What are humans meant to do when they don't have to do anything? I think this relates to ERE because when not working I have no clue what to do most of the time.
What are humans meant to do...
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George the original one
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jacob
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@4444 - Historically, festivals, dancing, story-telling and simply "waiting" has been the thing to "do".
"Working" and "doing" is a bit of a modern (the past several centuries) aberration. Classically, work was something only fit for slaves. Work was glorified by Calvin and Luther and became popular Christian doctrine. Today, it is completely pervasive.
If you can't "do", you have to learn to "be". Sitting all day at the beach just looking at the waves may give a hint about how/what "being" is.
"Working" and "doing" is a bit of a modern (the past several centuries) aberration. Classically, work was something only fit for slaves. Work was glorified by Calvin and Luther and became popular Christian doctrine. Today, it is completely pervasive.
If you can't "do", you have to learn to "be". Sitting all day at the beach just looking at the waves may give a hint about how/what "being" is.
Just look at how tribal people live. They spend their days gathering food and water, cooking, eating, building useful stuff (bows and arrows, shelter, etc...), socializing, defending their turf and sleeping. They basically do the minimum required to meet their needs as human beings and don't expend much energy on futility.
To know more about what you do when you don't have to do anything is easy. The best way to live your life is by "not" having to do anything. This certainly does not mean you "don't" do anything, it simply means you choose what you do. If you must go to a place five days a week and be there 8 hours doing what your expected or told to do, in order to earn money for shelter, food, needs, and other expenses, then you are living paycheck to paycheck and without other options. This is not the way you enjoy life. It is like a rat who must constantly push a button with his nose to make the food come out of a bin. If the rat does not push the button, he does not eat. The smarter rat has a cache of food outside of the button method. He pushes the button if he wishes, or if he wants to do something else instead, or leave the area, he has his cache of food no matter what happens. This rat has said goodbye to the button system. He has freed himself of the standard way of living.
People are under the same system. People get their own cache of needs built up and flowing in without an effort on their part. This is then passive income. Your needs are then on auto pilot.
None of the above means you are now NOT going to do anything, rather you are going to do what you choose to do. The human purpose is not only to work at a job all your life of which the bottom line is only to put food on your table. This method would stifle your opportunity to experience life on your own terms. Rather, we invent a way to sideline the day to day "button pushing" so we can then explore all the other stuff of life that interests us. Once you no longer have to push the button, you are free to think about lots of other things and do what interests you the most.
People are under the same system. People get their own cache of needs built up and flowing in without an effort on their part. This is then passive income. Your needs are then on auto pilot.
None of the above means you are now NOT going to do anything, rather you are going to do what you choose to do. The human purpose is not only to work at a job all your life of which the bottom line is only to put food on your table. This method would stifle your opportunity to experience life on your own terms. Rather, we invent a way to sideline the day to day "button pushing" so we can then explore all the other stuff of life that interests us. Once you no longer have to push the button, you are free to think about lots of other things and do what interests you the most.
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jeremymday
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jeremymday
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It sounds like you are makig the same mistake with this question, as you are making with your time. You state that you don't know what to do with your time if you aren't working, which essentially means you are asking other people to allocate your time for you through work/job. You then ask others to define what humans are meant to do. Again, you are asking others to define how you use your time.
Your time is just that...YOURS! Human beings aren't meant to do anything. It doesn't matter what people did 5,000 years ago or what they did an hour ago. We have no defined purpose, as we can conciously override any of our instincts. Thus, you can do whatever you want or nothing at all.
You don't have to lead anyone or save the world. If making popsicle stick castles is your passion then make popsicle stick castles. As long as you aren't hurting someone else enjoy YOUR time.
Maybe a healthy dose of introspection to determine what YOU want would be a good start?
Your time is just that...YOURS! Human beings aren't meant to do anything. It doesn't matter what people did 5,000 years ago or what they did an hour ago. We have no defined purpose, as we can conciously override any of our instincts. Thus, you can do whatever you want or nothing at all.
You don't have to lead anyone or save the world. If making popsicle stick castles is your passion then make popsicle stick castles. As long as you aren't hurting someone else enjoy YOUR time.
Maybe a healthy dose of introspection to determine what YOU want would be a good start?
The notion of being here for some work-related purpose is basically a religious idea. Look at a squirrel, a hamster or a duck. What are they here for? What is their purpose on earth? (Eat, sleep, f*** basically. 
)
I've read that the notion that there is a "calling" is something stemming from the methodist church, which has then been neatly integrated into consumer/wage-slave culture. Looking at it a bit cynically it's a means of control to make you believe that your job is somehow your highest calling and work is your path towards salvation. It's a way to relieve the cognitive dissonance of "I am intelligent. vs. My days are spent in stupidity." The easy way out of this is simply to believe that you love your job, because even if it wrecks your health and sucks the life out of you, it still gives you meaning to fill out TPS reports. (Yeah, right ...)
