Although this blog is titled How I Work, the "I" can refer to other people,
since it might be just as interesting to you, and much more so to me, to
hear addional people's procedures, rules and guidelines - and in this
case, also philosophy of life.
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Subject: how to live the JimDavies life
From: Jim Davies
Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2004 11:55:17 -0500 (EST)
How I try to live my life
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I assume the following things are good: 1) well-being,
happiness, and reduction of suffering for all things that
can feel such things, and 2) an understanding of the world
for beings capable of such understanding.
Being a good person means maximizing your positive effect on
the world at the largest possible scale. There are many ways
to help the world. One should find out the things at which
one would be most effective, and do those things to the best
of one's ability. For me it's being a scientist and an
artist.
People have limited resources that they can use to have
their effect on the world: Time, physical and mental energy,
enthusiasm, etc. I will refer to all these things generally
as "resources." Trying to maximize my positive effect on the
world, to me, means always doing the most important thing I
can do at every moment, given the resources I have. What
ends up happening is that everything I do should either be
1) making the world a better place, or 2) replenishing my
resources with something I enjoy. In short, I'm either
making the world a better place or doing something fun so
that I can get back to work.
Different people have different potentials. One should work
to fulfill one's potential, by working to help the world at
the largest possible scale. That means don't ladle soup at a
soup kitchen if you're capable of restructuring the soup
kitchen organization to make it more effective. Don't spend
time picking up trash if you can affect social change to
make a whole city cleaner.
As a scientist, I spend as much of my resources as I can
doing science. This ends up being probably about five or six
hours per day, six days per week. The rest of the time I
spend relaxing so I can get back to work effectively.
So how do I spend this relaxing time? Luckily for me I find
creating art engerizing. Generating art makes the world a
better place too, in general. If, during my relaxation time,
I have the resources to generate art (writing, painting,
etc.) then I will do so.
Here is a priority list of what I do with my given
in-the-moment resources:
1) Conducting scientific research, including programming,
experiment running, reading scientific literature I need to
read, having intellectual discussions.
2) Generating artwork (writing, painting, etc.)
3) Enjoying artwork (reading, watching movies, etc.)
4) Unintellectual socializing, dancing, etc.
The seperation of work and play
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Conducting scientific reseach is an activity composed of
many tasks, most of which are mentally taxing. Since I'm
trying to maximize my scientific productivity, there is a
danger of feeling guilty during those times when I am not
doing scientific work. While I was working on my master's
thesis in psychology I worked at the university as well as
at home. What I found was happening was that I became unable
to relax at home: I always felt that I should be working on
my master's thesis. The effect of this was that to relax I
had to go out of the house. Usually this meant going to a
movie, or socializing with friends. My home was no longer a
sanctuary where I could relax. An engaging movie on video
could distract me, but even such things as reading for
pleasure became difficult because of the anxiety I felt. The
first step I took to attack this problem was that I took a
Saturdays off. I would not allow myself to work on Saturdays
, so after a few weeks the possibility of working did not
really enter my mind on Saturdays. I was able to spend time
at home and not feel anxiety about not working. Later I took
an additional step and stopped working at home altogether.
The problem is now basically solved: my home is now a place
of relaxation.
What to read
------------
When I can't write anymore it's time for me to read. I used
to have a peculiar problem: I would feel like reading, and
would want to read a fun book, like a Michael Crichton
novel. But then I would think, well, if I'm going to read, I
should be reading something more heavy, like a non-fiction
book about something I want to learn about. Then I would
think, well, if I'm going to read non-fiction, I should read
this boring paper I need to read for my research. But I
would not feel like reading that research paper, so I'd
abandon the idea of reading altogether and watch a video.
It dawned on me that I was spending more time watching
movies and less time reading fun books and that the
situation was kind of silly. I wasn't reading any fun books
anymore. There is a lot to read and there are many reasons
to read. I believe I made the mistake of not really
recognizing that you read different things for different
purposes. The desire to read Michael Crichton is a different
desire than the desire to read non-fiction or to read a
boring scientific paper. If you want to read Crichton, it is
probably a desire to escape into a story, relax, and have
fun--the same motivation to watch a video. The desires to
read more challenging stuff stems from a different desire--
to better your understanding of the world. Just because they
all qualify as "reading" does not mean they are
interchangable in your schedule.
I now read one fun book and and one difficult book at the
same time. When I feel like reading, I think: do I have the
resources to read the difficult book? If so, I read it. If
not, I read the fun book. Sometimes after a chapter of the
fun book I will ask myself the question again. Also, since
reading is a lower prioity than writing, if I get inspired
to write while I'm reading anything, I drop the book and
write immediately.
Sometimes I don't even have the resources to read whatever
fun book I'm reading. I usually have a super-relaxing book
too, usually about Buddhism, that I can read in these
instances.
