Lemur Journal!

Where are you and where are you going?
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Lemur
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Post by Lemur »

We're the most endangered mammals on Earth.

AxelHeyst
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by AxelHeyst »

Lemur wrote:
Mon Dec 05, 2022 7:07 pm
Thanks for whomever posted this article. Maybe it was Axel? I can't remember where I stumbled upon it on the ERE Network :)

How to Think Better: The Skill You’ve Never Been Taught: https://fs.blog/how-to-think/
I don't think it was me, but that article is great! I loved this:
FS wrote:One heuristic to tell how good someone is at making decisions is by how much time they have. The busiest people are often the ones who make the worst decisions. Not only do they have less time to dedicate to thinking about the problem, but they are often busy correcting poor decisions from the past.
I'm feeling that at the moment. I've let things stack up a bit due to not saying No as much as I ought to have. Now I'm doing the unfun work of digging myself out.

Great to see you doing a digital detox, thanks for sharing about it, keep the insights coming!

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Lemur
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Lemur »

Insights / Changes

1. I’m quite more present with myself and the things that are going on around me.

2. I am uncomfortable with being bored. I’m learning though..I feel like I’m starting the embrace this feeling a bit more because it eventually leads me to getting something done. My pedometer steps are up significantly because I’ve literally gone for more walks and generally pacing around.

3. I’ve never thought of creating/building things or fixing things as “high-quality leisure.” To me, this is just work. But without digital distractions, my mind has changed...I’m thankful because it gives me something to do. I fixed a piece of furniture that has been broken forever and fixed my backup lawnmower (the recoil spring was stuck but turns out the engine was actually hydro locked due to oil filling the crankcase).

4. I am reading much more for long spans and my attention span feels recovered. I am seeking out only long-form media. I finished Cal Newport’s book “Digital Minimalism” in just a week.

5. The most surprising thing is I’m yearning more for social interaction. Oddly enough, I talked to some people at my kids bus stop. Usually we just all glue on our phones.

6. I want to figure out a long-term plan for getting more social interaction in my life and finding a project. Something I can build or create that I can put some hours on. Maybe habitat for humanity is active in my area? It’s a thought at least.

7. I wish I discovered digital minimalism concepts earlier. There is a lot of life to be doing. I must’ve wasted many hours of my life with mindless scrolling over the past decade. I was on the right track ridding myself of social medias last year but Cal pushed me to take it a step further. The idea is not to be a Luddite but to create a philosophy of technology use - one that aligns best with your values and eliminate anything that takes away from that in the slightest. I was reminded of the benefit of taking hard and fast changes as a wise path versus incremental changes. Wish I did the former sooner!

8. My mood is a lot better when I am not “informed” about trendy topics and news. I want to strategize this though. One suggestion was to use a weekend day and strategize a 30 min - 1 hour time window where one only seeks out high quality news articles to read. Ands that it. I may do that eventually but to be honest, it’s kind of nice letting others talk and asking them to elaborate because I don’t have any preconceived notions.

avalok
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by avalok »

I've reserved the Digital Minimalism book at the library, inspired by what you're doing Lemur. Great to hear you have felt positive effects already.
Lemur wrote:
Sun Dec 11, 2022 3:01 pm
8. My mood is a lot better when I am not “informed” about trendy topics and news. I want to strategize this though.
There are a few thinkers (Taleb comes to mind) who think "staying informed" by "reading the news" is oxymoronic. It is certainly nicer to not be barraged by news, all day every day. Rolf Dobelli has even written a manifesto on this. I've tried strategising this in the past, but have found that knowing what is worthy news to read is nontrivial. When the stories are reported, the op-eds written, it is too close in time to know the effects. Zhou Enlai's (misused) remark about the French Revolution makes the point; it is only with significant hindsight that we know whether information and insights were valuable. Excluding perhaps, extreme epoch-defining events.

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fiby41
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Post by fiby41 »

My PoV regarding this is if it (news/information) is important enough for me to know, it will catch up to me eventually anyway.

jacob
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by jacob »

The "I don't care before it bites me in the a$$"-strategy can be risky without superior tactics to deal with things ex post.

