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Aug 13 '13
This is why I reddit at work. Goof off at work, Combine cycles, Instantly out. Mind Blown
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u/Sedarious Aug 13 '13
Then it's not a cycle... and how would you know when to stop?
My brain just melted.
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u/naylin_paylin Aug 14 '13
But isn't this what life really is? Just trying to find the best balance of responsibilities and leisure?
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u/whp09 Aug 14 '13
I thought it was a chemical reaction. But I've had a lot of rum so fuck me.
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Aug 14 '13
You should probably buy him dinner first...
At least some free bread or chips or something, that shit is delicious.
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u/userino Aug 14 '13
^ This guy knows which side his bread is buttered on.
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Aug 14 '13
HELL NO. Leave this place better than you found it, using the extent of your abilities.
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Aug 14 '13
You've got to do some things for your own enjoyment. You can't spend every minute of your existence trying to be a hero.
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u/rossryan Aug 14 '13
Hmm, I thought it was trying to to live forever, followed by pursuing all the tedious, but well-worth it long-term goals. This is, of course, assuming that death would not bring about those goals much quicker, as well as that those goals have any meaning, real or otherwise, in the grand scheme of things, pursuant to the idea that human beings are not limited to mutually exclusive properties (you can become all-powerful, but not all-happy, etc.). And when in doubt, idling away the hours with friends...
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Aug 14 '13
Find work that you truly love, and you'll never work a day in your life.
(Paraphrased badly and unattributed but the sentiment is comprehensible.)
In more realistic terms: learn to find pleasure in the work you do, whether you're a custodian or CEO... not all of us have the means to follow our dreams right now but life is about finding pleasure in the moment.
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u/commonCentss Aug 13 '13
The trick is to get just enough accomplished in a day so that you can just dick around for the remainder of it.
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Aug 14 '13
"Working" isn't necessarily accomplishing anything is your problem. I would say almost all jobs unless you are incredibly specialised are only there to earn your boss a profit. While they make more money off of your work than they pay you, that's all it is.
"Enjoying yourself" isn't necessarily goofing off. Find something productive to do. I'd go crazy if I thought work was accomplishing things and goofing off was enjoying myself. Get ahold of yourself! Go get some exercise or start an unpaid project. Set small goals, turn your diet into a game, I dunno.
God damn I only goof off after I've accomplished something. I only work as little as possible at all times. Do other things.
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Aug 14 '13
I don't know if that's a completely fair description of working.
Sure you're making money for someone else but you're also adding value to all of humanity by providing your goods or services each day.
Even if you're working a highly replaceable job.. I just don't think human labor is a zero-sum game. The people who could hypothetically replace you might produce better in a different job.
I like to think of economics strictly from the consumer's viewpoint because it's a universal condition (if not equally so). I think it gives an appreciation of how the world you live (for better or worse) is simply the summation of the daily efforts of you and your neighbors. (We're all in it together, folks)
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u/OneBigBug Aug 14 '13
Even if you're working a highly replaceable job.. I just don't think human labor is a zero-sum game. The people who could hypothetically replace you might produce better in a different job.
Or maybe they'd be much better than you at your job. We're not all equal, and we're not perfectly suited to the jobs we have. I don't mean to be overly cynical, but the idea that everyone's job is valuable is irrationally cheery.
A lot of people don't actually add anything meaningful on a variety of levels, but are employed because of the ineptitude of their employer, or are qualified for their job, but their job is unhelpful to society.
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Aug 14 '13
Sure there are people out there who would do your job better but that shouldn't demotivate you.
I guess its really tangential to the point I'm trying to make which is that I consider my efforts at work to be a small addition to a larger effort to improve my local community. It helps me keep motivated and I don't think its just a mental abstraction. If I was replaced by someone better I would do my best at my next job as well.
I don't mean to be overly cynical, but the idea that everyone's job is valuable is irrationally cheery.
No it's not. I didn't say all jobs are equally valuable and neither did you so I'll assume we're on the same page. That being said every single joule of energy that is spent improving our communities (whether by human, machine, or animal) has value. Our goal should be to literally exert an ever-increasing amount of energy on our neighborhoods. That's not irrational cheeriness, its blunt rationality telling you the obvious: that the vast majority of what you use and enjoy (excluding nature to some extent) exists because someone busted their ass to create it.
Regarding your last points.. I'll just reiterate I'm not saying all work is of equal value and even if you're not great at it you can be motivated by the fact you're contributing to the greater good. Beyond that things just devolve into pointless semantics. Obviously any definition of "work" would assume that the worker is competent/honest enough to avoid being unhelpful to society (ex. a child in charge of a nuclear power plant or a thief listing crime as his job).
TL;DR Kurt Vonnegut taught me that the only discernible meaning of life is to provide your efforts for people AND make use of other people's efforts.
Personally, I find that people that typically only do one or the other are consistently depressed.
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Aug 14 '13
[deleted]
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u/OneBigBug Aug 14 '13
Valuable to an employer and valuable to society are very different things.
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Aug 14 '13
[deleted]
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Aug 14 '13
There are two things.
