Yesterday I found myself saying at dinner: "I am currently attempting to optimize my time". And it's true. As someone who actually wants to do something about the emerging future rather than just think about how amazingly awesome it's going to be (or alternatively, what sorts of dystopias are likely to emerge), I do find myself frequently asking: "Is this really what I ought to be doing right now?" (and yes, I do think writing this blog entry right now IS what I ought to be doing...or at least, it's a low-risk activity).
Ideally, I'd like to be doing something more constructive with more of my time. Working is a good thing, but my job isn't necessarily as aligned with my goals and visions for the future as I'd like it to be. However, I don't see how I can be a productive member of the H+ community without sufficient funding, and plus, some aspects of my job have provided valuable education with regard to engineering processes and time management.
Plus, being able to maintain Net access, attend occasional conferences (when I'm lucky), invest in research materials when necessary, and donate to good causes all depend upon my being part of the market economy. No income, no output.
Perhaps at some point in the future, the economy will be set up differently and people won't need to spend so much of their time at work, but we're not there yet. Certainly, if you have the motivation, imagination, and connectivity to work full time in transhumanism without having to do anything else for funding, by all means, do so.
But let's be realistic: if healthy life extension is to be achieved in time for many of us currently alive to take advantage of it, people need to start taking action now, with available resources, not imaginary ones. That is, we can't afford to wait for certain tools to develop before making a start.
Everyone can do something. You don't need to quit your job to be a Good Transhumanist or life-extensionist even if your job doesn't specifically pertain to the sorts of goals and technologies that you're trying to support and help bring about. Certainly, take advantage of opportunities that are aligned with your ideas if they come along (and there's nothing wrong with keeping an eye out for more). But don't risk losing everything if you've got a steady and stable support system that is bolstering your efforts in the healthy life extension community.
If you're one of those already working full time on trying to creatively engineer the future for excellence, you have my utmost respect. But those of us with day jobs can do plenty to help as well. And one of the primary things to remember about having a day job is that yes, you are allowed to keep it as a "day" job. My job has many good points, but at the same time, I need to actively resist letting it become the centre of my existence. It's okay to keep your evenings and weekends for yourself and your non-work projects. Who knows...perhaps some of the first revolutions that lead to escape velocity will be accomplished in part due to people's "spare time". It all adds up.
And on a completely unrelated note, I would like to offer a massive thank you to April Smith, whom you may recognize from the Mprize page (and her wonderful ongoing CR diary). Though Ms. Smith and I haven't really conversed, the food ingredients she often posts about have become my new lunch staples. She's right on about the protein! My lunches recently have consisted of things like cooked eggwhites, spinach, tomato, with a small amount of flax oil on top.
I must say, I have never felt so sprightly all throughout the afternoons. I have been interested in Caloric Restriction for a number of years now, and though I'm not a formal practitioner (in that I don't weigh everything), I do try to make sure nothing I eat is devoid of nutritional value (though special occasions can lead to some exceptions here, but I keep that to a minimum). I also drink lots of water and not much else aside from tea.
Honestly, it is not very difficult to do this -- and I very strongly recommend a nutrition change to anyone who feels that they're feeling sad or anxious. I have always been a very exuberant / joyful person, but I'm definitely able to handle stress much better since revamping my eating habits somewhat. Part of making use of non-work hours effectively has definitely included learning to eat properly.
My own optimization process is still continuing, and one thing I'm trying to work on now is setting up more of a consistent schedule for working on projects. Schedules don't need to be stodgy or stifling, especially when you're working on things in your own home.
10 comments:
Perhaps at some point in the future, the economy will be set up differently and people won't need to spend so much of their time at work, but we're not there yet.
We do have a part of the economy set up like that for multi-generational wealthy families, including some political dynasties I could name. Conservatives complain about how getting a guaranteed income erodes people's character, but for some reason they always point to poor minorities on welfare, never to attractive white rich girls like the Bush twins or Paris Hilton.
I don't think it's the income that erodes people's character, but rather, other aspects of the environment they grow up in.
I get the impression that the "rich and famous" folks who end up growing up to be, well, vapid probably aren't challenged academically as they should be, nor are their parents very attentive, etc.
I would be in favor of a sort of basic income to cover things like food, shelter, and medical care; those things might be considered basic person-rights. But I don't think there's any basic right to have a BMW and 500 pairs of shoes.
