red meat, the classification is based on limited evidence from epidemiological studies showing positive associations between eating red meat and developing colorectal cancer as well as strong mechanistic evidence.
> Limited evidence means that a positive association has been observed between exposure to the agent and cancer but that other explanations for the observations (technically termed chance, bias, or confounding) could not be ruled out.
[0] https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Monograp...
I think my initial intake was $200-300 to get the full blood panel and have a follow-up with a patient care coordinator as well as an appointment with the doctor (who is incredible). At the time I ordered the blood panel, I wasn't even planning on having a long-term relationship with them, but after seeing some stuff on my blood panel that I wanted to work on and having them come up with a plan, speaking to the docs regularly, I've just gotten so much value out of it. The whole thing made me feel like "wow, this is what healthcare should feel like."
Sadly, it's all out of pocket, but it's the last thing on the list of things I would complain about having to spend money on.
For some people, full bloods every 6 months might be overkill, I guess it just depends on what you have going on (not that I had major issues, but definitely things to address and others to optimize). But without a full panel, you're just flying blind. Sometimes, I get the panel and nothing has moved at all and there's nothing to do. Other times there are things I can easily address and the more panels I have, the more of a personal health profile I have to work with.
What argument would a doctor have against order a wider range of tests? The blood is outside of your body, and the physician is not in the lab running the centrifuge or mixing chemical agents to react.
And nowadays, to make matters worse, I have to book an appointment for this delightful experience 2 months in advance for my existing doctor, and five months in advance for a "new patient visit" at a new doctor. Everything around Family Doctors says "go away".
Note that 'the DMV' is itself a bizarre American experience that a lot of the world doesn't put up with/find a need for.
It took quite a lot of references like this going straight over my head to look into this thing 'everyone [in the USA]' has to do and is familiar with and understand. (If I need a replacement driving licence or to change my address or whatever, I spend two minutes on a web form and it comes in the post. There just isn't 'a DMV' or equivalent office for me to (have to) go to.)
its more common than you think; and many professionals resent the idea that its anything resembling a 'free market' where a 'consumer' (patient) can 'order services' without their provider's approval.
as you might imagine there are reasonable-sounding prima facie arguments for both sides of this discussion.
You might however get a health checkup from occupational healthcare sometimes!
Just putting this a note here for non-american readers so they don't get confused.
Edit: (US specific)
I'm surprised other countries with free government healthcare don't do that. I would assume it's more economical to detect signs of serious issues early.
So would I (Germany), yet it’s only one blood test every 3 years from the age of 35 on.
Primary Care Physician for anyone else wondering (equivalent to a GP in England I think)
Do you go to the dentist for regular cleaning & exams or only go if you have a toothache?
Annual checkups seem so critical to overall health outcomes- it's far better to catch cancer at stage 1 than stage 4, or to address blood pressure before having a stroke or heart attack rather than after, I'd have thought they'd be strongly prioritized and incentivized my government-controlled healthcare systems.
https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/advance-article-abstract/doi/1...
Wearing toe socks and minimalist shoes, combined with going barefoot as much as possible, has rescued my feet, ankles, and knees from pain.
They're not expensive, but they're certainly not cheap - but they certainly don't last very long at all. I walk a couple of miles a day to and from work and they barely lasted 6 weeks. Soles were worn down and the uppers were just knackered.
Bought new Converse shoes which were specifically marketed as walking shoes. 5-6 weeks of ~20 minutes moderate walking per day and they both had holes in the soles.
Went back to the Converse store and got told "no refunds". We eventually got our money back, but not without an argument. It pays to understand consumer protection laws where you live.
They aren't the highest quality shoe but they should last much longer than six weeks. Most of mine have lasted years with daily use.
My partner swears by Converse, but hers seem to get knackered within a year anyway.
I think I just walk quite a lot, comparatively.
Ergonomic keyboards, on the other hand, are something everyone should be using from the start (though we are still figuring out how to make them right). Humans evolved to sit and walk, but not to keyboard...
Years ago, I suddenly increased my walking and started having horrific pain in my arches. In response, I started wearing arch support insoles all the time. If I didn't wear them, my arches would ache. Like you said, my foot strength got very poor and I eventually suffered a serious injury in my midfoot playing basketball. During rehab, I stopped wearing the arch supports and eventually moved on to minimalist shoes and my feet have gotten dramatically stronger and I never notice weakness in my arches anymore.
Do not. Do not. Do not jump into jogging with barefoot or minimal shoes without a very very slow increase in distance. Even if you feel fine and don't notice any pain or problem, or your cardio can support you going 5 kilometers, you want to very slowly adjust up your distance/time spent doing harder exercise with that type of big change in footwear.
Otherwise you can give yourself injuries that can lead to short-term or even long-term/permanent complications that interfere with your quality of life and physical abilities.
I've never walked in flip flops, but I always take a pair to change into when we stop. People sit around in hot sweaty boots and socks, best case they're wetter & smellier than they need to be for the next day; quite likely to start rubbing and give sores; at worst promoting nasty fungal/bacterial goings on.
At some point I heard this thought experiment: If you could only have one, which is more important: To love or to be loved?
Now I understand that if I want to receive love and connection that I have to be able to give it. This shift has strengthened so many of my relationships and helped me build new ones as well.
Now I am seeing that often it's us the non-religious that have lost something of value and are trying to replace it with things that don't work as well.
But I recall most people in the actual church at least had some form of a community, and many seemed happy and selfless. This modern church that pretends it isn't a church only breeds toxicity, selfishness, vitriol, and depression. Everyone is holding each other hostage, knowing that if anyone steps out of line and questions the status quo they'll be burned in the village square as an example to whoever might do it next. The actual church community I was in was more accepting in almost all regards than this new system.
I honestly wish a lot of these people would just find a normal religion. It's way easier to get along with normal religious people than the types people being getting hooked on these new systems of thought.
I think that's because these things aren't from church, they're part of human nature.
One of the churches I went to as a child was toxic, the other wasn't. The religious community isn't immune to human nature.
50-60 years ago the country was much more religious and you’d encounter people saying they’d never let their child marry a democrat and vice-versa according to my grandparents. To them, things are mostly better and what we have is the appearance of greater division.
I think religion adapts and changes; religion was more mainstream, less toxic, and uniform than it is now. The median person is probably less religious (in terms of sticking to an established religion) but the upper 1/3 of the spectrum is more religious, in that they believe more extreme things, with less evidence, and are less likely to compromise. The past 40 years of the evangelical movement, which has been coopted by the conservative movement, has been extremely polarizing.
My mother clearly remembers being called out in front of her church for the unforgivable sin of attending a school dance, and that was in the mid-60s. Don't forget why the Southern Baptists broke away from the Baptists.
and 100 years ago, much less! at most 40% of the US regularly attended church services in the 1910s.
And i can think of ~three answers: post-war trauma, a population bubble, and a percieved need in the white middle class for social discrimination and "order" against internally, integration and externally, "the godless commies". (see: HUAC, adding "under god" to the pledge)
I figure that the 50s were an anomaly, not the other way around.
"build a church and school within reasonable walking distance" was rule 1 of new towns for a good long while.
People serve these idols, and many others, to give meaning to their lives, to justify their existence. They are afraid of death--that is, not only physical death but everything which does or seems to militate against life: alienation, lack of identity, frustration, pain, meaninglessness. And so they grasp, as it were, after aspects of life which seem to promise freedom from some form of death, and serve them as idols. But what they are really serving is death, for the fear of death is the power behind all idolatry. And yet, as we have seen, idolatry can only lead to death in one form or another, to violence and dehumanization and also to the degradation or destruction of what is idolized.
It is a distinctive mark of the biblical mind to discern that human history is a drama of death and resurrection and not, as religionists of all sorts suppose, a simplistic conflict of evil vs. good in an abstract sense. For what is "good" is, basically, what is good for man and creation--in other words, what is life-giving, life-preserving, life-perfecting. God, the Living One, is the author of life, he is on the side of life...That which is truly evil is that which thwarts life. And sin is any denial or rejection of the gift of life; an offense against God who bestows the gift. But the wages of sin is death, not by some arbitrary decree on God's part, but because sin by its nature is possessed of death, anti-life, death-dealing, both to the sinner and in the various kinds of death it occasions in the world.
You're probably in the right head space to appreciate "Impostors of God: Inquiries Into Favorite Idols" by William Stringfellow (1969).
Cryptonomicon is another good one, though far less prophetic/scholarly:
To translate it into UNIX system administration terms (Randy's fundamental metaphor for just about everything), the post modern, politically correct atheists were like people who had suddenly found themselves in charge of a big and unfathomably complex computer system (viz, society) with no documentation or instructions of any kind, and so whose only way to keep the thing running was to invent and enforce certain rules with a kind of neo-Puritanical rigor, because they were at a loss to deal with any deviations from what they saw as the norm. Whereas people who were wired into a church were like UNIX system administrators who, while they might not understand everything, at least had some documentation, some FAQs and How tos and README files, providing some guidance on what to do when things got out of whack. They were, in other words, capable of displaying adaptability.
The failure mode of churches (and, yes, some of the more optimistic commune arrangements) is toxic positivity: everything is great, and anyone who doesn't agree is going to be dealt with. This makes it extremely difficult to report when someone has been raping adults or children.
In more atheistic countries, the religious people are the ones that are harder to get along with, as normal people are a lot less religious.
We have lost something very important on the conversion of our society to laic values. We have gained very important things too, so I don't think the best correction is to reverse anything, but we have some work to do on those things that we lost.
This has been replaced by ersatz religions, but I think we should start explicitly worshipping the concept of civilization and progress. From a certain point of view, civilization is a cybernetic organism that encompasses all of us and gives us all sorts of neat things.
There's no doubt about that. Humans have a very strong religious bent that is bred into us by evolution selecting for motivated, tenacious people who fight to survive but whose brains can't stop patterning-matching, perceiving threats and agency behind things, and performing rituals. Not to mention, organizing around common beliefs. Without various sky-friend myths, we organize around other myths. Thankfully we have good science now, but that's unfortunately often less sexy (and more difficult) than pseudo-science and fads.
Isn't this exactly what the French Revolution's first wave, the Nazis, the Soviets, and the Maoists all did? Or are you suggesting something more explicitly Hegelian like the religion of "The sign of the T" from Brave New World (though that religion was focused on production not transformation)?
~ C. S. Lewis
That's much too simplistic and isn't going to convince anyone of the point you're trying to make.
