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Comment by TheyCalledHimBo | Hacker News Reader

My knee-jerk reaction to this was at first laughter, followed by a deep sense of loathing as I dug deeper into whatever this site is supposed to be. This is fucking appalling. In some respects I might, -might- be able to get behind the idea of "meditation" as "SaaS" but for the most part I find this borderline insulting.

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I think you might have some stress in your life.

I think you of all people could benefit the most from something like this.

What do you have against Serenity-as-a-Service?

For me, it'd be like "virtual-parent.com! No need to be a parent to your kids, just point them at this website and we'll be their parent for you".

If you want less stress, or to calm down, the last thing you should be doing is staring at a computer screen. Go outdoors. Exercise. Meet real people.

I agree that "real" experiences are awesome and sometimes people spend a bit too much time in front of their computer or staring at their phone....

But the vitriol of the grandparent-comment seems uncalled for. Computers/phones/etc are not some sort of evil presence that infect everything they touch, and apps like this can have their place too. In the right context, they might do a lot of good.

[E.g. I love various simple "sounds of rain" apps on my phone -- they can reallllly help me concentrate when I'm trying to study in a cafe and the background noise is somehow putting me off. It's like a blanket of calm...]

Yeah, to be fair I had just gotten out of a series of meetings about having less meetings...perhaps the vitriol was a bit uncalled for. I'm also with you on those "sounds of rain" or other white noise apps for concentration.

But this isn't just for concentration, this is for (quoted from their terms and conditions) "customized relaxation and self-improvement sessions." I'm not of the mind that electronics are an evil presence that infect everything they touch, rather I'm of the mind that there are certain activities which are cheapened by a service like this.

Actual meditation requires some amount effort, not a 20 minute session with headphones and an app.

Fair enough.

I would totally use Nagios on my kids though.

Yeah, I concur. My wife tried it out and wanted to do more, but it was all "in-app purchase this" and "in-app purchase that," and "you'll be tracked on our website," etc. All she wanted was to download a single app and use it. She didn't want all the crap that goes along with it because other people keeping lots of info about her stresses her out!

You didn't try it, did you?

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