[quote]Perhaps at some point in the future, the economy will be set up differently and people won't need to spend so much of their time at work, but we're not there yet.[/quote]
Perhaps you'd be interested in reading a piece I wrote on this topic.
http://jwbats.blogspot.com/2006/08/shorter-4-6-hour-workdays-would.html
I favor reducing the amount of work we do, because, honestly, most of it by now doesn't accomplish anything other than helping to regiment society, along with religion, the media and the state's "law enforcement" apparatus. See Bob Black's essay, "The End of Work," which articulates a lot of what I felt about work long before I read it.
Many of the pathological aspects of modern work derive from the fact that we've moved away from tangible production over to the so-called service economy, which predictably favors people adept at nonrational social games. Hence the growth of the parasitic FIRE sector in the economy (finance, insurance and real estate) at the expense of useful activities. We know something has gone wrong with the economy when the rapid trade in, and refinancing of, a relatively static quantity of real estate now counts as "prosperity."
While the old industrial economy had its drawbacks, at least at the end of the day the farmer, miner or factory worker could point to a pile or stack of something useful and know that he helped to produce it. What does the modern cubicle Dilbert have to show for his time at the end of the week, other than his paycheck?
However, I can see a potential problem with the reduced-work society. People with more time on their hands will have to resist the temptation to make more demands of services from others through travel, tourism, dining out and so forth, otherwise they'll just shift more of the work burden to low-wage service workers.
Re: future economy
A few years ago there were articles in the WSJ and other places that said around 2040 or so robots would be taking over the most menial jobs such as walmart employees, construction work, garbage collection, restaurant work, etc. What that would mean is that 40 or 50% of the people in the US and the rest of the world would become unemployed with no source of income, and would have to be provided for in some way by the state, possibly in grinding poverty.
Re: CR diet
I bought some eggwhites myself last week for exactly the same reason (April), but was not able to use them before the expiration date. :( Do you cook them all up at once, then dump a cup on your salad from your "bowl of eggy goodness(tm)" in the fridge? :) How does one cook up egg whites? I probably should have planned and researched a bit more...
Oh - if you haven't heard, there is a lot of nasty e-coli tainted spinach around lately - please be careful.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/09/16/tainted.spinach.ap/index.html
Re: time optimization
I tried time optimization when I was in my 20s also - the system I set up would inevitably collapse because I didn't include adaquate periods of rest and recreation, and other human type needs. I also kept working to finish tasks I had assigned myself even though it was past my bedtime so ended up sleep deprived as well.
Mark:
Interesting essay. I don't agree with all of it, but I do like this part:
The secret of turning work into play, as Charles Fourier demonstrated, is to arrange useful activities to take advantage of whatever it is that various people at various times in fact enjoy doing. To make it possible for some people to do the things they could enjoy it will be enough just to eradicate the irrationalities and distortions which afflict these activities when they are reduced to work.
When I was four years old, my parents took me for a psychological evaluation. There's one line from that evaluation report that really sticks out in my mind: She is not a child to fit comfortably into someone else's agenda.
That was true of me at age 4 and it's true of me now. And it's probably true of a lot of people.
I was raised in a household that emphasized a good work ethic, and I definitely see the value of self-discipline, but at the same time I do think it's rather ridiculous that jobs are in many cases an interruption to "real life" rather than an integral part of it.
There is enough diversity in the world such that practically every job that needs doing has someone who wants to do it, however, there's a huge roadblock in the way of people actually achieving their ideal job match (or their "productive play" match, however you want to look at it).
I honestly think that technology would advance more quickly, and that people would be far happier overall, if there was a way to help people find the work that complements their own agenda, rather than interrupting it.
jan-willem: Interesting piece indeed. I'd love to be able to work 4 - 6 hours per day, and I honestly think that a lot of people presently working 9 - 12 hour days would get just as much done, if not more, with fewer hours.
One thing that I think a lot of people have lost touch with is their own ability to amuse and educate themselves on their own time.
nerdinium:
Re: Re: Future economy:
Well, I definitely think the economic system is going to have to change drastically in coming years, due to the likely advances in automation that will appear. This is perhaps a critical piece of dialogue, though I'm not sure who should be engaging in it. All I can say really is that I do not think that progress should be fought on the basis that having robots to perform menial tasks will eliminate jobs -- it's the culture and the economic setup that needs to change. I don't know if you've read "The Diamond Age"; in this book, there was still poverty, but nanotech assured that even the poorest folks didn't starve or go unclothed. Perhaps the state or private organizations / charities (anything with the means) will have to support people for a while, but eventually the technology itself could become the support system. And I also suspect that in a future of limitless opportunity, creative work will be found in realms we can't even imagine now.