> his has been replaced by ersatz religions, but I think we should start explicitly worshipping the concept of civilization and progress
We've done this multiple times before and always with disastrous or at least dissipative results. The technical term for this is "cult" and more specifically "idolatry". There are very good reasons why this has generally been proscribed by monotheistic religions.
> civilization is a cybernetic organism that encompasses all of us
Saying civilization is cybernetic in that it consists of feedback loops that keep it in a stable condition is stretching it. Perhaps a nation could be cybernetic since it contains a variety of channels through which this information can flow in both directions but a civilization as a supranational system has some very tight bottlenecks that would impede such functioning.
> gives us all sorts of neat things
It does not. People do that and the things are not so much given as they are bargained for whether with money or by signing on to a social contract or adopting cultural values.
Dennis Prager is pretty good on this front too. But, he thinks that religion is a necessity for a happy life.
I don't follow any faith. There are too many religions for any one to be "correct". But I do see religion as a good moral guide, particularly in times of hardship.
Peterson at least attempts to offer balanced. Prager is a religious quack.
I don't think that it is an overstatement to say that Peterson alone has helped millions improve their lives through his books, talks, and interviews.
Whether or not the changes many have made in their lives as a result of Peterson’s work are improvements is also debatable.
People give thanks to prosperity preachers for their spiritual guidance even as they sit hungry watching the preacher drive away in his Bentley purchased with the money they tithed.
The thing is, none of those are innately tied to religion. We've abandoned churches for what I feel are largely good reasons, but we haven't found something else to fill that void in community and care. We're more insular, more online, less of us know our neighbours or really have a stake in our community welfare in the same way. I don't think the solution is going back to religion.
I think you are right in that in theory you could have "all that stuff" sans religion. And in fact I think Atheism in the boomer generation benefited from cultural inertia - like, you could say you don't belong to a religion but still marry, have kids, participate in community etc simply because that's what everyone else (by the virtue of their religion) was doing around you.
But today it seems like critical mass is elsewhere, and it seems like the religious folks now have a huge advantage over everyone else in terms of marriage, family formation, community and maybe even mental health. So while in theory it's possible, it seems like in practice all of those things declined among the non-religious, just perhaps with a lag of a generation.
The reason I think it might make sense to reengage with religion is the crux of this question: does life have a point, a meaning, etc. Not even "what" the point is but does it exist at all. The idea that the universe is a total accident and nothing is relevant takes you in a certain direction in life and society, while the idea of "there's meaning and purpose" in another.
I think it's hard to anchor your life in the value of meaning without logically accepting a creator of that meaning.
So I think there's an element of faith - either you chose to believe there's meaning or you chose to believe there isn't, everything else is implied by that choice of belief.
Interestingly, Muslims believe most messengers began their missions at or around 40, so maybe everything before is “formative years”. The one known exception is Jesus Christ, whom we believe was raised to God at 33 but still has a huge role to play in shaping the world.
I get saddened when religious storytelling fills people with fairy tales and arbitrary hate and makes them incapable of seeing things about existence that are truly beautiful.
I'm not sure exactly how to explain this, but the seemingly infinite level of "detail" or "texture" or "complexity" to our universe. No matter how small or large you go, there's always some patterns, some structures, some details to be seen. There's always some other perspective or way of grouping and organizing to reveal new information. The complexity is infinitely deep, wide and layered. Some of that I think is inherent, and some of it is what we create as living entities - which is a great privilege we enjoy.
Take a white painted wall made of drywall. Relatively uninteresting most of the time. But the potential amount of information about it is almost infinite:
* What are all the layers of construction needed to make it?
* What did it cost? For every cent of that money, where did it eventually go? All of them can be tracked from its creation until the end of the currency.
* What people designed the methods to construct it? What were their lives like, what led to them doing so?
* What does the surface look like if you were to look at it at 10x, 100x, 10,000x, etc. scale? How does all of that structure change when it's under pressure? Or wet? Or on fire? Or crushed? Or at different temperatures?
* What does it look like as molecules of air bounce off of it and it insulates the room?
* What are its physical properties? What does it look like in all the different wavelengths of light?
* What is it history, from the retrieval of the materials to its final destruction some time in the future? What is its eventual fate? Will it be destroyed to make room for a newer building? Or in a war? A natural disaster?
* What people were near it? What were they doing and why? Office workers? Secretaries? Programmers? Nurses? Was it separating people who were friends or hated each other?
* What's the history of the design of the pigment used on the wall? What previous pigments did it replace and why?
* If you look at the pattern of bumps and valleys on the surface, does it match some existing pattern? What mathematical formula would most closely re-create the surface variations? What's the closest match to that pattern anywhere in the universe, at any scale? Maybe there's some sand on a beach or a cluster of stars that when viewed from just the right angle matches the pits and valleys on the wall.
* What does the surface feel like? Not just for one person, but for all humans? If you were to take every single human who has ever lived and let them feel the wall, what would happen? Which ones would tell jokes? Which ones would remember something from their past? Which would have some interesting specialist perspective on it? Which ones would like it? Hate it? How would they all describe it?
We only have access to a tiny fraction of that information. But it's all there! You could spend an eternity studying a single blade of grass and it's relation to everything else and all of the history. There's always some new abstraction or perspective or way to look at everything.
John Vervaeke and the Pageau Brothers are working hard on this front. I'd highly recommend John's Meaning Crisis Videos, Mathieu Pageau's book on Cosmic Symbolism and Johnathan's educational videos.
If you are new to this, it can be a bit mind bending, but it's duly needed in our time.
https://www.meaningcrisis.co/all-transcripts/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIJuIN6kUcU
https://www.amazon.com/Language-Creation-Symbolism-Genesis-C...
Academic science resembles religion with its dogmas, nepotism, bureaucracies, and favor-currying shibboleths. Deep learning in particular is akin to modern alchemy [1].
What’s frustrating is nobody tells you how to reverse a life of agnosticism bordering on atheism, and suddenly be catholic,Buddhist,etc
As someone who is formerly deeply Christian and left for intellectual/theological reasons. I miss the communal binding of organized worship. But reversing or getting back to that place requires either 1) letting go of intellectual integrity, or 2) finding a group who is similarly interested in dispassionate community organizing without supernatural theology.
The 1st has proven personally impossible. The 2nd seems very unlikely. All the attempts of secular church I have seen never pick up steam and trail off over time. Thus, the person who sees religious association as a broad good is left without a natural landing spot.
I love how you crystalized the point although I've reached a different conclusion.
This was actually my original "before" state - I assumed that religion was an illogical holdover and not something that I ( a logical / scientist ) person can internalize.
But over time, I connected with people who are very smart and very logical and whose faith is deepened by this (though to be clear, faith is still faith - even if you believe in the absence of a deity that's still a belief)
So I am very happy that I am at a place where I can grow my religious and faithful over time while being logically and internally consistent.
I appreciate that this is something that matters to you and perhaps something you could enjoy is to connect with someone whom you respect as an intellectual who is also religious, and see how they make sense of it.
But... HOW?
I don't know a single person who is an intellectual, scientifically minded, and openly religious. So I'm asking genuinely here on HN how you do it.
But you may well know people who are intellectual, scientifically minded and closeted religious. As this thread can attest, there is rampant discrimination against religious experience and thought in the science/tech community.
> So I'm asking genuinely here on HN how you do it.
I believe that most deep religious experiences are things that happen to you, not things that you actively plan for. But having said that, I believe that the key in general is humility. So many people in this thread (and others on HN) have displayed incredible arrogance that is an effective protective barrier from having a religious experience. This is very much their loss. We all end up humbled eventually though.
No matter how you feel about religion in the 21st century, we would not have a civilization were it not for religion. When you dig deep enough, you will generally find that the seed of the society came from a visionary mystic. Even Genghis Khan was a shaman as much as he was a warrior.
Empirical science is neither the beginning nor the end, though it is an extraordinarily powerful tool. The rules of empirical science are bounded in such a way that it is essentially impossible to talk scientifically about some of the most important aspects of being human. Funnily enough, scientists engage just as much as religious people in mysticism when they throw up their hands and describe consciousness as an "emergent" phenomenon.
Religious texts are deeply fascinating if you allow them to be. Think of them as founding civilizational documents like a constitution. All of us live in cultures that descend from these (relatively) ancient texts. You would not be here if it weren't for these past religious traditions. That doesn't mean that we should blindly follow religious leaders or accept everything that we read in these texts. But we should at least have some curiosity about how we got here and ask what relevant wisdom might still be there for us in these texts. That is a far more scientific approach than casually dismissing religion as nonsense.
I need to write in more depth about it. I'll give you a super short TLDR and I apologize if this is not sufficient to intellectually connect to.
Let me hit it from two angles:
First of all, you do know many such people. For example, Isaac Newton was deeply religious, as was Darwin (his faith was later shaken by the loss of a child), Georges Lemaître who theorized the Big Bang was a Catholic Priest, Edward Hubble who observed evidence of the Big Bang, was a devout Christian. People claim that not much is known about Einstein's religiosity, but it's interesting that he supported a fundraising effort to translate the Talmud into English for example.
So one angle is - you know the founding figures today's science and many/most of them saw no conflict between their science and religion. A quick response may be "well that's what people just believed back then" but - what is the understanding that we have that these scientists didn't, which gives us firm foundation to dismiss religion whey they themselves embraced it?
Second, let's go on a quick mental experiment. Let's accept for the moment that the universe is an accident, that all life is random and that the only reason humans are as we are, is because we evolved to outsmart our predators and prey. A logical implication of that is that we would have no reason to develop the intellect and senses that enable us to understand true reality - to grasp how the universe works. We evolved to just be smart enough to eat a cow rather than be eaten by a wolf.
If you accept that perception/intellectual limitation, the implication is that humans can't expect to assert anything about reality. Just because our instruments don't detect something or our eyes can't see something speaks nothing of the existence of that thing either way. Same as just because some creature didn't evolve sight, doesn't mean that the thing it could have seen if it had sight, doesn't exist - but that creature has no idea!
That takes us to a logical place: humans aren't equipped to objectively conclude anything about the universe. So if you assert lack of creation, lack of divinity - that's just what you chose to believe despite the fact that your tooling for perceiving these things is lacking. So it's faith either way.
I don't think I articulate the 2nd point well enough, it needs more. But let me know how it sounds, I'd appreciate the feedback.
