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 can’t 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 isn’t easy.
Thank you for sharing a little of your story.
The question is : What is the alternative of a ‘’bugman’‘? And what should humans do? A return to a more ’‘traditional’’ 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 reader’s intended response goes something like this…
As much as I’d like to take credit, I really can’t. That boat has been sailing since before I got onboard, and it’ll keep going after I’m gone. I’m 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 they’re broken. It’s a bad habit. So I’m probably best regarded as a cautionary tale. Like… Be careful kids, about how deep you dive into your hobbies — 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, I’m pretty happy with what I’ve got. I haven’t 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 “bug man” in the original post is really a description of a proverbial “boogeyman” to someone who doesn’t much like “big left-leaning city-dwellers.”
Different people buy things for different reasons. Yes, buying the latest flashlights repeatedly can be a hobby, and no, doing that doesn’t make a person “materialist” 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 person’s frequency of flashlight purchases being reduced to “…only four or five lights in the last three or four months.” I have family members who can’t 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 it’s capability. It’s more of a inconvenience to me as it is helpful. I don’t 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. Haven’t researched that yet.
Anyway, I don’t have a vast collection of lights. I only keep lights that actually get used. I don’t collect just so I can look at them and smile. I don’t really collect anything. I have guns, but they aren’t 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 doesn’t 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 “liberals” and “conservatives,” 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 I’m nuts for buying new flashlights - I say I don’t buy anything I don’t use. Of course, many of us also have need for items that other people don’t need. They just tend to assume everyone lives exactly like they do, or has the same needs. Obviously that’s 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.
Todd you may be interested in the lindy effect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect
I don't think you should get rid of your phone as it is a consumption product that you yourself create. If you are having problems, then is is think about it. Your well worn goods is a testament to how you use all your items or to how poorly you keep them items ;). I'm sure your guns are well maintained and you don't really care about looks. I remember watching a youtube about how everyone wants to have superman save them, but he mentioned his first aid kid in the car and how he instead decided to be superman.
Have you heard of marie kondo? She is a cleaning guru, but talks about keeping things that make you happy. It seems to be something you already do by their hardiness. The lindy effect is especially technology based. I don't know who else does this, but I started doing something that made me less dependent on technology. I had locked my phone at my friends and he was on the 2nd or 3rd floor. I had no idea how I could get it back. I forgot the doorbell existed because I was so dependent on the phone.
Today I always wonder what people did in the past. My toothbrush is a miswak stick for example. I have a P38 can opener. I wonder what stuff you picked up. This thread shows that the forum is filled with very intelligent people who are interested in flashlights and the right topics rather than divide it into insults and name calling can be very fruitful. They're mostly consumer threads, jokes and very surface level topics. I wonder if I should make a simple living thread or philosophies of life. Got a good idea for a name? I was thinking philosophy of living, not sure if there is already a thread like that.
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 “liberals” and “conservatives,” are by definition incorrect and useless, except for winning the votes of gullible or unintelligent people.
I implore you to ignore the ad homiem and to focus on the manifesto or summaries of it if its too long, to judge the work as its own piece. How much of it have you read? His predictions came true. I linked to the the future doesn't need us as well to highlight dangers that are extremely dangerous and the predictions in TK's paper which are unique and not as far as I know attributed to others first, and his actions although terrible did put it closer to the public conscious. It is said that he intentionally wrote the part insulting leftists as a method to discourage people who fell into that umbrella from reading it. If it is helpful, skip straight to oversocialization. I will post part of it, I don't know if many of his themes have been touched on before but I know of him, he was successful in making his work popular by his horrible acts of terrorism. I am interested in looking up the authors you mentioned, what works do you think touch upon it? I know shelly's frankenstein, and that's it I looked up the kapec, you seem much more well read that I! I would also love to hear what you consider materialism.
Oversocialization can lead to low self-esteem, a sense of powerlessness, defeatism, guilt, etc. One of the most important means by which our society socializes children is by making them feel ashamed of behavior or speech that is contrary to society’s expectations. If this is overdone, or if a particular child is especially susceptible to such feelings, he ends by feeling ashamed of HIMSELF. Moreover the thought and the behavior of the oversocialized person are more restricted by society’s expectations than are those of the lightly socialized person. The majority of people engage in a significant amount of naughty behavior. They lie, they commit petty thefts, they break traffic laws, they goof off at work, they hate someone, they say spiteful things or they use some underhanded trick to get ahead of the other guy. The oversocialized person cannot do these things, or if he does do them he generates in himself a sense of shame and self-hatred. The oversocialized person cannot even experience, without guilt, thoughts or feelings that are contrary to the accepted morality; he cannot think “unclean” thoughts. And socialization is not just a matter of morality; we are socialized to conform to many norms of behavior that do not fall under the heading of morality. Thus the oversocialized person is kept on a psychological leash and spends his life running on rails that society has laid down for him. In many oversocialized people this results in a sense of constraint and powerlessness that can be a severe hardship. We suggest that oversocialization is among the more serious cruelties that human beings inflict on one another.
