5 ms·

We have become so detached from nature so much we have forgotten seasons exist, we can naturally divide the year in four (or two) by being attentive to the seas

We have become so detached from nature so much we have forgotten seasons exist, we can naturally divide the year in four (or two) by being attentive to the season, and you can add a little flair by being poetic about it (say saving during the fall, frugality in the winter, sexuality in the spring, enjoying the fullness of life in the summer. Life is not academia, it is poetry!

travisjungroth 3y ago
Since joining Netflix two years ago, I’ve posted on Slack on every equinox and solstice. What time it is, what it means literally, what you could take it to mean. People seem to like it.
pierat 3y ago
"What are seasons?", says the human in a climate controlled box looking into a portal to a virtual environment that has no seasons.
- WorldMaker 3y ago
  In a time of radical climate change where traditional regional seasonal indicators are shifting.
mangodrunk 3y ago
I think that is good advice, though I am not sure what you mean by saying life is poetry. I will also add that one should be aware of what is happening during the different seasons, such as particular flowers blooming, animal migrations, etc. Only after 30+ years have I begun to notice the changes of the season and wanting to bask in them.
- jameal 3y ago
  Not OP but I was struck by the sentiment. I'm sure many of us on HN approach our lives through the lens of an academic/engineering mindset. Of course that kind of approach is valid and useful. We can also approach life as artists (poets) and lean into spontaneity, playfulness and creativity. There is a kind of freedom that is unique to the latter approach. You don't have to be a professional artist to make art out of living.
  - lo_zamoyski 3y ago
    I'm not sure why people assume art or poetry is an anything-goes, free-for-all, opposed to the supposed rigor or rigidity of engineering. Look at the art of the great masters. These were not acts of pure spontaneity. Music, even when improvised, leans into an acquired musical language from which the piece of composed. And in engineering, there's experimentation, doodling, thought experiment, and a fair amount of hackery in many cases. Improvisation, too, can occur. Poetry is a history of meter. Many poets consider free form lazy and the lowest form of poetry, as it is in keeping within the bounds of meter and maximizing within that structure that introduces a challenge and produces beautiful results. So, the distinction isn't perhaps one between art and engineering (engineering is, technically, art), but temperaments or habit. ("Spontaneously" vomiting paint on canvas is not art. It's fraud or some act of superstition.)
    - jameal 3y ago
      I'm not sure why people assume that either. These are interesting points. I know very little about formal poetry, but I consider art to be expression. So what I meant is that there is an art to the way we live our lives. Many people of the modern era are very rational and technical and lean hard into a "command and control" style way of living that's very focused on future results. I think its in a way limiting, and to our detriment. So like the great masters, I try to find a balance between pure spontaneity and pure formality.
wink 3y ago
I don't know where you're living or maybe my reading of the weather is just bad, but here in Central Europe according to your definition winter usually starts around Christmas, spring either starts in March or May, summer lasts from June through October, and fall is between "to cold for a t-shirt" and "it's snowing". Very useful indeed.
Pamar 3y ago
I raise your 4 to... 72 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37247405 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37247405
ehnto 3y ago
Indigenous Australians and other cultures have more than four seasons as well, and for the former it depends on where you live on the continent also. https://www.csiro.au/en/research/indigenous-science/Indigenous-knowledge/Calendars https://www.csiro.au/en/research/indigenous-science/Indigeno... For anyone who has been to Darwin and also to Melbourne, you totally get why. Melbourne says "what a chilly winter" while Darwin says, what winter? Melbournites look forward to it drying out near Jan, and Darwin prepares for monsoon season. Perhaps an equivalent is being to Whistler and to Miami. Same continent, different seasons. All that is just really to say, it's fun to be in tune with your local climate, and for most people, the 4 seasons are kind of a convenience but not that accurate.
- dghughes 3y ago
  Darwin to Melbourne is about 3,100km. My location in SE Canada it can be -25C with 1m snow, 100km/h winds meanwhile 2,700km in Miami it's a balmy 30C.
CaptainFever 3y ago
This is true, but doesn't apply to all countries as there are those without seasons.
VoodooJuJu 3y ago
Well said. It's especially easy to forget about simple, natural, and poetic cadences when you live an environment whose purpose is to crush those very things, i.e. cities.
- anonyfox 3y ago
  there are cities with _lots_ of natural green space, water and thoughtfully gardened recreation parks, though. Enjoying the transition to fall right now living in such a city.
  - go_elmo 3y ago
    And yet most will not even get close of being an ecosystem. "Green" and "parks" are mostly consisting of 2-10 species of plants, not more, and none of the species having a fully life cycle (seed to humus), also taking the space dozens of other species would otherwise fill (insects, funghi etc). Im regents park london, they let some cut trees rot on purpose, years later there are still no funghi visible growing on them, while in a forest that happens. Ive also not met a single mosquito there in years. Most city parks are mere deserts to me. It sure still is healing to be outiside, but calling that "nature" is a blunt lie in my ears.
    - anonyfox 3y ago
      If that is your focus, over here (Hamburg, Germany) there also are real (mostly untouched) forests, which also include life. They are not extremely huge but at least many centuries old. One is like 8min from my door, could even take a bus since there are stops on the edges.
    - datameta 3y ago
      Luckily, those urban green spaces have a similar positive effect on our systems as a full forest would. Separately, I would like to point to a place like Prospect Park in NYC, where one can find themselves in the equivalent of a new growth forest complete with the majority of applicable local flora. There are also botanic gardens, where one can experience a number of different groups of blooms throughout the year. We're capable of having this be part of our urban experience.
Fauntleroy 3y ago
Man, I live in California where we barely have seasons
BaseballPhysics 3y ago
Hmm, you're gonna need to explain that again. How will this help me increase my LTV and ensure I'm optimizing every minute of the day for maximal productivity?
- jprete 3y ago
  I have to congratulate you on how close this comes to invoking Poe’s Law.
emptyfile 3y ago
[dead]
epicureanideal 3y ago
“Chapters” is another option that might be more natural depending on if life events don’t align with the seasons. Or some combination of both.
g9yuayon 3y ago
> We have become so detached from nature so much we have forgotten seasons exist, True for me as I enjoy reading and programming, but I'm not sure if it's true in general, at least not in the metro area where I live. It looks outdoor activity is a big deal in American life. Hiking, camping, fishing and etc are so popular that one has to book a camping site in a state park months ahead of time. The trails are always full of people. Stores like REI either have heavy traffic or run out of stock.
efields 3y ago
Came here to say basically this. Good job beating me to it. Seasonality is an excellent constraint already.
vineyardmike 3y ago
So obviously you’re right, but semesters are based on the seasons, and many people are used to using semesters as goal timelines already.
dendrite9 3y ago
My high level time organization has been ski season (Nov-Jun) and other (May/Jun-Oct) for many years. My partner is a swimmer though so now there is lake swimming season as well. Last year I introduced her to a native berry and it turned out she actually like berries after a lifetime thinking she didn't. This year I've shown her more than 10 species that can be found nearby and we have moved our targets based on the season and which species are fading as others come into ripeness. It has been interesting to see someone learn how elevation can delay stages of the season, or how going to the dry side of the mountains moves the season forward. Now we are in a stage where the blackberries are a gamble. Many are still ripe and ripening but some are fermented on the vine, some have lingered because they are just bland, and unpicked clumps are overwhelmed by drosophila that have been able to go a couple generations uninterrupted. When it finally rains the season will be over for good. But the less prolific Rubus laciniatus is about to ripen for one last batch of berries as summer fades.