And partly through his influence, today I am Christian and openly religious enough to write this comment. As to whether I'm intellectual and scientifically minded... I'd say so, though it seems a little vain to admit to being intellectual. :-)
I wouldn't say I'm a born-again-whatever - I usually describe myself as an optimistic spiritual agnostic - but I think a combination of broadening my horizons physically (geographically moving around) and mentally (actually paying attention in grad school to the liberal arts that I thumbed my nose at as an undergrad) and getting hit repeatedly with how little I/we actually know about anything has let me inch away from the cynical a(nti)religiosity and submit to something larger than me.
This has also given me a better appreciation of the books I (was supposed to have) read in high school; in hindsight, I don't think there's any way many students could draw much meaning from them without having their own life experiences.
I don't think there's a simple answer on how to flip that light switch but I can share some ideas.
First, do you have religious people in your life whom you respect even if you don't share their faith. Ask them about it - you can literally say "I don't get it at all but I am curious, what's this like for you?" And just see what resonates.
Second, that is a question you can direct to a member of clergy. If you can't envision yourself walking into a house of worship, shoot an email and be like "I am faithless but curious. I am sure I am not the first one..."
Third, be really for hits and misses. Not every religious person can articulate it in a way that will make sense to you, and not every clergy person can speak to it effectively either (some people can only preach to the converted, to borrow a phrase.) But if you ping a few people, some of them may give you something that's a good thread to follow.
Fourth, I suggest starting with whatever faith your family was historically in. There's something cool about that.
Fifth, if really nothing else - shoot me a way to contact you and we can chat about my experience.
To me the choice to clear- be true to yourself. In that sense, organized religion has no place in this world.
IMO, religion isn't really about truth, or "there is an afterlife", or "there's a magical almighty person(s) out there". Rather, it's mostly just a bunch of advice, principles and curated wisdom passed down from generation and generation to help people live a happy, meaningful life.
Like "you shall not kill", or "you shall not steal" or "treat your neighbor like you would yourself" - are arguably good principles to follow if you want to live in a peaceful society free from violence, as obeying these rules minimizes desire for anyone to have vengeance upon their neighbor. Or take Buddhism, which preaches that nirvana is absence of desire and craving, which shows that sometimes your own greed and ambitions can be the cause of your suffering, and by simply being grateful, can bring you happiness.
In this sense, I think it's valuable and has a place in the world. I mean, are we alone in existence, and is death the end? I think so, but if it makes some people feel better thinking otherwise is possible, then what's wrong with letting them believe or put hope into that?
So to me, religion isn't so much about "what is true and not true", but more rather: "here's some wisdom on how to lead an enjoyable life".
Even the original "God is dead" quotes from Nietzsche sound mournful, not arrogant. From what I understand he was trying to convey the same thing you are: that by turning away from religion, we are undoing many of the basic moral underpinnings of our culture. Now we have to rebuild them with something new, and quite obviously, people can't agree on one set of ideas.
Don't forget that to some of us religious stories contain nothing of particular interest or are similar to ancient fairy tales, and the history of various churches and religions is a mere part of the general human history of power struggles between elites in various countries. When you haven't been raised in religious ways, you feel no guilt about making blasphemous remarks and do not fear the wrath of supposed supernatural entities.
How is that arrogant? It seems humble to me to acknowledge that I as an individual and a society on the whole don't actually mean much.
Everyone of us wants to feel significant, loved, and giving up on an idea that we live forever, that there's always someone external looking out for us etc is an emotionally difficult process to go through.
But that's what personal growth is. It doesn't mean that you go nuts and do crazy shit - consequences exist. What it means is that your perspective changes and you become OK with just being you, and taking a journey on a speeding rock through space.
People think that you lose when you give up religion, which is in part true - but there is also a lot to be gained - in personal development, seeing life from a different perspective and appreciating the limited time we have before donating our atoms back to the universe.
So replace religion with unscientifically naive optimism? That too is a delusional narrative. "Donating your atoms back to the universe" as if a personified "universe" cares about you on its way to heat death, someone get me my spirit crystals.
You might say you're off the religious dance-floor, but you're still doing the moves. In fact it's almost more rational to get back into one of the holy books, at least there you can connect the dots on attaching meaning to the present.
Not sure what's so delusional about having your atoms be reused for other purposes when you die... what else would happen?
As for the word "donating", that's more a personal mindset. What I'm saying is, I'm OK with death, I'm not so egotistical to think that I'm anything more than a moment in time.
Optimism and naivety, well you can interpret whatever I said however you like, but there's actually no real argument that you've made in relation to what I wrote.
I find that disturbing, too, even as someone who believes it's likely true.
But when I was deeply Christian, I also found my denomination's view on the afterlife disturbing, too. If you live literally forever, what happens when you've done everything that matters? What even matters anymore in a world without need? How can everyone be happy at the same time if happiness depends on other people whose wants may not align? If existence in the afterlife is fundamentally different from the mortal life, there's still something of familiarity to me that will end forever. Maybe that's equivalent to my current conscious experience blinking out.
I've come to view life as a ride. It's valuable for its own sake, not because of some greater meaning I can't ascertain. It's an absolute miracle that we all exist, in the thousands of years of culture and writing, we're nowhere close to knowing why we're here, so why bother wasting my one life worrying about it when the joys of existing are self-evident.
I think humans have an in-built moral compass but sometimes that compass gets warped and distorted by our environment.
Name a society that hasn’t valued love, friendship, family, etc.
It's not the worst thing in the world to be deluded - and frankly I just don't care what they do and say unless it starts to impact me and mine. It's not religion per se I dislike - people are free to live their lives as they see fit, it's the control-structure scam of an organized religion that reels in the gullible, the poor, the disadvantages, those who believe what they're being told. That is disgusting, IM(ns)HO.
These megapastors (and even not-so-megapastors) bilking their flock to pay for the latest Learjet... I think they believe in religion as much as I do, tbh.
Of course “religious” folks who tell people they should simply endure, rather than resist, injustice and inequality are disgusting. But sometimes despite your best efforts, the bad guys still win (temporarily).
Telling people that this life is not the end-all-be-all is only manipulative if it’s meant to make people passive. And I know that not everyone informs people about the afterlife out of malice.
I've noticed this the most with outdoorsy equipment, like my pair of wool socks (Darn Tough). They are 3x more expensive that cotton, but they keep my feet warm without overheating them, are thicker so I can comfortably walk around the house with no other footwear, they don't hardly get smelly, they also dry really fast. That last one comes in handy when you need to cross streams.
A cheap jacket for $50 dollars or a (well researched) jacket for $150 is an obvious win. Warmer, more durable, more comfortable, and looks better. I bet it can last 3 times longer than the cheaper jacket in a lot of cases, plus it could probably resell for much more. We don't often talk about equity in smaller purchases (probably because it's not as consequential), but buying good items means they'll probably hold value better for resale (same goes with buying them used).
And it's worth it - I've had two pairs (from ebay) that have lasted me for 10 years between them. Resoled many times, but still absolutely excellent.
10 years!
My weight fluctuates, my clothing needs change, my style changes, I discover a new type of clothing item that obsoletes an old one. Or stuff shrinks, rips, gets stained, gets lost.
Expensive "long lasting" clothing isn't usually worth the investment in my experience for all of these reasons.
Outdoorsy equipment may be an exception, but I don't feel like it's the case for regular clothing or merchandise in general.
(Plus a lot of expensive stuff isn't actually any better quality than the cheap stuff, and it takes a lot of research to figure out when the expensive stuff actually is worth it and when it's not.)
Clothing has a lot of this. For good clothes, you gotta shop on material and craftsmanship, and then get everything but your workout cloths and PJs tailored. Trying to buy clothes that fit right off the rack, or trying to figure out quality based on price range is just a losing game.
https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm
Another view:
Orange Elastic No Tie Shoe Laces... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PK2N1PD?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_shar...
The "incorrect" knot still works relatively well and looks almost the same as the "correct" knot. The "incorrect" one also requires significantly less finger dexterity which is why children tend to prefer it.
Ive recently started weightlifting for strength (low reps high weights) and the mindset is totally different. With weightlifting to keep your lifts going up you have to eat more. One standard is 1g protein/pound of target body weight. It turns out it is really hard to eat that much protein and when you do you arent that hungry. Im now trying to gain weight to get up to 190-200. Ive gained 10 pounds back to 170, but it is more muscle than fat.
In the end weight is just a meaningless number and building muscle becomes a positive spiral. Losing weight causes a loss in muscle which becomes a negative spiral.
Paradoxically you can be leaner, look better, and be stronger at a higher weight.
1. In the beginning, going to the gym is the hardest part. Incentive: if you go to the gym consistently for a while you are rewarded with no more post workout muscle soreness, and easy newbie gains.
2. Do compound lifts if you can (squat, bench, deadlift (warning deadlifts are not for everyone, and may not be all that beneficial), pullups/pulldowns.) Add a bit of weight or reps each week. Aim for 3-6 sets. No one will care if you start with an empty bar. If you add reps, if you get up to around 10-12, add weight instead. These number are flexible and there is no right answer.
3. For accessory exercises or things that target single muscles: try a bunch of stuff and try new stuff often. If you don't like it, don't do it. If you like it, work it into your routine. These are generally fun but unnecessary until you hit a plateau/wall in another lift and do some research on what you want to do to get past that plateau/wall.
4. Good form is more important than adding weight. Don't hurt yourself.
5/Bonus. Try watching some cringey YouTube fitness influencers and see if they're doing anything that looks fun and try that.
Also follow the golden rule: clean up and put your damn weights back.
It uses an algorithm to maximize your strength gains and uses the equipment you have at home (or the gym). So even if you only have a few pieces of equipment, it can still create a diverse workout for you.
And it has videos for how to do each exercise, which comes in handy more than you might expect.
I like it because I don't have to keep track of anything, don't have to do any work in terms of number crunching.
It's like having a smart personal coach.
I worked out for years learning it myself, even doing a bodybuilding competition. I then had a personal trainer for a few weeks through work and discovered part of my squat form was wrong. It wasn't causing harm but was holding back my gains and did increase my risk of injury.
Let's put aside the super tiny category of professional bodybuilders where its valid approach, which ain't long term healthy place to be in for number of reasons.
For most folks doing heavy lifting, normal healthy diet is more than enough, if you get 60-100g of complete proteins in your body, mostly from real food and not just protein powder. You will grow muscles hard depending on the load, genes, active rest and billion other factors. At certain point (quite far from beginning) you should stop increasing weights, because you are removing health benefits more than adding by working out by entering joints / connective tissue injury territory.
The best is some place in between, just like with everything else in life. Do some heavy lifting if health allows it - ideally compound free weights (initially with trainer supervision to avoid mistakes that mess up your joints over time), do some cardio, HIIT, get into real sports out there and physical activities that become your passion and you stop caring about chasing meaningless weightlifting numbers.