These discussions remind me of listening to hikers,treehuggers,conservationists etc in an outdoor store. The ultralight guys are obsessing over how many peanuts,cashews,soybeans they need to hike from trailhead to trailhead and maintain their superiority over the hikers who use MRE’S who are clearly higher minded than people like me who backpack a tent and canned ravioli and just enjoy being in the woods for a few days before hitting the factory again. Actually now I am in a power wheelchair now and I have the baddest headlights in the city.I could just stay out of the dark but no fun in that. Thinking for the sake of thinking leads to politics so what does it matter really.
I don’t think you should get rid of your phone as it is a consumption product that you yourself create. If you are having problems, then is is think about it. Your well worn goods is a testament to how you use all your items or to how poorly you keep them items ;). I’m sure your guns are well maintained and you don’t really care about looks. I remember watching a youtube about how everyone wants to have superman save them, but he mentioned his first aid kid in the car and how he instead decided to be superman.
Have you heard of marie kondo? She is a cleaning guru, but talks about keeping things that make you happy. It seems to be something you already do by their hardiness. The lindy effect is especially technology based. I don’t know who else does this, but I started doing something that made me less dependent on technology. I had locked my phone at my friends and he was on the 2nd or 3rd floor. I had no idea how I could get it back. I forgot the doorbell existed because I was so dependent on the phone.
Today I always wonder what people did in the past. My toothbrush is a miswak stick for example. I have a P38 can opener. I wonder what stuff you picked up. This thread shows that the forum is filled with very intelligent people who are interested in flashlights and the right topics rather than divide it into insults and name calling can be very fruitful. They’re mostly consumer threads, jokes and very surface level topics. I wonder if I should make a simple living thread or philosophies of life. Got a good idea for a name? I was thinking philosophy of living, not sure if there is already a thread like that.
I will check out that link when I have a bit more time to devote to reading it carefully. 5am comes too early.
I don’t want to get rid of my phone all together. I just want to simplify. It’s gotten all too easy to confuse virtual reality with actual reality, if that makes sense. I just want something simpler that will force me to think before I leap. A text or meme is far too easy. A phone call, to a real live person, is something out of a science fiction novel for some people now days. I don’t want to get soft relying on technology that will allow me to celebrate my laziness. Most of the time I forget my phone at home in all honesty. I normally don’t remember I left it there until the wife or kids ask where it is. I am the guy that strikes up conversations with people while in ling waiting on something. The wife and kids? Heads buried in their phones worried about something that hasn’t happened yet.
You are absolutely right. I don’t really care what a tool looks like as long as it functions flawlessly 100% of the time.
I carried a P38 on my key ring for years. I know exactly where it is and tomorrow morning it will find it’s way back onto it. I am not particularly musically inclined but I do have a few juice harps that I like to play. Not sure if playing is the right term for that device. It’s design and use has been around for many many years and is not entirely to difficult to make yourself. I enjoy some of the technological advances in ham radio yet, more often than not I am using a very small low powered radio I built myself and use morse code exclusively. When I have to correspond with a teacher at the kids school I never email them. I write a letter, in cursive. Hard to find kids in the US that know that anymore. They don’t teach it in a lot of schools. I taught mine though.
I think it all boils down to I am part of a generation that I don’t understand. Or maybe I am just becoming a grumpy old (47) man.
Hey, um, before we get any further into the fine details of deeply political terrorist manifestos, this might be a good time to take a look at BLF’s rules:
http://budgetlightforum.com/forum/misc/siterules
Also, in general, it might not be a great idea to seek philosophy and life advice from serial killers.
Very good thread…I think about it also.Consumerism…we are also in it…Do we really need thounsands lumens flashlights for usually daily use?The more we have,the more we want…But we give also a job to many many chinese people,i think also…I personally try not to buy…I like this lifestyle…Its much more freedom in it…My only maybe senseless hobby is this…In the 90s i survived also with Maglites:)This is also reason i can live more quiet life.Not so hurry…No money,no flashlights:)And try to by zero waste if i can.But there are still more and more people.They need work…We have to buy!
It’s very important follow Arts like paint,write what yout think on paper,play an old instrument,visit Ancient city,and also contact with nature.
These are effective primordial remedies against technological invasion and consumeris that empties the spirit of peoples creating anxieties and negativity sometimes not recognized.
Men seem to be pre-disposed to collect things. I guess it is an evolutionary trait from when resources were scarce, you had to hoard food and supplies for the winter etc.
Now you can buy food from a store, but we are still driven to hoard and collect. So we substitute stamps, baseball cards, coins, video games, flashlights, knives… there are probably very few men who do not have a collection of something.
I have fallen into the trap of consumerism and collecting in the past (and present … ). I try not to, I try to keep it present in my mind. Sometimes successfully. Other times I find myself falling back into old habits.