aka âRetail Therapyâ.
Now you got it!! I love Anduril BTW... best thing that ever happened to lights.
Quote snip: "...Some people simply buy lights, but obsessively so. It is a materialism problem, ..."
I like to collect lights. They are not free, so I have to buy them So, I simply buy lights.So, people who like to collect lights, but have to buy them, have a materialism problem?
What if people collect lights, but have to buy them, and it is not a "materialism problem"?
Please see: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/59761/159
As far as hobbies go, flashlights are usually somewhat low on the scale for overall expense and impact. Theyâre typically pretty small, not expensive (unless you get into custom premiums), and last a long time. It still ties into the problem of consumerism and waste, but many other hobbies are a lot worse.
Of course, some are also a lot better⌠lower cost per hour and less effect on the planet. Knitting, for example. Or reading. Gardening. Writing.
So there are definitely some points to be made about the larger problems involved, but this particular hobby doesnât really stand out in the big picture.
For the sake of gatekeeping the interest/hobby of flashlights versus that of consumerism, upon philosophy and analysisâŚ
My you have a purty mouth. I wish I could put my brain in gear like that again. This has got to be one of the most intelligent, intellectual topics to ever surface here. The respondents are all of equal intelligence, and BRAVERY, stating their difficulties and overcoming them. I donât believe them for one second that they suffer from their stated , for a lack of a better word, handicaps. The respondents are eloquent and thoughtful. After working in an environment of challenged people for over 30 years, I canât see why those people couldnât overcome the same way those of you have. Maybe the key is flashlights.
Iâve been a little ocd/adhd since getting shot in the head. I had different collections since the injury but it seems I would phase one out to make room for the next. Iâd keep the collection in one spot to avoid losing pieces. And the house is fairly empty so thereâs no hoarding component. Iâm probably a little maniacally depressed since I love the reward of getting that package in the mail then I sink into a funk when I realize I didnât pay the bills first. Then I buy something to make me happy again, and the cycle starts again.
Thanks to everyone here. It helped understanding whatâs going on in my head
This.
I had to explain to my ex-wife why I needed a few more lights and why they were good for this and that.
Then the lights went out and she suddenly never questioned why, but if I needed another one and did it do something that the others did not. When she left she took 3 lights with her. I am sure I got the better end of that deal.
I have to agree that flash lights is rather low on the over all price scale of hobbies. Take a look at Photography, Cars, Firearms, Watches, those are some spendy hobbies/collectors things. Each one starts out as just a little from the wallet, after a while some of you could retire off what is spent on these hobbies. Now Excuse me I need to go start up the 63 Corvette 327 split window and and get some pictures of it in a snowy pass with a bear in the background before 2:30 PM because of the sun location.
Haruki Murakami quote:
Spend your money on things money can buy. Spend your time on things money cannot buy.
Wow is all I really have to say. I canât possibly imagine how that would change a person. Physically and mentally. I think that would be a challenge. Not to lessen to any degree the seriousness of a traumatic incident like that, I have always thought that people who compulsively collect may have had not so good things happen in their life. Collecting something to occupy ones time and energy could be therapeutic possibly??
I had something change my life as well. I had lights and gadgets before but never to an extreme. Items were bought out of necessity and not for pleasure. I have learned to pace myself but, it isnât easy.
Thank you for sharing a little of your story.
The question is : What is the alternative of a ââbugmanââ? And what should humans do? A return to a more ââtraditionalââ lifestyle? The past was clearly worst in almost every-way. The world in the last 50 years has changed more than all of human history, thanks to all the divine power of technology. We literally have more powers than ancient gods.
Bugmen are despicable because they worship companies like gods but without a more meaningful and elaborate story, without a clear goal and universal project for the future. Only infinite direct animal pleasure. This will change when there will be a political project in the near future. And I think trans-humanism is the way.
Hence the joke earlier.
Dark humor for a light forum:
The readerâs intended response goes something like thisâŚ
As much as Iâd like to take credit, I really canât. That boat has been sailing since before I got onboard, and itâll keep going after Iâm gone. Iâm just one of the people who has helped steer it and keep the engines running.
Mostly, yes. I just have a hard time not fixing things when theyâre broken. Itâs a bad habit. So Iâm probably best regarded as a cautionary tale. Like⌠Be careful kids, about how deep you dive into your hobbies â or you, too, could turn your leisure activities into responsibilities!