The best side effect of all this is you start thinking much more what you eat, how much and how often. That is the key to good health, good weight and overall setup that can last you well into retirement.
1g protein per pound of lean bodyweight is not an 'overdose' and has no ill effects, long term or otherwise.
the rest of your comment is good advice.
Edit: I mixed the units.
Currently in my late 30s, I've long enjoyed pushing my limits in many forms of physical exertion - running, climbing, skiing, mountain biking, etc. However, as I've aged and my bones are no longer made of rubber, I have been forced to realize that pain is not often gain.
Dealing with the many persistent aches and pains, I was prompted by a friend to get a 'gait analysis' to assist with my running longer distances and in more diverse terrain. I quickly learned from my very skillful physical therapist/gait analyst, that my gait for running is not sustainable- and will lead to kinks and pains as I progress. Taking a step back, she identified that many of those gait quirks stem from my walking gait. And she quickly identified that my walking gait is out-of-wack due to an injury I sustained while playing basketball when I was 13.
25 years later, I am challenged to learn how to walk correctly.. so the question I have is if I haven't yet learned to walk, have I really ever been able to run? I doubt it, but I'm a pretty firm believer that I will be able to in the future.
Edit: I can't spelle
If not, can you please explain what "gate analysis" is?
Nothing proves flossing is beneficial actually
Also, nothing doesn't prove eating twelve apples per day cures cancer so why not try it ?
All else being equal, it's obviously better not to spend an extra minute or two doing something useless.
If you think it is not actually equal, and that scraping is indeed better, well say so and qualify your statement. You can even say that it's recommended by dentists, it's an authority argument but it surely is better than nothing.
I’m not sure why I have have to defend flossing of all things. I’m not trained in that field, neither are you, we should listen to the people who are and guess what? They almost all recommend flossing.
That argument was accepted with COVID vaccines, so why not now?
Far from universally and even in the pockets where it was, at least some percentage did it just to be able to go back to doing normal things which were gated by government rules.
Don’t do anything blindly. They won’t be the ones bearing the cost if and when something goes wrong.
>A nothing proves it isn’t, so you might as well
That's completely different from
>I’m not trained in that field, neither are you, we should listen to the people who are and guess what? They almost all recommend flossing.
If the goal of toothbrushing and flossing is to remove bacteria and food debris from your mouth, hopefully an uncontroversial premise, it's pretty obvious how flossing helps.
Just flossing and carefully watching the action of the floss and the plaque is sufficient to demonstrate the benefit.
Sometimes your common sense is more than enough to make sense of the world, no ivy league double blind study required.
I suppose you could skip going to the dentist altogether but that comes with risks of larger issues down the road.
You're right though that there's no established effect on cavities.
Having said that, it's difficult to get people to actually floss, so there's a certain amount of uncertainty about the results of those RCTs, and whether participants were doing what they were supposed to be doing.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-teeth-and-gums/how-to-k...
That's just so wrong already. Regular toothbrushes are absolute trash compared to sonics, every dentist will tell you that.
> don't use mouthwash (even a fluoride one) straight after brushing your teeth or it'll wash away the concentrated fluoride in the toothpaste left on your teeth
So in a nutshell, don't use it because it'll wash away the flouride... that you've already rinsed out. Yeah not much of a minus there.
Gonna need a cite on that. Pretty sure the recommendation is to hold the brush at 45 degrees and use circular movements.
Maybe bring this up in your next session.
> We all eat all sorts of things and it's fine That's like saying you can lose some IQ every so often because you'll live so what
Toothpaste: 4mg / teaspoon
So you'd need to swallow several whole teaspoons to pass std. safety levels
I just point that out, because I am acutely aware how good people are at convincing themselves with statistics of anything, really.
Yes that is better than getting shot 1000 times, not better than getting shot only once, in case you are wondering.
Complexity != Fragile
Basically, even if you swallow all your toothpaste you're unlikely to have problems unless your diet is already rich in fluoride, and spitting but not rinsing is fine.
I had canker sores for my entire life, well into my late 20s. I tried everything: changing toothpastes (more on this in a second), changing brushes, using mouthwash, being told my mouth was "dirty" and I need to brush more, etc.
Turns out (at least for me) the sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) used as a foaming agent in (almost) every single toothpaste causes canker sores. I found "canker sore toothpaste" that lacks the SLS, for $7 a tube. I used it for couple of years and it worked!
If you read up on SLS, this is not super-surprising. It's a known skin irritant, and is known to cause more irritation when left on the skin for more than a couple of minutes. Canker sores are an autoimmune issue, so my theory is the irritation triggers an immune response, leading to the sore.
And then I discovered if I rinse thoroughly (twice) after brushing, even with normal toothpaste, I just don't get canker sores anymore! Not sure if it's universal, but canker sores suck so much, I hope this helps someone suffering like I was.
Much better than any over the counter stuff.
Play by the rules and the game will actually come to an end.
The Lindy-effect blessed methods are still just pen, paper, books, discussion, and debate.
https://www.npr.org/2023/01/25/1151367036/story-monopoly-ame...
The aim of monopoly is not to gather money / property, it is to bankrupt your opponents as quickly as possible. Any rule that increases money supply in the game (paying extra for landing on free parking or Go, for example) makes the game longer and worse.
It's a pretty terrible game - something about the psychology of it makes you hate everyone else playing, but it's somehow addictive, you think you like playing it but you don't. I think it's done a huge disservice to board games in general - other board games are so much better, but people think board games are boring because they played monopoly as a child.
- B: I bid $100
At this point A has to decide whether to keep bidding and risk bidding higher than the price they didn't want to pay anyway, just to stop their opponent getting it, or to hold on to their funds and potentially let their opponent get Mayfair for below list price.
But no. One day I realized it's just that my toilet always started from a flushed state... like a normal person. But they knew somewhere out there, someone would try to clean their toilet still full of piss and shit.
I often thought: It seems like flushing first makes much of the cleaning product run right into the water rather than sticking to the bowl, but there must be a reason they say to do it.
Besides “Europe” is a big place, how can you generalize.
The most naturally-ergonomic toilet is actually the seatless "turkish" hole. Unfortunately it's often not the easiest to use in a hygienic manner, and it requires a lot of space. I wish someone would invest in evolving that model into something better.
> old people have problems squatting.
They shouldn't be required to, but everyone else should have the option to preserve their bodies better.
Yesterday while visiting him it just struck me like a lightning strike that I had no connection with him. Our world views are so fundamentally different that I might have disrespected him by some honest mistake. It was a difficult realization to process, but I feel like there's no going back from this.
Something very deep inside has changed. I spent the night awaken next to my toddler thinking how I want a different fate for our own relationship, while at the same time having no clue how to even bring this up to my father. He expects something from me that I just can't (and don't) want to give.
Still, I think this is progress, somehow.
I provide that background only to point out that it is based on nothing other than folklore and fairy tales. It was a tradition that served its purpose but is not really necessary in modern times. You can be emotionally involved in your son's life. You can let him know how you are feeling, even if you are feeling weak or unsure. I can't say for sure, but I would investigate if you are more concerned about how your father feels about you as a person or if you are more concerned as to whether or not he thinks that you are a success. Is he the voice in your head that says "you can do it, I believe in you!" or "you better not mess up!"?
Part of this has to do with being emotionally competent yourself, which is something that you can work on.
The other half involves religion. This is the lost cause. His whole world view is built on top of dogmatic religious practice, which I have long rejected. Up to this point it didn't bother me at all: I respect his religious practices and even engage while visiting. But I won't hide my lifestyle choices because of this. I try my best to be considerate, but something will leak. I am not going to deceive him.
There was a brief moment when he was disconnected from his practices. I was maybe 19 at the time. We talked about life and I got some "father advice". It didn't last long, and now all advice is tainted by religion. It is not useful nor practical. I can accept it, be considerate and try to adapt it, but it is ultimately useless. This drives us apart slowly.
It's most pronounced in my relationship with my father, but it's also my family in general. I feel a bit more connected to my mom and my grandparents, but I just can't say my family is very important to me, even if it sounds sad. My friends have always been my substitute family, in a way, even as a child, and it's even stronger now as a single adult. I probably spend more times with my friends from Norway (I live in Germany) in a single year than with my family in a decade.
Needless to say, this is also an unresolved issue for me. Not sure if it's possible to solve it other than accepting how it is.
I guess this is why my family has become so important lately. The perils of fatherhood away from any support just push me in this direction.
All the best for you on your journey!
I was enlightened the first time I traveled to Japan, and an affordable ($50) add-on has been installed in our master bath ever since.
I used to think bidets were weird European things.
Now I know that wiping your dry poopy butt with paper is a weird American thing :)
Bidets for life!
I've recently switched to the handheld ones because the seat attachments require you to shift your butt around to catch the stream. Friends seem to be more weirded out by this one though.
The Japanese one is nice but the one common across South East Asia is the best because it doubles as a bowl cleaner: No need for a toilet brush.
I spent the money to send him to a proper board and train, and it was life changing. Our relationship is better. He is happier and less stressed. I was able to take him off sedatives. Plus it's cool to have a dog with perfect recall that I can take anywhere without worrying.
If you can afford it, I can't recommend finding a reputable balanced trainer more highly.
I feel like this would only be half a solution. That, to work as a pair, you would need some amount of training as well. To better understand your dog's signals to you and know how to respond appropriately.
I think the big difference is in three parts.
First, they are doing the training all day. I simply don't have the time.
Second, the balanced training methodology adds consequences as well as rewards. This is a far more effective methodology. It is what people use to train working K9s like attack dogs and the like.
The last part is mindset. I have a working dog, granted it is a Corgi, and he wants to be working. Instead of making him "be good," I am giving him jobs throughout the day that reward him.
> That, to work as a pair, you would need some amount of training as well.
You would be correct. I got pretty significant training the day I took him home (about 3 hours). After that, we had a few follow hour-long ups. There they show you the commands and behaviors the dog learned, how to interpret there body language, and how to extend them at home.
Also, what kind of jobs do you give to him?
This inspired me to find a similar place near me. I went to a place in Northern Ohio called Boss K9[2].
> Also, what kind of jobs do you give to him?
We try and make everything a job. Our training sessions, even place time. Sitting still for a reward is actually really hard for a dog, even tiring. So we make that time rewarded as well.
This leads to a more structured life for him, which is good.
If you are interested in this sort of training, I would contact Boss k9. The owner will help you find what to look for.