MBBboy
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by MBBboy »

Concur with the news discussion. It's almost all junk. I instituted a 3 part framework a few years ago and its amazing how many things get filtered out. I try to avoid things that don't hit at least 2 criteria:

1. Is it interesting?
2. Is it relevant?
3. Is it actionable?

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Lemur
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Lemur »

End of Year

Digital Minimalism is quickly becoming a lifestyle for me not just a short-term challenge I'm doing. I've derived so much benefit from it already to getting a lot more reading done, participating a bit more on these forums, and overall being more present in my daily life. I tried to avoid that "I just learned something enlightening and now I've to spread the gospel" to everyone I know but ... I just realized everyone around me is basically glued to these damn things anyway and aren't really listening lol. Also thanks for sharing Axel: viewtopic.php?p=266626#p266626 . This gives me some hope in humanity - I wish I was like these youngsters and figured that out sooner. But the technology hit us too fast. I was just talking about this with a buddy of mine, being born in '91 we might very well be the last generation that did high school without smartphones.

I visited some news sites here and there to check the headlines (especially after reading that ERE thread "how to read the news"). And just had this weird feeling of "how did I've get caught up in this sensationalist nonsense"? Or something to the effect of "None of this shit actually matters..." Not in the nihilistic way but in the "this doesn't impact my life in any way, shape, or form" kind of way. Like I'm very life affirming this year but especially in the past few weeks/months after I've fully recovered from my previous consulting gig hellscape. I'VE THINGS TO LEARN AND GET DONE! Occasionally I'll find something a little interesting on "The Economist" but often find myself thinking "I've far better things to do right now."

Anyway ... I few things that are captivating me lately:

1.) The Dawn of Humanity: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow.
2.) All the Semi-ERE discussions over the years here on the ERE forums.
3.) The Simpler Way - A collection of Writings by Ted Trainer.
4.) Researching wild foods that grow in my area. For example... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juglans_nigra#As_food Had no idea that this weird green balls I've come across were actually black walnuts this whole time...
5.) Continued readings on how to plant in my climate zone and forage. I really can't wait to expand next year and get more yield from my garden.
6.) The continued realization that I've life on fu*king easy mode and I am very grateful for that: ~ 14x expenses saved up with room to cut if we can collectively move up the Wheaton Level scale but also the fact that my current saltmine nets me 6 figures a year and is simply too easy. No one is my master. If I had to sum up 2022, the job change I took in January was it. That set me off on a path where I could leave work at work and focus on other things. Like health for instance - I lost 35lbs and kept it off.
7.) Vicki Robin's article being like a locker-room speech for me to start really thinking Post-FI: https://vickirobin.com/my-life-with-fire/
8.) I'm excited about my 3 week trip next year to the Philippines where my Spouse is from and have discussed living long-term one day (I've previously visited this country 5 or so times: the longest being 45 days). It will at least be another small trial run. We have secured some land there as well which is really exciting (Because my Spouse is a citizen, she made the purchase. I don't have land rights technically as a foreigner). The best part is the land is serving as something of a community garden - My Spouse's family has already been planting on it and they collect most of the produce for their food market but some also is just given away to those who need it. The land serves our portfolio as part investment diversification as well since land values in the Philippines typically go up with inflation. In the future, we're discussing building a shelter on it, securing permits for a water well, and all kinds of cool stuff. We will see where that goes.

In any case, this is sort of serving as a end of year post. I'm basically on the grind-work game until April 2027 as long as my job status stays healthy. Why April 2027? When that period hits, that is my 5 year mark of civilian service (combined with my past military time), which is enough for me to hit the required 10 years service at least for a minimal pension when I'm older but also my Spouse will have her social security credits by then as well. We should also be upwards of 20x+ expenses by then.

Regardless of the 2027 date, I see that now as a max date. Not a date that I've to adhere to. I now maintain that I'll NEVER let myself become a mental slave to a job ever again. The Semi-ERE stuff has been enlightening. If things get bad, but I still want to earn income, I'll just quit and get something else. I do have one weird benefit I think I've that some other forumites might not have - I've noticed others here over the years have previously done a temporary job quit and then gone back into the workforce but the side effect is they've to mentally deal with a lot of anguish that comes with that. Its like leaving the cave and then going back into it. The prison somehow feels worse on the return. Someone else can describe what that is like if they want because I can't fully comprehend it because I've never stopped working (since 16) so I've mastered the art of living in the saltmines lol. OTOH, some have learned to either integrate work better or at least form healthy detachments.