Re: Re: CR Diet:
I've been experimenting with different sources of eggwhites. I've tried something called "Eggology" (purchased at Whole Foods, rather overpriced, and too large a container for the meals someone my size needs), and the Trader Joe's single-serving microwaveable cups of eggwhite (yay, I liked these!), as well as plain old regular eggs, straight from the chicken's arse (well, from the egg carton, but I separated out the yolks myself).
Verdict? The TJs eggwhites were very convenient. 60 calories per serving, and they come pre-allocated in little containers that you can just shake and microwave. The cooked egg can then be added to whatever recipe you like. However, it seemed as if the regular eggs with me separating the whites (and discarding the yolks; I'm not a big fan of yolks anyway) was the best way to assure freshness. The thing is, I probably can't manage a regular eating schedule that includes the extra step of yolk-separation on a regular basis. Or at least I wouldn't want to rely on myself to do that. So I got another kind of TJs eggwhite today, in a little carton, and I'll see how well the freshness is maintained with that.
I think that microwave is the best way to cook eggwhites (at least from what I've discovered so far). You can just microwave them in the nuke-safe container of your choice. I've stored cooked whites in the fridge for up to 4 days prior to consumption and they've been fine.
As far as actual meal assemblage goes, I started by mixing the eggwhites with the veggies in advance, but this ended up turning into a nasty soggy mess, particularly by the third day or so. What seems to work better is for me to bring the cooked eggwhites with me to work in one container and whatever veggies I want in a separate container. Then I just dump the veggies on the "bed" of eggwhites when it gets to be lunchtime at work and the result is much better; good taste and minimal sogginess.
I've heard about the spinach thing -- I'm being careful, and the spinach I purchased last week seems to be safe (I had it at lunch 2 days in a row last week and haven't felt my stomach trying to strangle me yet, so I'm guessing I probably got one of the Lucky No E-Coli packs). But I'm definitely going to be more cautious about bagged veggies from now on. No interest in having my insides disintegrate during my quest for a longer, healthier life!
Re: Re: Time Optimization:
See, I don't think that a system that collapses can be counted as "optimized" in the first place. An optimized system must necessarily evolve to avoid collapse. I learned a while ago now that "zero downtime" isn't an option for me: I am much, much more effective in work, at play, and in all other areas of my life when I have adequate decompression.
I also kept working to finish tasks I had assigned myself even though it was past my bedtime so ended up sleep deprived as well.
Yup, that was me in college. I've definitely still got the "must follow through!" instinct (it's an asset for the most part, and I wouldn't want to lose it, but I definitely need to keep it under control).
I just had my first salad with eggwhites instead of rice and beans for the protein source - not bad. The salad texture is a bit different, but I am looking forward to less gas :). I bought a different brand of single serving cups of eggwhite, and cooked them in a silicone muffin pan in the microwave for one minute, and they came out edible, so I'm happy.
I guess it depends on how you define optimal use of time. I was mainly trying to overcome my ED, and sounds like I do a bit worse with it than you do. I had no cognitive models of how to balance different life priorities, and still have problems with it. I've been running 'interrupt based' ever since - I run out of clean clothes means it is time to wash clothes, floor too cluttered to walk on means time to clean, nothing in fridge means time to shop, etc, which means things are usually pretty messy and disorganized, and I spend too much time on the computer :(
Nerdinium: Wow, your "interrupt-driven" MO sounds exactly like my boyfriend's. And that's sort of how mine ends up being if I let things go too long, but that sort of operation makes me so miserable and ineffective that it's honestly easier and more feasible for me NOT to operate that way.
I also have something of an advantage in that my parents basically put me through Household Maintenance Boot Camp while I was growing up; and I do have to give my stepmom credit here since she was able to break down every possible maintenance task into very small steps and she wrote them down on a chart for me to refer to.
The silicone muffin pan sounds like a very logical means to cook eggwhites; I've had a bit of trouble with sticking in the containers I've been using, though not so much as to make the product inedible.
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