- [1] https://www.facebook.com/haleyhowessoundhounds/ (sorry, but it only looks like they have facebook?)
But if you explain I’d be happy to give my thoughts.
I don't want to pay a lot of money for dog training if the training consists of telling me how to train the dog - and then it doesn't work. I want a professional to train the dog.
So they do train you some, and you are expected to keep up with the training. But that’s just to make sure you are following the system of things they taught the dog. In my case, the dog came home with the following skills.
Place training. I can say “bed” and he’ll go to place and stay until released. Same follows for “crate.”
Sit and Down. He’ll down till I release him.
When we are walking, “heel” brings him to my left side. Release word and he can run about. He does this on and off a leash. (But you should always use a leash) he also sits when I stop without a command.
He learned much better recall. Comes and downs immediately.
The training that I do is walking him in a “structured walk.” That is making sure he heels and sits when I stop.
I also do a 10 minute session running though all his commands in different areas of my home once a day.
I didn’t train him. They did. I just keep him sharp.
Turns out, I had spent most of my life dehydrated. I feel so much better when I drink a ton of water.
Now I work hard on being friendly, curious and kind towards others.
I'm glad you figured this out with time to make adjustments and I hope that it brings you a smile in your final days.
Main (human) character from the movie “Harvey” starring Jimmy Stewart, 1950.
"Like all young men I set out to be a genius, but mercifully laughter intervened." ― Lawrence Durrell from the novel “Clea”, 1960.
Here’s the kicker though: I’m more dexterous with chopsticks than even she is. I can pick and place a single grain of rice, or hold the most slippery noodles with ease. So she just laughed about it and told me to keep doing whatever the heck I do.
Surprisingly, I did it in China for a month-long work trip and nobody batted an eye.
It sounds like you and I use much the same pencil grip.
But if something needs to be said, you shouldn't shy away from saying it, if you're worried about how they might react.
In the Netherlands and afaik all surrounding countries, this is definitely not necessary. Drink tap water all you want.
You cannot go wrong with tap water.
Now, there is the matter of taste. My tap water is ok, some are much better. I drink from a Brita pitcher (the one with overpriced filters) and the taste is noticeably better.
But again it is just the taste. The safety of tap water is a given here (town halls have to post results from water tests that are done on a regular basis).
If you have hard water, I suggest a whole-house water softener and reserve reverse osmosis for the kitchen.
Re: remineralization. Ick, I just skip these. They taste awful to me.
Deinionized water on the other hand immediately chemically to pull in ions. So same action, but with a more powerful mechanism. You'd probably have to drink a lot of deionized water to cause issues, plus water reionizes pretty quickly in air, and it takes terrible.
> there are the usual low quality, planned obscelesence game playing techniques to sort through
Umm, a water filter is mostly a reservoir, tubing, and a pile of chemical reactants. This is not planned obsolescence. This is just pure chemistry. The reactants become saturated and need replacing.
All water filtration systems require periodic changing of filters.
That said, there are many stage filtration systems, and you don't need most of them. A three-stage reverse osmosis system will give you the cleanest water possible. Like mine was a 4 stage with a final remineralization step that I just didn't hook up.
If you want to understand it better watch this [1], just skip the deionization step because drinking deionized water is very unhealthy.
In reality it is a “sack” that you hit, not a “shack”.
*edit: Fixed a spelling mistake. It's still early here... :-p
I even had the "correct" version wrong! The first was a nod to op, the second was a goof on my part. :-p
Car side mirrors. I spent more than a decade of driving adjusting them wrong. You want them so you don't see cars behind you at all in your side mirrors until they're transitioning off the edge of your center rear-view mirror. This gives you far more coverage of your sides, and every car is still visible in at least one mirror at all times. For me, where I put my seat, this usually means setting them as far out as they'll go.
[EDIT] I think I read about it in the context of correcting a common misconception or mistake, actually. Correct adjustment of the mirrors was described as watching a car leave your rearview mirror, and ensuring they show up on your sideview just as they're leaving the rearview—so if you can see cars on your sideviews before they're starting to slip off the edge of your rearview, you've got those adjusted too far in. For me, given how far back I put my seat, this ended up meaning I should adjust the mirrors all the way out in most cars. The idea is both to not have a gap in the sideview/rearview coverage, while maximizing side coverage within that constraint. So, if you can see cars in your sideview while they're still solidly in your rearview, that means you've got less side coverage than would be ideal.
Referenced in: https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15131074/how-to-adjus...
(edited to include 2nd link)
1. When you set your side mirrors like this you are heavily relying on you rear view mirrors to see cars behind/around you in the other lanes. However your rear view mirror can easily get blocked by people or items sitting in the back of the car or large vehicles following closely behind who completely block your view of cars in the other lanes (remember side view mirrors will only show cars in your blind spot, not cars traveling in the other lanes that may be go significantly faster than you if you decide to change your lane).
2. Positioning your mirrors like this does not make all cars visible to you if you are on a road with more than 2 lanes and so you still must do a blind spot check by physically turning your head. This is because on a 3+ lane road and you are in lane 1, there may be a car in lane 3 moving into lane 2 while you are at the same time moving into lane 2 as well. Having your mirrors set so they only watch your blind spot you will not see that the car is moving towards the lane you are moving to until it’s too late. Doing a blind spot check you will be able to see a car 2 lanes over is trying to move to the same spot you’re trying to move to.
I like setting my mirrors so I just barely see the edge of my car when I look at the mirror. That way if there is a car behind me, their headlights aren’t constantly flashing at me from the mirror in my peripheral vision until I turn my head toward the mirror and then I can see his headlights near the edge of my car. I can see cars in the other lane but it doesn’t show cars in my blind spot (I still do a blind spot check). Another plus to this is that it’s easier to park backwards. The best of both worlds is also having a fisheye mirror on top of you regular mirror that shows you your blind spot but this is not a substitute for doing a blind spot check!
It’s not about seeing less. It’s just the fact that the rear view mirror is the most likely to get obstructed. I use the rear to mainly get a feel for the amount of traffic around me but I try to check it first then my side mirror then my blind spot before changing lanes.
Most people's side mirrors are filled with their own car which tells you nothing.
Proper tongue positioning is when you rest your tongue on the roof of the mouth and away from the teeth. It's been 2 years I've been "mewing"[1]. A good side effect for me: Now I stop snoring and I believe I have better posture. Some claim that it will improve your jawline but not for me, I guess I started too late. If I had started in my teen, I believe I would have had a great face today ?
[1] Check youtube videos for "mewing" or lookup JawHacks videos
> on the bottom of your mouth
correct:
> when you rest your tongue on the roof of the mouth and away from the teeth
Problem that is often genetic or more rarely that appeared during your development: either your face lacks forward projection or a part only is recessed (malocclusion: your upper and lower teeth don’t perfectly fit).
The only way to definitively cure it is to go through an orthognatic surgery. If not treated it might evolves into sleep apnea as you are getting older. You should check with an orthodontist or a maxillo-facial surgeon to make sure that’s what your are suffering from.
If your are lucky like me, ie you have enough projection and no malocclusion, a genioplasty might be sufficient to naturally seal your lips without muscle contraction by bringing them closer. In my case it’s what created the pressure differential needed for my tongue to stay in the roof of my mouth. If you are unlucky a BSSO, a Lefort I or both (Bimax) might be necessary. Some extreme cases might even require the three surgeries.
I'd also like to add that even in absence of sleep apnea, Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome, where the airway collapses but the body partially wakes up before it progresses into an apnea, is likely, and often missed by diagnostics.
In general, maxillomandibular advancement is always more effective than genioglossus advancement during genio.
In my (light) case for example two independant surgeons advised me against as the risk outweighed the potential benefice
I wish more research was conducted into improving nerve healing using administration of stuff like Cerebrolysin, other neurotrophic, or cellular stress therapy - e.g. in fat transplantation, pre-op suction promotes vascularization and local growth factor release, dramatically improving fat graft survival rates, in skin/hair, microneedling works wonders through local growth factor release. Could we do the same to the nerves?
I suspect that for me it switched back later as I was very good in long distance running as kid and after one time beeing sick I never recovered to my previous form. It never occured to me that it was tongue placement :(
I assume now you have anecdotal evidence of it working for you for snoring, but what made you think it would work in the first place?
Years of marriage before we figured out I hate cleaning small things (silverware and glasses) and she hates cleaning big things (pots and pans). We permanently changed how we clean up after meals.
Not exactly in line with your premise, but changed my entire outlook about expressing what I want or prefer about almost anything.
Actors are getting paid to work with a coach who is putting the through weight or strength regiments that are a part time job. It works for them because it’s all they’re doing.
If you want to walk or bicycle three hours a week then no, you aren’t going to lose weight from exercise.
You can burn a couple thousand calories in a day by walking or biking or running, but it’s going to color your whole day.
I was sucking my gut in on inhale, and expanding it on exhale. Once I tried it the other way around, it locked and I've breathed this new way ever since.
It's obvious to give your lungs more room, couldn't believe to have been doing something so basic wrong.
Muscles can only do two things: contract and relax. Lungs are controlled by two muscle groups: the diaphragm and the chest.
The muscles in the front of the chest are the most obvious, and the least important: they only squeeze the air out, which doesn't really take active effort most of the time.
The diaphragm is what pulls air in to the lungs. It does this by pulling the lungs straight down toward the stomach.
Practicing this intentionally, by pulling your diagram down and holding it, is great exercise. Deeper slower breaths are more effective at cycling oxygen and CO2 through the blood stream, help you speak louder and longer, and can even significantly reduce your stress level.
Breathing is something we do automatically well enough, but breathing intentionally is incredibly useful.
I was surprised enough to read that GP could change subconscious breathing technique (or have had it 'wrong' to begin with) - I'm even more surprised that this is supposedly a health/musicians' exercise, not just normal.
I used to open them from the hard stem bit which was not always successful, but it turns out that if you pinch them at the other end, they open up much easier:
Some folks (usually older) strongly believe that.
Then I realized that I should align its speaker to be right against my ear canal, that is 1-2 cm lower. And now I could hear the other person so much better!
Not: “What’s up”
Not: “<open-ended question>”
Not: “<this is what I did over the weekend>. How was yours?”
Yes: <Logistics of meeting up>
Agenda - What are we going to do?
Outcome - How do we know if the agenda was successful? / Or when to end the meeting (more for exploratory stuff, dates included).
What is this meeting?
Why is this meeting?
Every time I tried it, I'd sabotage my efforts not knowing by chewing gum, eating tic tacs, using flavored tea, etc this would just trigger my insulin response and I'd get hungry throughout the day.