travisjungroth 3y ago

Since joining Netflix two years ago, I’ve posted on Slack on every equinox and solstice. What time it is, what it means literally, what you could take it to mean. People seem to like it.

pierat 3y ago

"What are seasons?", says the human in a climate controlled box looking into a portal to a virtual environment that has no seasons.

WorldMaker 3y ago
In a time of radical climate change where traditional regional seasonal indicators are shifting.

mangodrunk 3y ago

I think that is good advice, though I am not sure what you mean by saying life is poetry. I will also add that one should be aware of what is happening during the different seasons, such as particular flowers blooming, animal migrations, etc. Only after 30+ years have I begun to notice the changes of the season and wanting to bask in them.

jameal 3y ago
Not OP but I was struck by the sentiment. I'm sure many of us on HN approach our lives through the lens of an academic/engineering mindset. Of course that kind of approach is valid and useful. We can also approach life as artists (poets) and lean into spontaneity, playfulness and creativity. There is a kind of freedom that is unique to the latter approach. You don't have to be a professional artist to make art out of living.
- lo_zamoyski 3y ago
  I'm not sure why people assume art or poetry is an anything-goes, free-for-all, opposed to the supposed rigor or rigidity of engineering. Look at the art of the great masters. These were not acts of pure spontaneity. Music, even when improvised, leans into an acquired musical language from which the piece of composed. And in engineering, there's experimentation, doodling, thought experiment, and a fair amount of hackery in many cases. Improvisation, too, can occur. Poetry is a history of meter. Many poets consider free form lazy and the lowest form of poetry, as it is in keeping within the bounds of meter and maximizing within that structure that introduces a challenge and produces beautiful results. So, the distinction isn't perhaps one between art and engineering (engineering is, technically, art), but temperaments or habit. ("Spontaneously" vomiting paint on canvas is not art. It's fraud or some act of superstition.)
  - jameal 3y ago
    I'm not sure why people assume that either. These are interesting points. I know very little about formal poetry, but I consider art to be expression. So what I meant is that there is an art to the way we live our lives. Many people of the modern era are very rational and technical and lean hard into a "command and control" style way of living that's very focused on future results. I think its in a way limiting, and to our detriment. So like the great masters, I try to find a balance between pure spontaneity and pure formality.

