i wrote this one in a single sitting from like ~3-5am, no editing, just vibes. this is probably how i'm gonna do most of my essays this year, because i got a newborn son to care for and it's hard to... do anything complicated
I think as we get older we tend to appreciate Type 2 fun more, the fulfilment that comes as a reward for hard effort that doesn't always feel like fun at the time. But this can be a trap, and we start doing the hard work habitually, even though the Type 2 fun doesn't arrive. Mindful Type 1 frivolous fun to the rescue. Play should be taken seriously...
Camus said, "If you want to do philosophy, write a novel." But those were ancient pre-twitter days and I think in your case he meant tweet rivers until they overflow into substack essays and books. Once again you're the philosopher we need
i've been thinking about fun and trying to have fun. like in the closing paragraph, it seems like there's some constraints involved and diminishing returns too. like if there's only 2-3 hours of time to spare, you gotta make the best out of it.
any longer, or wishing it was longer kinda diminishes the fun.
trying to stuff everything into that free time then you're not really free with your time either
Some days ago I rewatched Bo Burnham's Inside and the ending of this essay reminded me of that.
Paraphrasing: "I was afraid I was never going to complete this project, but now that I'm getting close to finishing it I'm even more terrified. [...] That's it, I'm not finishing! I'm talking to no one, cause I'll never release this, and I'll work on it forever."
It's not as simple as just being able to recognize when something that felt good stopped being so. It's possible to become so attached to the *idea* that something is good that even when it's painfully obvious that it isn't anymore, it's hard to let it go.
I may be wrong, but I'm guessing you probably realized that by the 10nth or 15nth Kinder Bueno that they weren't as tasty as before and maybe even feeling about sick of them already, but went through the remaining ones anyway? (It's certainly what happened to me in similar situations :p)
We kind of talk about this when dealing with outside narratives (e.g. people caring about with generic "success" and the markers of it when really they don't get any intrinsic pleasure from fancy cars or nice suits or cool job title or whatever) but it's easy to get enamored with the idea of the thing even when the thing itself is enjoyable as well (picture the main guy in a 90's teen movie losing his virginity and focusing more on the the fact that *he* is having sex than that he's *having sex*). Maybe there's something about mindfulness here: pay attention to the thing, and how you feel about the thing, rather than the narrative around the thing.
Yes, I think that fun is not eternal, nor lasting even that long. It is a reflection of interestingness that leads to a good feeling. Something interesting is new. Repeat anything you find interesting enough times and you will stop finding it interesting.
i wrote this one in a single sitting from like ~3-5am, no editing, just vibes. this is probably how i'm gonna do most of my essays this year, because i got a newborn son to care for and it's hard to... do anything complicated
I think as we get older we tend to appreciate Type 2 fun more, the fulfilment that comes as a reward for hard effort that doesn't always feel like fun at the time. But this can be a trap, and we start doing the hard work habitually, even though the Type 2 fun doesn't arrive. Mindful Type 1 frivolous fun to the rescue. Play should be taken seriously...
Camus said, "If you want to do philosophy, write a novel." But those were ancient pre-twitter days and I think in your case he meant tweet rivers until they overflow into substack essays and books. Once again you're the philosopher we need
i've been thinking about fun and trying to have fun. like in the closing paragraph, it seems like there's some constraints involved and diminishing returns too. like if there's only 2-3 hours of time to spare, you gotta make the best out of it.
any longer, or wishing it was longer kinda diminishes the fun.
trying to stuff everything into that free time then you're not really free with your time either
I think fun is often misunderstood because you can’t define fun without first understanding what personal happiness and fulfillment mean to you.
Some days ago I rewatched Bo Burnham's Inside and the ending of this essay reminded me of that.
Paraphrasing: "I was afraid I was never going to complete this project, but now that I'm getting close to finishing it I'm even more terrified. [...] That's it, I'm not finishing! I'm talking to no one, cause I'll never release this, and I'll work on it forever."
It's not as simple as just being able to recognize when something that felt good stopped being so. It's possible to become so attached to the *idea* that something is good that even when it's painfully obvious that it isn't anymore, it's hard to let it go.
I may be wrong, but I'm guessing you probably realized that by the 10nth or 15nth Kinder Bueno that they weren't as tasty as before and maybe even feeling about sick of them already, but went through the remaining ones anyway? (It's certainly what happened to me in similar situations :p)
We kind of talk about this when dealing with outside narratives (e.g. people caring about with generic "success" and the markers of it when really they don't get any intrinsic pleasure from fancy cars or nice suits or cool job title or whatever) but it's easy to get enamored with the idea of the thing even when the thing itself is enjoyable as well (picture the main guy in a 90's teen movie losing his virginity and focusing more on the the fact that *he* is having sex than that he's *having sex*). Maybe there's something about mindfulness here: pay attention to the thing, and how you feel about the thing, rather than the narrative around the thing.
There is book arguing that fun is learning: https://www.amazon.com/Theory-Game-Design-Raph-Koster/dp/1449363210
Yes, I think that fun is not eternal, nor lasting even that long. It is a reflection of interestingness that leads to a good feeling. Something interesting is new. Repeat anything you find interesting enough times and you will stop finding it interesting.