All I had to do, is just simplify my intake to any of these: water, black coffee, black tea or any tea with a bitter profile.
And that's it. Fasting would get easier after that, especially after first few days.
And you could do 4h, 6h, 8h, 12h, 20h easy peasy. No problem.
And if you should experience the desire to eat during those periods, most of the time it was just psychological. Your body isn't dying. You are more resilient than that.
To do fasting drink more non-calorie liquids. Which is absolutely correct. I drink like 2x as much liquid when I'm fasting.
Technically, Bubbly / Flavored Sparking Water has no calories but can still break your fast because the flavoring can trigger your insulin response by fooling your body into thinking food is coming and you start to salivate and the stomach starts to rumble.
That's why I said coffee or teas with bitter taste.
I wouldn't go as far as flavored drinks that don't include artificial sweeteners though (not that there are too many of those in practice).
The spine is adapted to bend multiple ways, including rounding, as a matter of good exercise form. It's a major function of your abdominal musculature, in fact, to compress the spine forward along the transverse plane. Just don't pick up heavy stuff that way or hunch over a desk all day.
Later in life I trained myself into touch-typing (and then to use Colemak), but for some reason I can't seem to shake off this annoying thumb bit.
These days there are excellent tools online: ratatype, typeracer, keybr, keyzen-colemak, typelit.io, typing cat, speedcoder, etc etc.
The main approach is:
1. don't look at the keyboard. Print out a layout, better if color-coded to indicate which finger should be used, and put it near the monitor. Whatever happens, don't look at the keyboard, ever.
2. index fingers on the two central keys with the little rubber bit (F and J in qwerty).
3. accept that it will take weeks to be as productive as you were before, but then it will (should) be much easier to go faster.
The only way to truly get an economically "correct" typing posture is to use a keyboard that actually has keys under your resting hands' fingers. That means using a keyboard that was designed to match the shape of hands, not the shape of a 19th century typewriter.
There is no ergonomical way to use a traditional keyboard. All you can do is pick your favorite compromise. Using a better layout (like Colemak) helps a lot, but it can't fix the whole problem.
Rather, with 2-3 keys for each thumb, and either using home row modifiers (with tap-hold, or with chording): it allows for really minimizing the need to use pinkies, and eliminates needing to reach for the corners where Ctrl/Gui/Alt are typically placed.
And in fact I'd find it very hard to hit something like Cmd+Q with just my left hand if I use the pinky for Cmd.
Another thing would be flossing with dental brushes. Gum infections can ruin your health in many ways.
But I want to. I want friends. But I can't accept friends, because they will find out I have no worth, so I only have acquaintances. Honestly, I want my best friend back, my ex, but that is way gone.
Being superman != a way to measure your worth. Work != the value of you. You != nothing.
Be kind to yourself, show yourself love. You have value. I know that you do. If only I knew that I do too.
The court ordered person I work with has been the best help. He doesn't fuck around. While the therapist said 'why do you feel this way...why do you think that...blah blah' this guy was the first person my whole life to say 'dude, you have value, I wish you could see the person I see'. I can't explain what hearing that did for me. Especially from someone that knows ALL the good and the bad. I can't use my 'but if he only knew' cop out.
One day it dawned on me that I was littering.
Odd thing was I never littered outside of that. In fact cleaning up litter was part of my job at the time.
https://eradicateplastic.com/how-long-do-cigarettes-take-to-...
You are acting incredibly selfishly if you help people because you feel it entitles you to a specific outcome.
I now see why people have called me childish. You have to let people have their own agency and decide whether they want your help or even like what your doing. You can't get upset if they don't think it's as good as you do.
Find people who care and lean into those. Forget the rest. Don't get emotionally attached to people who don't care about you. You can never "nice" them into liking you. Fake friendships are everywhere and you may seem "rude" by realizing this or pointing it out... but you can both live better lives by not continuing the charade.
Ideally, it's something that is noticed and corrected in childhood. Or, like me, you end up in braces (again) as an adult, because your tongue pushed your previously corrected teeth all over the place over the years.
I’m currently testing these exercises from YT - https://youtu.be/aSdc1pKnqDY
I've voted twice to (successfully) repeal prohibition laws in states I've lived in, and would do it again.
Cannabis dependency is real however, and it's the "safe" drug compared to, say, heroin; but I'd recommend taking breaks, or consider stopping.
If you're smoking all day and quit cold turkey, you'll be cranky for a few days either way. The craving for nicotine never feels completely gone, unlike cannabis. (Neither were as hard as alcohol.)
Quitting/pausing the use of cannabis has some immediate benefits compared to nicotine, more energy, fewer mood swings, your dreams come back.
I smoked both for a decade. Haven't craved weed in years, but still crave tobacco pretty regularly.
from my experience I could simply outright stop and be fine with it. I might want later on, I might not, but it wasn't physical dependency.
what I realized many years ago is that getting "high" is, imho, actually overdosing. you should treat it like any other drug. let's say you wouldn't want to overdose on ibuprofen for example, or sleeping pills. you could but the outcome reverses to negative. so the same is for cannabis, you want to hit just the sweet spot. the problem is that every strain is different, it is also heavily based on your situation (e.g. same amount could have very different effects if you're hungry/thirsty or even just in a different mood; same with different strains) and these (more often than not) don't come with a prescription and well defined dose.
you would be surprised how little it takes to "overdose" (according to my definition, ie. get high) and how little you actually need to gain the positive effects while avoiding negative effects. for that I realized smoking socially helps a ton, but you still need to be accountable for yourself.
personally I rarely smoke weed now since I very rarely get net positive effects. when I do it performs miracles, but more often than not it's neutral or net negative effect. maybe it changes with age. a lot of people say they remember it differently from when they were younger.
* lots of anxiety especially during bedtime
* nightmares are the worst first few days. Makes me shudder just thinking about it.
That and learning to enjoy things sober again. Movies/tv shows are harder to pay attention to when not high. The first few weeks they were painfully boring.
Things I think have helped me the most: 1. Correctly fitting shoes (I always wore shoes that were too narrow and short for my feet) 2. Wearing a heart rate monitor so that I could run at a pace that allows me to stay within the heart rate range that improves aerobic fitness while being easy enough to sustain (heart rate zone 2) 3. Increasing my cadence to the 170-180 steps per minute range, which has allowed me to improve my form/efficiency and avoid shin splints.
This may be controversial, but keeping the fluoride on your teeth as much as possible helps prevent tooth decay. Rinsing immediately after brushing dilutes or removes fluoride. What was the point? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Actually managing sugar intake in general. I'm 30 and just starting to do something about it.
No, grandma doesn't need a fibre connection with a NAS server with plex, using usenet, when she just wants the basic gardening channels :D
There are three main parameters: stand/sit, front-to-back/back-to-front, front-access/reverse-access (i.e. between the legs or behind the back)
Back-to-front is a health risk for 50% of us, and just a bit gross for the rest. So rule that out.
Wiping hand between the legs is awkward and requires that the thumb (a notoriously larger-than-the-other-digits digit) is used as the primary wiping vane.
Sit + wiping hand behind the back + wipe front to back allows use of the index finger, but requires an awkward lean and lift of one cheek to gain access.
Stand + wiping hand behind the back + wipe front to back is, therefore, the only sensible option. Additionally it makes checking the bowlean return value indicated on the paper much easier.
Oooo-uh head waveang
The ones I still hear despite knowing the correct lyrics are the first itemized one in the bullet list in that article, "there's a bathroom on the right".
My personal favorite one though is "I want to rock and roll all night, and part of every day" (instead of "party every day"), mostly because unlike most mondegreens it sort of works, but changes this confident declaration of desire into a bizarrely flaccid one. (Listening directly to the audio in a pristine listening environment like I'm in now I don't hear this, but in a normal day-to-day environment with other life happening I can still hear this.)
A modern day warrior Mean, mean stride Today's Tom Sawyer Mean, mean guy
When my child would ask to do something or desire something I might have said, "Not today but I promise in the future ...". Often I would never follow up on those.
Now, I am more inclined to say, "I will do my best to make that happen" or something along those lines but no promises.
Now I've learned to take almost nothing for granted, which makes me happier.
Occasionally I would feel "really hungry" in the morning. Only in my thirties I realized that that "hungry feeling" was just stomach pain and a direct consequence of eating late at night.
Similarly, I couldn't understand why I had a headache at 5 AM. Hint: I hadn't gone to bed yet. Realized by my late twenties.
Using shears is a far better experience, and they're useful for pizza too.
Kitchen shears are far better than a regular knife because they give you a lot more control, it's easy to cut different sized pieces. Plus, shears are useful for other things too (butterflying a chicken, for example).
Please don't judge me. I'm just trying to get by.
I had to search for that, not really sure what I was expecting, but that's just 'scissors' right? Is this a US/UK thing, everyone's replying talking about 'shears' too.
(I'd call the action shearing, but 'shears' just makes me think of what I suppose you'd call 'garden shears' - or I think in sewing/upholstery they distinguish between scissors (small) and shears (larger).)
TL;DR: grip the bar across the joint at the bottom of your fingers instead of across the middle of your palm. This doesn't apply to bench pressing (a push), but applies to all moves that involve pulling/lifting the bar.
I don't know, maybe I'll try this next time I deadlift but I feel like it would just weaken my already weak grip.
Grip is the main way we interact with the world, so it's worth training it. Also, grip strength is the most reliable predictor we have found for life expectancy. (i.e. higher grip strength means higher life expectancy). It could be correlation/causation fallacy, but I have decided to just assume it's worth training it for all the other benefits that having good grip strength brings.
Where can I read more about the techniques and/or bad habits? Interesting.
That, and using flushable wipes when at home instead of just 100% toilet paper.
Flushable wipes are NOT actually flushable.
https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm
Small, but life-changing discovery.
The new protocol is MEAT instead of RICE.
The knowledge hasn’t reached every medical provider yet
I trained myself to breathe through my nose during the day. And at night, I put a little piece of tape on my mouth to make sure I breathe through my nose.
The proper position should be on the roof of your mouth then you'll automatically breath with your nose.
I was doing what Ian calls the "Un-balanced Shoelace Knot". Reversing the starting knot makes all the difference.
Removed the two, started surfing and 50kg (110 pounds) later I’m happier and more active than I’ve ever been.
I used IFS methodology, which encourages you to investigate what “part” of you is doing the overeating, and why that part seems to think it’s necessary (is it protecting you? Distracting you?). I don’t really buy much of the IFS framework, but there’s some stuff in there that subjectively helped me.