Writing an embedded microkernel was never my plan. I mostly just like shiny things and chatting with people. But here I am, debugging ADC interrupt code and rewriting thermal regulation algorithms for the nth time, trying to figure out WTF broke and how to fix it in 58 bytes or less. There are more enjoyable ways to spend a night off.
TBH, Iâm pretty happy with what Iâve got. I havenât bought a light in ⌠a long time. There are always things to be improved, of course⌠but with most of the easy stuff already done, the rest is subject to diminishing returns.
There is a small line between hobby and obsession.
I promise myself buy only if I really need.
The description of a âbug manâ in the original post is really a description of a proverbial âboogeymanâ to someone who doesnât much like âbig left-leaning city-dwellers.â
Different people buy things for different reasons. Yes, buying the latest flashlights repeatedly can be a hobby, and no, doing that doesnât make a person âmaterialistâ in the sense that phrase is used lately to label someone as wasteful or careless in spending money for illegitimate purposes.
A hobby is in the eye of the beholder. I get a chuckle out of reading posts in this thread such as the post candidly and admirably describing that personâs frequency of flashlight purchases being reduced to ââŚonly four or five lights in the last three or four months.â I have family members who canât imagine why I would buy more than one every ten years.
I collected a few lights a few years ago. A few years later, they became technologically obsolete when they were superseded by newer, more technologically advanced lights. I bought some of the new lights, to keep my collection up to date.
A few years after that..... ... ... ...
Anyway, oh well, whatever, nevermind.
TL;DR
I probably should have clarified that while I bought those 4 or 5 lights, they were replacing 4 or 5 that got almost no use for one reason or another. They were given away to family or friends. I never profit from any flashlight. I have in the past sold a few to finance one.
I too have family and friends that look at me like I have two heads if I mention a flashlight or some other object I carry on a daily basis. That is, until they need one. Then I get the phone call. I happily give them whatever it is they need. What I give them is all they think they need. They will never think about another flashlight as long as the one I gave them keeps working.
I have, in general cut the cord on many things I use to think important. Mostly technology based. All the social networking sites no longer have what I ate for breakfast posted on them. I still answer my emails, read news, check in here, and look up solutions to problems I may run into along the way. I have a smart phone only because my wife said I needed one. I use maybe 10% of itâs capability. Itâs more of a inconvenience to me as it is helpful. I donât even use the GPS in my truck. I am planning on really getting rid of the smartphone if I can find a phone that will still work on my network. Havenât researched that yet.
Anyway, I donât have a vast collection of lights. I only keep lights that actually get used. I donât collect just so I can look at them and smile. I donât really collect anything. I have guns, but they arenât safe queens that only come out to impress. They are used and used hard. Not a single one still looks brand new. Come to think of it, nothing I own looks brand new. I use stuff pretty hard. If it doesnât hold up, then it finds a new home.
I love this thread. I love the differing views on the same topic being discussed like adults. No name calling or belittling. True conversation is very hard to come by in these times.
Ted Kaczynski brought us no revelations I am aware of. He murdered three people and injured many more, with his bombs. He had a severe psychiatric illness, possibly some form of paranoid schizophrenia, and was keen on writing long, rambling dissertations that had a lot of nonsense in them and often made no rational sense at all. He stopped being a math professor in 1969 to devote his life to terrorism and wasting large amounts of paper.
There have been people warning us about the dangers of technology, and the unforeseen consequences of making new things, for hundreds of years. This is nothing original or new. See the novels of H.G. Wells, Mary Shelley, Karel Capek, etc. As long as there are people seeking to exploit new technologies for profit, there will be unforeseen consequences that could be catastrophic. Yes, this is a serious problem. No, Ted Kaczynski had no new or even rational insights on this problem.
Simplistic and broad stereotypes of anyone, including âliberalsâ and âconservatives,â are by definition incorrect and useless, except for winning the votes of gullible or unintelligent people.
I frequently say the same thing to people who think Iâm nuts for buying new flashlights - I say I donât buy anything I donât use. Of course, many of us also have need for items that other people donât need. They just tend to assume everyone lives exactly like they do, or has the same needs. Obviously thatâs not the case. Sometimes I point that out, too. Many of us end up having to navigate through the darkness quite a bit. I actually buy far fewer lights than many who frequent these boards, as I do have many other spending priorities and limits.