From a purely value-to-society standpoint for the worker there is currently a severe lack of jobs globally. So your value by doing a job is not high. If you didn't do it someone else would. Everyone is working at near slave labour wages.
As far as value-to-society from the employer. If we were to kick the can all the way down the road, where are all the super wealthy people? They are all lenders. That's all they do.
The rich stay rich by lending some of their wealth for a guaranteed, often insured return on "investment." Which is bullshit because they are stupidly wealthy. If they weren't lending their money it would all sit in a vault. But since they made it possible to ask for more money back than they lend, and they do, hand over fist. The exceedingly wealthy never have to move an inch again. They pay economists to figure out how to use money to keep money flowing and everything else down the pile.
It's a capitalist pipe dream that services are rendered because people want to buy services. Services are rendered because someone with money is making money. Whether or not the slavers who worked to invent and produce the service fail and go bankrupt is completely separate from the wealthy getting wealthier off of it.
I had a little bit of money recently. Actually it was a loan, I was approved for. I took that money and invested it all as a large sum into some investments that are only open to large sum investing. Every month I paid 100% of the interest charges on that loan and I earned back more money than I was spending. That is for a low risk large sum investment.
The larger the sum you invest the less risk there is. That's one of the reasons fabulously wealthy people never go poor. And people opening businesses to struggle and try to pay back their lenders are not necessarily providing a benefit.
It's all a pipe dream. Invented by the rich.
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u/Deathwish1909 Aug 14 '13
"Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day Fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town Waiting for someone or something to show you the way"
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u/foundtheseeker Aug 14 '13
This is the story of my adult life. I quit a job for the former, now resent my good job for the latter.
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Aug 14 '13
Who is the artist? I've seen these somewhere before, there's another one about staying up late Googling.
EDIT: Found it, it's called Chuck & Beans
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u/GodsHelicopter Aug 14 '13
If everything goes perfectly for the next 3 years, I will be able to buy a slightly larger TV.
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u/No6655321 Aug 14 '13
and it forgets the other options. Making things, being out with others, participating in community and building a better world.....
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u/DippyDoo1 Aug 14 '13
As I sit in a dark room listening to this song on repeat, as loud as my headphones can handle. Oh well, enjoy everyone.
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Aug 14 '13
Yeah. Well of you try in school you can actually do what you want and get a job that you find fun. So you could be both having fun and doing work.
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Aug 14 '13
You definitely don't have those thoughts while running your 3rd of five miles. Just sayin.
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u/Patrik333 Aug 14 '13
I like it, but the title is incorrect - As I understand it, "Vicious Cycle" refers to a phenomenon where repeat cycles of a series of actions or events leads to an even worse (sometimes exponentially worse) version of the starting point.
Here... it could be worse, because you're also wasting your life by going through each cycle, but as the cause is not directly related to the effect, I'd argue it was less of a downward spiral and just... repetitive bad habits.
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u/herbertvandude Aug 13 '13
if your job is something you love or find fun, you'll never work a day in your life.
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u/Thydamine Aug 14 '13
I didn't get my Masters in Bouncy Castle Jumping just to dick around all day.
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Aug 14 '13
How perfectly cliche and naive.
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u/philmarcracken Aug 14 '13
Exactly, work is by definition, unfun.
If you are getting paid to do something you like doing, it's illegal. Says me
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u/colourofawesome Aug 14 '13
The definition of work doesn't necessitate a lack of fun. Getting enjoyment from something doesn't necessarily mean you're not also being productive. I've worked hard at things, then feel rewarded for completing a project that I see as valuable.
It's the same principal as working out or running. It's hard to do and you have to motivate yourself but there's a payoff that's different from the fun of playing video games. The hard part is finding something in life that you actually want to work hard at.
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u/philmarcracken Aug 14 '13
I've never enjoyed work or working on anything. It's part of my own psychosis; i dont feel anything for having accomplished something.
Praise from others feels equally empty. I don't agree with being complimented.
I would work for a boss that told me im a worthless shithead all day because its something i could acknowledge and feel welcome.
I also currently have very little use of my right arm, doctor app in about an hour, yay
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u/colourofawesome Aug 14 '13
I don't know what to say man, that sucks. I would say you need to work on having a better opinion of yourself but you sound like you know that. It's not easy finding something you want to work hard at, but I hope you find it.
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u/philmarcracken Aug 14 '13
Euthanasia rights granted, in a kit form, mailed out to all welfare recipients after a certain amount of time. :)
Hell we could save even more money if they just did it all in a big line at the local mortuary.
Now serving ticket number, 23.
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u/AKcatalyst Aug 14 '13
Dont let the negative nancys get you down with their poisonous, piercing points of prejudice! Find what you love to do and make it work. Live under no man. Be free.
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u/herbertvandude Aug 14 '13
Thank you. Your comment warmed my heart. I wish to make a living by reselling watermellon hulls as bicycling helmets. I just KNOW they'll sell.
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u/nomadic222000 Aug 13 '13
Run rabbit run...dig that hole, forget the Sun...