I also suffered from a tendency (probably common here) to over-intellectualize things and generally feel disconnected from my actual body. Exercise and mindfulness practice helped that part.
All those things together helped me feel like I could stop fighting my body, and I could find better outlets for my furiously running mind than trying to calm it down by eating chocolate chips out of the bag at 10pm.
I've used methods to control hunger in the past but basically felt like my heart was racing and had hard times sleeping when using it.
The primary global benefit of teaching, in my experience, is that it keeps us jaded experts constantly at the entry point to our field. Close to the basic, foundational material. Making sure that it’s easy for new people to join, because that’s how the field grows and it’s good for everyone in it.
The primary local benefit, to the teacher, is that you have moments like this that allow you to constantly refine your worldview to be more congruent with reality. This allows you to better define what should be taught, and how.
[1] https://www.nationalgeographic.de/umwelt/2022/03/hormone-im-...
As long as you can easily modulo the time, this works for the range 1 minute (60) to 1 minute 39 seconds (99). Technically you could also do this for times like 2:65 instead of 3:05 but at that point you're not saving a keystroke. And on most microwaves they have an annoying delay between when you can do another keystoke after doing the last one, so I've appreciated the little bit of time saving I get with this knowledge.
They don't actually reduce the 'power' of the microwave, but they turn it on and then back off again for a proportion of time, over and over.
It takes longer to reheat stuff this way, but it comes out much more evenly heated, I find.
The newer microwaves with a sensor reheat button are pretty great.
Unfortunately, at least on my current model, the UX to access this feature is very bad: repeatedly pressing the "power" button until it reaches the desired level. I've had other microwaves where you just key in the desired power after pressing "power", and much prefer that method.
I don't know whether Panasonic has licensed this to any other manufacturer.
Ooh that's a good use case. What else do you do with it?
Depends on the microwave, you can get models that do adjust the power and they are very nice to use. Being able to slowly and evenly heat up food in the microwave is a huge game changer when it comes to how you use your microwave.
(I agree it applies just as well generally - but defrosting makes it more apparent/visible.)
I grew to prefer that method of interfacing with a microwave. "Just go! I don't care about the cook time!" When my wife and I bought our first house and purchased our appliance set, I wanted a microwave that did not force me to go through a timer workflow. Having such a workflow was good, but I also wanted some sort of "on" button on it. We picked out a GE Profile unit that had two user-assignable functions on the main interface. I assigned a "30s cook" function to one of the buttons. This is my "on" button. Additional presses of the button append 30s to the timer. This satisfies most of my needs.
Unfortunately, when I want to reduce power, the buttons that I have to press to do so are not as simple. I start the cook via the normal quick 30s button, but then I have to press the power button, then have to press the down button several times to lower the default power level of 10 to something more reasonable like 5 or 3, then I have to press to confirm that level. This takes precious seconds -- if it's a sensitive item like a small dipping bowl of marinara or something, the adjustment may be too late. Sure, I guess I could go through the full cook workflow, but that's not how I want to interact with it. And you know, if I am expending the time and energy to lower the power level from 10, it is highly unlikely that 9 will be my desired power level. Instead, I wish there was a "halve power level" button on the cook screen that cut the active duty cycle in half. So one press takes me from PL10 to PL5, another press goes to PL2.5, and so forth. Then I'd be happy.
I don't use any of the other features buried in the menus. It's all superfluous.
Buttons suck.
If I recall correctly - 60 imperial seconds are equivalent to 100 metric seconds a sort of inverse to the 100 kph being equivalent to 60 mph (metric units were mandated on American speedometers at the same time)
Of course on the speedometer you can just display both units where as on the microwave entry it's more the intention of the user that drives interpretation. So they got stuck at 100=60 and since everyone just interpreted 100 metric seconds as 1:00, minute it never caught on but never went away either.
This sounds like complete nonsense and I can't find any evidence of such a "mandated by the government metric time" with Google.
The Metric Conversion Act was in 1975, not the 1960s, and I am fairly sure that a decimalized minute was never part of any plans for US metrication anyhow.
This seems like an urban legend where the more likely reason is that its a practical design to treat the last two digits as seconds abd everything before as minutes, irrespective of whether the last two digits are greater than one minute, when making a keypad entry system. It bith does what is likely intended and avoids needing validation/error reporting since every possible numerical entry becomes correct.
Related: hold down 2 on the microwave for a couple of seconds to silence all chirps.
I often type 33, 111, 222, etc for the time saving benefit
It’s amazing how they manage to sell that touch nonsense for $$$$.
- Soap: it disrupt the skin microbiome. Only useful for hand washing and to clean private parts / the bottom. Even then use high quality soap like Marseille soap or Aleppo soap.
Note: Also as mentioned in the comments if you avoid soap / deodorant you *will* probably need to shower two times a day even without doing physical activities. Three times with physical activities.
You may also need to particularly rub the smelly parts of the body (e.g. the armpits) with a clean sponge, use mild to hot water (cold water doesn’t do it without soap) and trim your body hair. There is no magic. People use soap for a reason: it’s more “practical” and it requires less care to stay clean
And if you are used to wash yourself with soap and you brutally stop you may smell a little the first month until your microbiome is able to handle all the waste and your skin to balance its oil production. Even if you shower multiple times a day.
- Shampoo: Most shampoos are very a agressive for your scalp / hairs and should be avoided. Especially if you have fragile / curly hair. You can wash them with plain water or conditioner instead.
Note: Using a gentle shampoo without silicones and surfactants can still be useful from time to time. Especially to reset the pH of the scalp.
Also using a shampoo rarely and co-washing instead can be impractical if you have long hair as it’s way harder to clean and takes far longer to dry
- Toothpaste: it can be useful but it’s not so important. What really is important is to brush your teeth energetically to remove by mechanical friction the dental plaques and to change toothbrush frequently. Avoiding for a time to use toothpaste and using dental plaque revealer can be a great way to learn how to properly wash one’s teeth
Note: As someone else noted “energetically” means speed and taking your time. *Not* applying pressure on your teeth. Also toothpaste helps the teeth by providing fluoride. It’s just that using it every time may not be so useful and do not replace brushing your teeth effectively
Soap and toothpaste are good things. These are miraculous modern inventions. Use them.
The solution is to remove them, but you can only do that by using strong solvents.
So you use shampoos that contain strong solvents. This damages your hair, so you make sure to use conditioners to repair the damage. Except they don't repair, they fill in the holes with silicones. The silicones are now deeper into your individual hair strands. It looks good, but after a while, they break down. So you use solvents, deeper this time.
This damages your hair. Then you use conditioners. Most conditioners are filled with silicones that are not water soluble. Yet, after a short time...
The comment we are commenting under is not even saying that but recommending that we pay attention to the ingredients: "Most shampoos are very a agressive for your scalp [...] Using a gentle shampoo without silicones and surfactants"
Here is an interesting web application that allows you to scan products to know their ingredients. It tells you if they contain hard to remove silicones or harsh solvents. https://curlscan.com/
Using it to scan the brands at the stores that are local to me reveals that only a small minority of product do not contain the silicone-solvent circle.
Anecdotal, sure, but I have been teaching this to all the women in my life and they all report back that they are able to go longer without washing their hair with products now that they pay attention to the ingredients. Turns out that for a lot of people, we were going through the motion of adding a coat of product and removing that coat of product daily instead of actually fighting grime and sweat.
As something to do, or something to avoid? Most tribespeople and animals don't floss and have healthier teeth than modern people. I'm not sure sawing between ones gums is the ideal way of removing plaque, and I suspect is not been tested properly because I don't believe people actually do floss every every day.
Yes, obviously.
> Which may be more unrealistic than flossing every day...
Why?
>Why?
Assuming your question is in good faith, because refined sugar is everywhere. Not just in sweet treats which are commonly part of cultural celebration but also in a wide range of processed and prepared foods.
The problem with this comparison is that most tribespeople had kids by 18-20 so health issues that come much later don’t have much of an evolutionary hit. Losing teeth at 40 was not going to change things much for their genes.
Most tribespeople have diet that basically has no sugar, no processed carbs, and most men died by 40-50 due to intertribal warfare/infection so it didn’t matter much if you lose some teeth at 50. When you see documentaries of tribespeople almost all the old people have some missing teeth. If you don’t mind loosing teeth when you get older then I guess you can ignore that advice.
You might have something meaningful to contribute to the discussion, but using a "word" like "innit" is not going to get anyone to take your comment seriously.
> Shampoo: Most shampoos are very a agressive for your scalp / hairs and should be avoided. Especially if you have fragile / curly hair. You can wash them with plain water or conditioner instead.
Wait, what? I would love to see some supporting evidence for all this.
It obviously depends on your body, diet, and microbiome.
There's no definitive answer like if Earth was balls around the Sun. The answer is personal. Does that work for you or not? What have you tried and what works and what doesn't
Like the friend of mine who told me she never used shampoo in which my immediate reaction was “no shit..”
On the flip side, I do have a close friend who admitted he only showers every three days or so, and smells impeccable (which is extra funny because he has anosmia)
On the other hand, moisturizing and sunscreen has helped with dryness and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation from acne.
Soap is a rather recent invention (the Romans didn't have it until later in their Empire), and one that until 1-2 centuries ago people used sparringly. And yes, they did clean themselves with bathing, even in medieval times, despite the prevalent myths about those times.
Also, the last 80 years or so, after TV became popular soaps and fancy shampoos have been marketed to death with BS snakeoil claims. 99% of what you hear in those ads is bogus, including claims about the efficacy of their fancy sounding ingredients...
Might also want to check the book "Clean"
[0] https://www.aobiome.com/published-articles-and-papers/
[1] https://mightynest.com/shop/bath-body/skin-care/soaps-bodywa...
[2] https://web.archive.org/web/20181116064007/https://motherdir...
I have had luck opting for gentler shampoos and not using them every wash, but I wouldn’t speak for anyone else. There is large variance in peoples’ bodies.
They don’t smell it because their olfactory neurons have habituated.
Or maybe until you stop noticing the smell? Ask a friend perhaps.
For example, if you've been asking "I don't smell bad right?? I smell great, right!?" you're unlikely to get honest replies.
Reminds me of "The Mom Test" [1]. The book has a few tricks that can help with asking tough questions and receiving an honest feedback.
And you indeed smell if you don’t shower two times a day without soap and deodorant.
And even by showering two times a day you will smell the first month until the skin regulates its oil production and the microbiome is able to handle skin wastes.
Great book btw.