OFC, we can also argue that I am missing out greatly on life but if income is still the game now, I've that game on lockdown with 14x expenses and room to cut ... and I'm in the perfect spot to start thinking Post-FI. I don't have regrets about sticking it out with rough jobs in my 20s from military to construction to consulting. I've feel like ... I am done my "rendering unto Caesar." My job now is a much more deliberate choice.

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Lemur
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Lemur »

I created a Fasting Challenge MMG:
viewtopic.php?t=12636

Inspired by Erytu's short-term goals challenge.

Cam
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Cam »

Great end of the year update Lemur! Love the link to the teenage luddites article.

I'm very excited to hear more about your land in the Philliphines. The community garden sounds amazing. I'll be getting land too, but not for a while, and most likely in a much colder part of the world :D Happy new year!

avalok
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by avalok »

Yeah, really enjoyed reading your end-of-year update. The land purchase is really exciting and I like how it is being used. It sounds like you are in a very good place going into 2023. It is interesting hearing you considering post-FI and semi-ERE: do you see the latter as likely to be a return to work you know, or a broadening into multiple income streams?

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Lemur
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Lemur »

@Cam - Thank you! I'll try to share some pictures when I visit next year.

@Avalok - Good question. And not something I can answer having not been there yet. I'd imagine I'd first look to something I already know? But who knows. What spurred these thoughts was the Semi-ERE discussions but also bits and pieces with other information about interdependence and keeping "a foot in the game."

I'm in a bit of a fasting rabbit-hole at the moment but I've always been someone that has done occasional deep dives into health, nutrition, exercise, and the like. I synchronize this with philosophy, psychology, and habit forming. Maybe post-FI will involve this sort of work.

My only complaint with work is that at the end of the day its still work and that is 40 hours a week that I can't do my own thing. :geek:
Last edited by Lemur on Mon Jan 02, 2023 12:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Frugalchicos
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Frugalchicos »

Hey, thanks for those interesting links like the one from Vicky Robins.

One question, you might have mentioned it before, but what did you do/read to help you fighting the digital "addiction"? Chica is reading the book Digital Minimalism and is enjoying it.

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Lemur
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Lemur »

@Frugalchicos

That one. But also helps to listen to Andrew Huberman’s podcast on dopamine, motivation, and drive. Another one was how John Haidt showed how social media and news like it cause depression and anxiety. Tying all these together converged on my motivation to be deliberate with my technology use.

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Lemur
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Post by Lemur »

I suppose PFAS contamination is going to be this generation's lead.

Dave
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Post by Dave »

@Lemur

We're hearing more and more about PFAS contamination, aren't we? I haven't dug much into it, but it seems troubling.

Did you read one of the articles circulating about the freshwater fish PFAS content? Really sucks. I'm not much of a fisher, but have thought about getting back into it as a food source. Maybe not worth it anymore, if the research is on point.

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Lemur
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Post by Lemur »

@Dave. I saw that one. Ran across this today as well: https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... on-lawsuit

jacob
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Post by jacob »

This has been going on for decades and decades. Lacking a natural process of breaking down, it's everywhere now (including everyone's body). The piss is in the pool so to speak. What effect it has and whether it can be removed remains to be seen. For what it's worth, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I mean, who enjoys cleaning their pots and pans WHILE ALSO thinking about future consequences of their own actions :-P Answer: An immaterial amount of humans.

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Post by theanimal »

There was a recent paper that studied whether or not donating blood had an effect on removing PFAS from bloodstream. They found it does, so one could drastically reduce the amount within their body with regular donations and minimal to no new added amounts to the body.

Dave
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Re: Lemur Journal!

Post by Dave »

Ugh, yeah frustrating stuff @Lemur.

@theanimal

That's fascinating, will check that out. I give blood periodically anyways, haha, adds another yield to the activity ;).

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