Who would have thought that living simple could be so complicated? It's not easy to reprogram habits and change life's priorities. These ideas really can help reduce stress and shift the focus of one's life to what really matters. One thing I've been doing lately when making big purchases is to think about the cost in terms of the time that it takes me to earn enough money to buy an item rather than simply the monetary cost. Am I willing to exchange x amount of hours of my life for this thing? Thinking like this has really changed my spending habits and freed up a lot more of my time and money.
You make an excellent point, moneyjane. Clearly a person is inflenced by their environment and circumstances. Some (but not all) people who feel depressed are clinically depressed.
I think that Jeff's comment is based on the more recent method of diagnosis (promoted by big pharmaceutical corps./FDA) in which everything is a disease. This viewpoint seems to be a cop-out to me. Nowadays, someone who eats a steady diet of Doritos, pizza, soda, etc... and has chest pains is diagnosed as having acid reflux disease, then prescribed drugs as a solution. I'd call it heartburn and say change your diet, forget the drugs and see how that works. Some people do have clinical heartburn/acid reflux, for which a change in diet won't help. Many otherwise healthy people are simply affected in a negative way by their diet, and don't need medical treatment. I think that this simple analogy can be transferred to the issue of anxiety/depression. If one is not clinically depressed, a change in environment/circumstance can be an effective cure.
The issue can't be fully explained in such simple terms, but I tried.
This thread reminded me of 'The President's Speech', a chapter in the book 'The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat' by Oliver Sacks. It's very interesting reading if you're into this sort of thing.
Many people support war on the grounds that it boosts the Gross Domestic Product and hence the national economy. The money all spreads around. Trickles down like piss. By this logic, I would assume that these people also support things like cancer, robbery, natural disasters, etc... as these all promote spending, boosting the GDP, and growing the economy.
It's interesting how so many different interpretations can come out of a statement. Some people think of Jesus as a revolutionary dissident type like Che Guevara. Others see him as a wimpy effeminate guy that walked around all the time in a nightie. The simple fact is: I'm right, you're all wrong.
Wow! You all have some interesting accomplishments. I managed to get bilateral inguinal hernias last week. When the doctor gave me the news I was sorely disappointed to find out that I'm not just sprouting a second pair of testicles. Oh well. At leat now I'll have some time off work and I can hang around Monkeyfilter a bit.
It's good to know that peace has been achieved with the IRA and UK. Hopefully it lasts.
It seems to me that one reason for terrorism is that the demands of the potential terrorists are considered unreasonable and non-negotiable by the other side. Also, the potential terrorists are not usually recognized as legitimate by the opposition. When they commit a terrorist act and a government chooses to negotiate, it gives them legitimacy. The problem that I see is that negotiating with terrorists breeds more terrorism. Clearly not negotiating also breeds more terror. Catch-22. In discussions like this it's always easy to point out flaws and failures in logic and practice. It's much more difficult to arrive at a pragmatic solution.
I think I've exceeded my recommended daily use of the word terror. Perhaps the words of George W. Bush can explain it more ineptly;
"Quack weapons quack war against terror quack we were attacked quack every threat quack events of 9/11 quack every potential harm to America quack war on terror quack weapons quack suicide bombers quack funding terrorist groups quack dangerous man quack stockpiles of weapons quack capacity to produce weapons quack rogue nations quack capacity to make weapons quack Osama Bin Laden quack dangerous with weapons quack Saddam Hussein quack dangerous with the ability to make weapons quack dangerous man quack dangerous quack a madman quack imminent tax cuts quack quack new kind of war quack no doubt in my mind quack Axis of Evil quack danger to America."
At first glance, I thought this was about the logos on the seats of shorts and sweats that people wear. Y' know like "Abercrombie's Bitch". Stuff like that.
But really this type of thing is nothing new around Seattle. I frequently see loonies and vagrants with sandwich boards advertising condos, sub shops, etc... It seems this entrepreneur might have been a clever enough prick to issue a press release and stir up some controversy. Nearly free advertising.
Who would have thought that living simple could be so complicated? It's not easy to reprogram habits and change life's priorities. These ideas really can help reduce stress and shift the focus of one's life to what really matters. One thing I've been doing lately when making big purchases is to think about the cost in terms of the time that it takes me to earn enough money to buy an item rather than simply the monetary cost. Am I willing to exchange x amount of hours of my life for this thing? Thinking like this has really changed my spending habits and freed up a lot more of my time and money.
posted by Disposable Planet 18 years ago
In "Noises off - stage left."