The big thing some people don't do is shower after work before going out for the evening. Women might be able to get away with that, but if you're a man and you occasionally sweat you can't, soap or not.
If you're not dancing closely with people maybe you can extend that time a little bit, but those are the numbers we settled on as a dance community who regularly had dances longer than 4 hours...
1) Soap/Shampoo: I stopped using fancy perfumed big-brand shampoos (Dial/Dove/Pert/etc. filled with things like Methylchloroisothiazolinone which, despite being an endless source of literary entertainment, is just a preservative) and started using very very simple soaps, like Dr. Bronner's all-purpose castile stuff, and I've found my hair/body is just as clean and doesn't turn to oil/grease after a skipping one day
2) Toothpaste: I switched to a brand that does NOT have sodium lauryl sulfate (which just makes fake foam) and any minor bumps or scratches (from an awkward tortilla chip chomp, for example) no longer cause days worth of pain. MAJOR life improvement.
Potentially bad advice. If you apply too much pressure or use too hard of a toothbrush you will get yourself early gum recession. Brush gently using a soft brush, ideally electric because it cleans better. Lots of info available on this online, or ask your dentist.
I never even thought about it, but that's why there are two sharp blades.
This video explains it very well:
Not answering strictly according to "you've done your whole life", but I see this often when deliberately looking at other's shoe laces. I just recently tried to correct someone's 40yr old habit :)
It's objectively not as flexible as the traditional spoon grip but I can't seem to shake the habit. Gets me strange looks sometimes
1) Working for someone else instead of starting my own company.
2) Trusting people to do right thing instead of accepting that people are selfish.
3) Giving up on interesting tech projects because my friends didn't understand its value.
4) Write a lot of code before testing it haha
5) Avoiding tech bubbles instead of figuring out how to get in and out quickly.
6) Not keeping close contact with my tech friends (many of whom are super successful now).
If you do this properly, you never need to double knot your shoes.
One thing to keep in mind, it will be harder at first and that might lead to your initial knot being looser which will lead to unties. Keep at it, and I guarantee it is better. It still blows me away that the other method is so prevalent when this one is better and no harder. How does that happen!?
Source and graphics: https://www.realmenrealstyle.com/tie-shoes-right-way/
I tried it (age 50-something), and discovered that I no longer needed to double-knot my shoes.
Food is fuel.
Food should be delicious and enjoyable. Your enjoyment can come from taste, not from quantity. Being hungry is a good sign, not a problem. And "Just full enough" is more than full enough.
I have a long way to go, but at 46 years old, this is all a revelation to me.
When you no longer have a burr which can be honed, it’s time to sharpen again.
I've heard it explained that honing is for improving the cutting edge you have, and sharpening is cutting a new edge.
My idea is that "keto diet" is best. You'll find that doing "vegan keto" is a bit hard because plants don't have nutrients that are bio-available. "vegan keto" is insanely better than "vegan".
EG: "In the Nature study referenced by Dr. Patrick, the authors write, “…high intake of red meat relative to fruits and vegetables appears to associate with outgrowth of bacteria that might contribute to a more hostile gut environment,” and, “Together, our results suggest venues through which a diet low in fruits and vegetables relative to meats select for outgrowth of putrefactive bacteria, which might help promote colorectal carcinoma.”" from: https://medium.com/@pkslater/why-the-carnivore-diet-works-an...
Think of carnivore as a bonus, or an easier way to do keto (at least for me).
Feel free to ask on forums such as /r/zerocarb, /r/carnivore, etc for specific details including this one.
Also, carnivore is very-high-fat and low-to-medium protein. I literally buy 2.5kg fat-trimmings/week.
But then trying to come up with a good link I hit this alternative version which is really cool: https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm
Likely you can do an Ian knot reversed from the square knob, but I need to play with that.
I never really learned a better way; I am just a really fast typist now and I type everything.
I've also been trying to snap my fingers wrong for 20 years until somebody finally explained to me that it wasn't my fingers rubbing / clicking / pouncing against each other that made the sound, it was the finger snapping/clapping on the meaty part of your wrist. Doh!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
EDIT: link to Dixie Dregs in case you have no clue who Steve Morse is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrAa6K_28NU
Try orienting the pick slightly so that when you strum the strings, it plucks the string with the leading edge, rather than with the flat side of the pick, so you don't need to press as hard.
> I've also been trying to snap my fingers wrong for 20 years until somebody finally explained to me that it wasn't my fingers rubbing / clicking / pouncing against each other that made the sound, it was the finger snapping/clapping on the meaty part of your wrist. Doh!
I've found snapping to be louder and fuller sounding if I don't use my thumb to "tension" the middle finger at all, but instead just smack the the middle finger against the "meaty part". Plus you can get a lot more snaps done in much less time if snaps-per-minute is an important metric.
I've also tried angling the pick so I have more surface area to grip with.
Here's me playing: https://youtu.be/gVIt8CVq7KQ?t=181
But now you've made me question how I actually hold the pick - is it the first or second finger? I think it's first and thumb because my middle finger is stronger and calloused so more useful for tapping notes whilst the first finger grasps the pick during the tapping phase.
I'm not dumb, I just never looked at the lyrics I guess? IDK, it was a life changing moment I'll tell you that much.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-teeth-and-gums/how-to-k...
> Don't rinse with water straight after toothbrushing
> After brushing, spit out any excess toothpaste.
> Don't rinse your mouth immediately after brushing, as it'll wash away the concentrated fluoride in the remaining toothpaste.
> Rinsing dilutes it and reduces its preventative effects.
Nope!
[1] OK, maybe not my whole like but at least from 10-11 onwards.
Now I understand!
• If you like a girl, tell her she's pretty
• Buy a girl some flowers and watch her appreciate it
• Just make her laugh, women love a guy with a sense of humour
• Just let her know how you really feel if you like her
• Just hold the door open for her
• Just ask her out, the worst she can say is no
• Just find a girl that likes you for you
• Just listen to her and show her you care
• Just be a gentleman and pay her compliments
• Just be yourself!
• Just stop trying and the girl of your dreams will come into your life when you least expect it.
Tbh Im done being funny. People take me significantly less seriously and I just become a sort of “court jester” for whoever I’m hanging out with.
I always assumed dynamic tripod grip was what was taught, and the best, as it's how I write, but a couple of my kids used a cross between lateral tripod and quadrupod - and their teachers would complain about their writing.
I had to restrain myself when I realized this is what they'd been taught, and next met the teachers responsible.
I'm able to walk either way, which was a lifesaver one time when I started developing shin splints (from a temporary job with a lot of unaccustomed fast walking on concrete floors) but couldn't really be off my feet—the toe-first walking was nearly as fast and used a completely different muscle pattern, so I could walk that way without triggering the inflammation. :)
For almost 40 years my RT shoe lace would always come undone after walking for a few minutes.
Turns out I was making the same mistake on only my RT shoe, rather constantly.
Thanks Ian! https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm
Also, it appears Roth IRAs need you to pick an investment option, but when I created one I don't recall there being an option. Invested ~3k and many moons later it was still ~3k.
Shouldn't growth not matter where the money is.
$100,000 gaining 6% is $106,000, gaining 6% is $112,360.
$25,000 in 4 different accounts gaining 6% is $26,500 in 4 different accounts, gaining 6% is $28,090 in 4 different accounts, or $112,360.
Alcohol or no, there's no need to get an aggressive one
The classic knot has two versions, the weak one where loops are more vertical, and the strong one where loops are more horizontal.
It took me about two weeks to re-learn tying my shoes.
Operated like Clarence Thomas did at oral arguments for close to a decade... Assumed that if something was worth asking someone else would ask it.
I know it’s wrong, but it’s in muscle memory already.
see second image here to see what I mean by wrong: https://thecrackedamethyst.tumblr.com/post/180226225116/appa...
(Also turns out you can buy perfectly good shoes without laces so extra win)
Something coworkers from years ago still like to give me grief about.
> Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning ‘humanity to others’. It can also be interpreted as ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’. The Ubuntu operating system brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the world of computing. And one last extra question for the road…
> How do you pronounce Ubuntu? Many people don’t get it right the first time, but it’s pronounced: oǒ’boǒntoō.
> There’s no ‘y’ at the beginning!
While Mark Shuttleworth is originally from South Africa, where bantu people originates, he was not classified as a Bantu by apartheid government. Which is strange because the word Bantu means people. During our dark days of apartheid, as in less than 30 years ago, areas designated for black only were called bantustans.
umuntu, also(muthu, motho) = person bantu, vhathu, batho, etc = people ubuntu, vhuthu, botho, etc = normal behaviour of a human being.
We are still called bantu(people) and ubuntu is our way of life. Ok. Theoretically.
That and wearing incorrectly sized dress shirts and feeling like I was being choked in ties.
I thank my partner for introducing that habit into my life.
I used to get real upset when the codebase I working on was shit and even left companies due to this. In reality what was more important was those companies where paying a shit wage that was why their codebase stank.
Curiosity or lack of understanding of topic is great opportunity to learn new things. And also put my ego on side.
In my late 30s, I learned that I'd been tying my shoes wrong my entire life.
I think the only option for these people will be to file an insurance claim, let the insurance company sort out who's at fault and try to pursue them.
The knot has to be balanced. I never knew.
Long story short, I put a 4x4 (3.5" actual) across the head of the box spring and a 2x4" (1.5" actual) across the middle. I have been sleeping a whole lot better even since.
But it stuck with me because my father was always around really nice people and I realised he faced the opposite of the prison effect. If you're consistently nice to people, you end up in the crowd of people with better intentions. It's a selection bias.
Also, be careful how you assign "bad". It can either be unethical or illegal, as they are not the same thing.
Bad means someone who would molest a child because it's a new experience or run over a stranger with a car. A business owner who is proud that the people he hires don't make enough money to eat.
Hitmen who consider the people they kill as rats so they don't get emotional scarred by the murder - they're in the 80%. A tyrant who orders a city pillaged and raped to assert dominance, also in the 80%.
Bad people don't end up in prison, not for the most part. Bad intention and crime aren't the same thing.
But it got me thinking that there are people out there who will stab you just for disagreeing with them. We don't encounter them often because nearly all the people who can't control themselves end up in prison. It's dangerous to assume that people will always act in their own best interest.
Nobody is out to get me. Also, it’s a C+ world out there, with a lot of incompetent people.
Be smart, and be very careful about whether you trust somebody to deliver the outcome that you want. But if they mess it up, come up with some reasons other than “so-and-so is evil” or "so-and-so hates me". It’ll help your state of mind, and also your interactions with them.