Most people can read more than they do. I also keep a book
in the car and a book for the bathroom. Good books for these
categories are ones that can be read piecemeal and still be
appreciated. If one of the books I'm reading is small enough
for my coat, I will put it in my coat when I leave for the
day. Else I will start another fun book to keep in my coat.
I read the book in my coat when I walk, wait in line, and
occasionally at red lights. I thank Stephen King's memoir
for the inspiration for this. As prolific as he is he still
reads about eighty books per year, because he has learned to
read "in little sips," whenever he has a spare moment.
Sometimes a book I'm reading isn't any good. The danger is
that you stop reading. A moment's reflection should reveal
that a bad book should never stop you from reading. Some
people finish all books they start. I think this is foolish.
There are simply too many wonderful books out there to waste
your time finishing something bad simply because you started
it. Stop reading the book and pick up another. Not only will
you have read more books every year, but you will have read
more good books. I gave up the policy of finishing every
book I start in my twenties and it's made my reading life
much better.
Still there are those border cases where the book isn't
great but you have decided you are going to finish it
anyway. Here you just need motivation to keep reading. To
help with this I keep two bookshelves reserved for the books
I'm going to read next: one shelf for hard books, one for
fun books. I have then in a rough order of which to read
first. Occasionally I will re-order them. This bookshelf is
very inspiring. Looking at it you see all these great books
you have to read in your future, as soon as you get through
the books you're currently reading.
The literature I read for science tends to be very specific
to my subfield and uninspiring. It's important to read more
general cognitive science books, but when am I supposed to
do this? Recently I made a policy that I would read a
cognitive science book that was not specific to my subfield
for every other difficult non-fiction book I read.
So in total I'm often reading four or five books at a time,
which is managable in terms of keeping them all straight,
but enough so that I always have something to read for every
context and mood.
Why I don't follow politics, or "what could be older than
the news?"
------------------------------------------------------------
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There seems to be an almost consensus opinion that following
the news and world events is a good thing to do.
Intellectuals, even if they don't follow the news, think
they would be better people if they did. I don't read or
watch news and I feel fine about it.
The reason is that I try to spend my time making the world a
better place and enjoying myself. Following news does
neither. Simply knowing about world events does nothing to
improve the state of the world. The only way it can play a
part in making the world better is if the knowledge gained
is used to inform actions that improve the world. And for
the vast majority of people these actions fall into three
categories: 1) voting, 2) life choices, and 3) I can't
remember the third but I'm sure there is one.
Let's look at voting for a moment. I've been told that I
should follow the news so I can make an informed vote. I
vote according to my values, which in general do not change
and are unaffected by day-to-day events. I have a hard time
even imagining what the world would have to be like to get
me to vote for a republican candidate. But even if some
amount of knowledge is necessary to make an informed vote in
the presidential election, a few hours of research before
the election should be sufficient to allow you to make an
informed decision. As politics get more local, voting is
more effective in the sense that your vote has a greater
likelihood of making a difference, but the effect these
elections on the world is smaller too. And even so, how
often does one vote? A few hours for each election should be
plenty. So what is the benefit of spending an hour or two
every single day following news? Some people read the paper
in the morning and watch the news at night, learning things
they cannot apply to their lives, and will probably not use
to inform a vote. On top of that they probably see similar
news items on the television that they read about that
morning! What a waste of time. For those of you who followed
the day-to-day happenings of Montica Lewinsky or the Gulf
Wars, how much has that knowledge helped you help the world?
By "life choices" I mean choices regarding how you live your
life to make the world a better place. Some people boycott
companies or countries so they do not support ideologies or
practices they believe are hurting the world. I think this
is noble, but like voting, the actions of a single
individual makes very little difference to the state of the
world. Throwing ice cubes in the ocean makes it a bit cooler
, but if you really are concerned with the oceans warming,
you might want to think about affecting change at a larger
scale. This not to say that one should not live a lifestyle
that encourages the good and discourages the bad. I do it
too, to some extent. I am however arguing that the effects
of these actions are negligible, and you should not cramp
your lifestyle much doing them when you can affect change at
a larger scale. Is that your calling?
My calling is not politics. If it was, I would follow news
and try to affect change by changing laws. However, I'm a
scientist, so it's more important for me to follow science
and contribute to science, where I can really make a
difference.
The other possible reason for me to watch the news is
because I enjoy it. Well, I don't. Some people think they
enjoy news but really don't. Many people feel some drive to
watch the news, but this does not necessarily mean they are
happier for doing so. For many people news makes them
depressed, angry, or frightened.
Closing mantras
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Don't read if you can write.
Don't watch movies if you can make movies.
Don't look at paintings if you can make paintings.
Read while you eat, read while you walk
Draw while you listen, draw while you talk.
JimDavies
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