I've basically come to the notion of Early retirement and then ERE through the question "Why do we work so much? Shouldn't we spend most of our time in leisure?"
Thanks to the internet, I quickly found the anti-work movement:
http://deoxy.org/endwork.htm
http://www.anxietyculture.com
I've come to the conclusion that most work these days exists only because the thought of having nothing to do is considered evil or at least unthinkable. I think one of the reasons for the "digging holes to fill them up" - nature of modern life is the deep-seated belief that "You gotta do something."
The solution is simple: "Don't just do something. Sit there."
)I've read that the notion that there is a "calling" is something stemming from the methodist church, which has then been neatly integrated into consumer/wage-slave culture. Looking at it a bit cynically it's a means of control to make you believe that your job is somehow your highest calling and work is your path towards salvation. It's a way to relieve the cognitive dissonance of "I am intelligent. vs. My days are spent in stupidity." The easy way out of this is simply to believe that you love your job, because even if it wrecks your health and sucks the life out of you, it still gives you meaning to fill out TPS reports. (Yeah, right ...)
I've basically come to the notion of Early retirement and then ERE through the question "Why do we work so much? Shouldn't we spend most of our time in leisure?"
Thanks to the internet, I quickly found the anti-work movement:
http://deoxy.org/endwork.htm
http://www.anxietyculture.com
I've come to the conclusion that most work these days exists only because the thought of having nothing to do is considered evil or at least unthinkable. I think one of the reasons for the "digging holes to fill them up" - nature of modern life is the deep-seated belief that "You gotta do something."
The solution is simple: "Don't just do something. Sit there."
@dragoncar
The smart rat has a stealthy and highly classified secret tunnel into one of the largest cat food factories in the USA. Nearby (within rat scurrying distance) is one of the largest cereal factory warehouses anywhere. The rat has set up a series of undetectable tunnels into each cereal bin, guarded by biometric breath coded locks. (This rat has a PhD equivalent in self-preservation.)
This rat is into early retirement extreme!!!!
The smart rat has a stealthy and highly classified secret tunnel into one of the largest cat food factories in the USA. Nearby (within rat scurrying distance) is one of the largest cereal factory warehouses anywhere. The rat has set up a series of undetectable tunnels into each cereal bin, guarded by biometric breath coded locks. (This rat has a PhD equivalent in self-preservation.)
This rat is into early retirement extreme!!!!
What I wonder is just the act of being free a passion in and of it self. One can easily collect enough nuts, like a squirrel, and retire and live off the earnings. But what will this accomplish? Maybe I have never had a real passion besides the idea of being independent. I am just confused. Am I supposed to be the next MJ, be the best cupcake maker--I just don't know. Doing nothing and sitting there thinking what to do is pretty depressing, though.
@444: The act of being free can sure be a passion, in and of itself. But I think it's not for everyone. It would make me very depressed. So, if you're like me, you're not 'supposed' to be doing nothing and sitting there thinking what to do, all day, 'after' you're FI. You're supposed to be sitting there and doing nothing after FI , only if that's what motivated you most to be FI to begin with. ( Funnily enough, that's what motivates me most, when things start getting difficult. But when I'm back to being a little clear headed, I know that as much as I treasure slacking, it's not all I'd want to do with my life. I could never be happy for long that way. I'm not talking about me being 'meant' to do something or having a purpose, but about me being happy and already liking some other things just as much as slacking on most days, and a little better on some days. It's only about happiness and peace of mind ) Why else work so hard at FI if all it'll make you is more depreseed. The ianbility to be idle..it's a human thing I'm told. I remember this program on evolution and all, on TV, where, when asked to describe 'human', the guy said 1)bipedal 2) not possessed with an ability to sit idle and do nothing. I think it's true for most people. Freedom motivates me more than most things. But the way I picture freedom is, to sit idle when I want to, not because I have nothing else to do and I'm a sore loser or whatever. I think post FI, most of my time will be spent idling nonetheless, but the knowledge of having something else that's equally enjoyable to do, and being passionate about other things( filmmaking in my case), and pursuing them sometimes, when I would feel like it, is what being free is all about , to me. I'm not FI, but I know what I'll do, starting the first day I will be. There's a different perspective too...that I have read about, but have no personal expericence in. Maybe someone here can clarify: I have read about a lot of guys that just retired ( most people who retire are forced into retirement at an old age, and enter retirement totally clueless. But in as little as 6 months, quite a lot of them do end up finding something to be passionate about, which they didn't even know was an option, in their pre-retirement lives. Maybeb, you just start seeing things a different way when you're free. Maybe.