So that's how they make techno music. Hm.
posted by Disposable Planet 19 years ago
In "An Exploratory Study of the Influence of Depression and Anxiety."
You make an excellent point, moneyjane. Clearly a person is inflenced by their environment and circumstances. Some (but not all) people who feel depressed are clinically depressed. I think that Jeff's comment is based on the more recent method of diagnosis (promoted by big pharmaceutical corps./FDA) in which everything is a disease. This viewpoint seems to be a cop-out to me. Nowadays, someone who eats a steady diet of Doritos, pizza, soda, etc... and has chest pains is diagnosed as having acid reflux disease, then prescribed drugs as a solution. I'd call it heartburn and say change your diet, forget the drugs and see how that works. Some people do have clinical heartburn/acid reflux, for which a change in diet won't help. Many otherwise healthy people are simply affected in a negative way by their diet, and don't need medical treatment. I think that this simple analogy can be transferred to the issue of anxiety/depression. If one is not clinically depressed, a change in environment/circumstance can be an effective cure. The issue can't be fully explained in such simple terms, but I tried.
posted by Disposable Planet 19 years ago
In "Bush's Body Language"
This thread reminded me of 'The President's Speech', a chapter in the book 'The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat' by Oliver Sacks. It's very interesting reading if you're into this sort of thing.
posted by Disposable Planet 19 years ago
In "The Financial Cost of the Iraq War"
Many people support war on the grounds that it boosts the Gross Domestic Product and hence the national economy. The money all spreads around. Trickles down like piss. By this logic, I would assume that these people also support things like cancer, robbery, natural disasters, etc... as these all promote spending, boosting the GDP, and growing the economy.
posted by Disposable Planet 19 years ago
In "Gerin oil"
It's interesting how so many different interpretations can come out of a statement. Some people think of Jesus as a revolutionary dissident type like Che Guevara. Others see him as a wimpy effeminate guy that walked around all the time in a nightie. The simple fact is: I'm right, you're all wrong.
posted by Disposable Planet 19 years ago
In "Self-postFilter:"
Wow! You all have some interesting accomplishments. I managed to get bilateral inguinal hernias last week. When the doctor gave me the news I was sorely disappointed to find out that I'm not just sprouting a second pair of testicles. Oh well. At leat now I'll have some time off work and I can hang around Monkeyfilter a bit.
posted by Disposable Planet 19 years ago
In "Negotiating with terrorists works."
It's good to know that peace has been achieved with the IRA and UK. Hopefully it lasts. It seems to me that one reason for terrorism is that the demands of the potential terrorists are considered unreasonable and non-negotiable by the other side. Also, the potential terrorists are not usually recognized as legitimate by the opposition. When they commit a terrorist act and a government chooses to negotiate, it gives them legitimacy. The problem that I see is that negotiating with terrorists breeds more terrorism. Clearly not negotiating also breeds more terror. Catch-22. In discussions like this it's always easy to point out flaws and failures in logic and practice. It's much more difficult to arrive at a pragmatic solution. I think I've exceeded my recommended daily use of the word terror. Perhaps the words of George W. Bush can explain it more ineptly; "Quack weapons quack war against terror quack we were attacked quack every threat quack events of 9/11 quack every potential harm to America quack war on terror quack weapons quack suicide bombers quack funding terrorist groups quack dangerous man quack stockpiles of weapons quack capacity to produce weapons quack rogue nations quack capacity to make weapons quack Osama Bin Laden quack dangerous with weapons quack Saddam Hussein quack dangerous with the ability to make weapons quack dangerous man quack dangerous quack a madman quack imminent tax cuts quack quack new kind of war quack no doubt in my mind quack Axis of Evil quack danger to America."
posted by Disposable Planet 19 years ago
In "Bumvertising"
At first glance, I thought this was about the logos on the seats of shorts and sweats that people wear. Y' know like "Abercrombie's Bitch". Stuff like that. But really this type of thing is nothing new around Seattle. I frequently see loonies and vagrants with sandwich boards advertising condos, sub shops, etc... It seems this entrepreneur might have been a clever enough prick to issue a press release and stir up some controversy. Nearly free advertising.
posted by Disposable Planet 19 years ago
(limited to the most recent 20 comments)