wink 3y ago

I don't know where you're living or maybe my reading of the weather is just bad, but here in Central Europe according to your definition winter usually starts around Christmas, spring either starts in March or May, summer lasts from June through October, and fall is between "to cold for a t-shirt" and "it's snowing". Very useful indeed.

Pamar 3y ago

I raise your 4 to... 72 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37247405 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37247405

ehnto 3y ago

Indigenous Australians and other cultures have more than four seasons as well, and for the former it depends on where you live on the continent also. https://www.csiro.au/en/research/indigenous-science/Indigenous-knowledge/Calendars https://www.csiro.au/en/research/indigenous-science/Indigeno... For anyone who has been to Darwin and also to Melbourne, you totally get why. Melbourne says "what a chilly winter" while Darwin says, what winter? Melbournites look forward to it drying out near Jan, and Darwin prepares for monsoon season. Perhaps an equivalent is being to Whistler and to Miami. Same continent, different seasons. All that is just really to say, it's fun to be in tune with your local climate, and for most people, the 4 seasons are kind of a convenience but not that accurate.

dghughes 3y ago
Darwin to Melbourne is about 3,100km. My location in SE Canada it can be -25C with 1m snow, 100km/h winds meanwhile 2,700km in Miami it's a balmy 30C.

CaptainFever 3y ago

This is true, but doesn't apply to all countries as there are those without seasons.

VoodooJuJu 3y ago

Well said. It's especially easy to forget about simple, natural, and poetic cadences when you live an environment whose purpose is to crush those very things, i.e. cities.

anonyfox 3y ago
there are cities with _lots_ of natural green space, water and thoughtfully gardened recreation parks, though. Enjoying the transition to fall right now living in such a city.
- go_elmo 3y ago
  And yet most will not even get close of being an ecosystem. "Green" and "parks" are mostly consisting of 2-10 species of plants, not more, and none of the species having a fully life cycle (seed to humus), also taking the space dozens of other species would otherwise fill (insects, funghi etc). Im regents park london, they let some cut trees rot on purpose, years later there are still no funghi visible growing on them, while in a forest that happens. Ive also not met a single mosquito there in years. Most city parks are mere deserts to me. It sure still is healing to be outiside, but calling that "nature" is a blunt lie in my ears.
  - anonyfox 3y ago
    If that is your focus, over here (Hamburg, Germany) there also are real (mostly untouched) forests, which also include life. They are not extremely huge but at least many centuries old. One is like 8min from my door, could even take a bus since there are stops on the edges.
  - datameta 3y ago
    Luckily, those urban green spaces have a similar positive effect on our systems as a full forest would. Separately, I would like to point to a place like Prospect Park in NYC, where one can find themselves in the equivalent of a new growth forest complete with the majority of applicable local flora. There are also botanic gardens, where one can experience a number of different groups of blooms throughout the year. We're capable of having this be part of our urban experience.

Fauntleroy 3y ago

Man, I live in California where we barely have seasons

BaseballPhysics 3y ago

Hmm, you're gonna need to explain that again. How will this help me increase my LTV and ensure I'm optimizing every minute of the day for maximal productivity?

jprete 3y ago
I have to congratulate you on how close this comes to invoking Poe’s Law.

emptyfile 3y ago

[dead]

epicureanideal 3y ago

“Chapters” is another option that might be more natural depending on if life events don’t align with the seasons. Or some combination of both.

g9yuayon 3y ago

> We have become so detached from nature so much we have forgotten seasons exist, True for me as I enjoy reading and programming, but I'm not sure if it's true in general, at least not in the metro area where I live. It looks outdoor activity is a big deal in American life. Hiking, camping, fishing and etc are so popular that one has to book a camping site in a state park months ahead of time. The trails are always full of people. Stores like REI either have heavy traffic or run out of stock.

efields 3y ago

Came here to say basically this. Good job beating me to it. Seasonality is an excellent constraint already.

vineyardmike 3y ago

So obviously you’re right, but semesters are based on the seasons, and many people are used to using semesters as goal timelines already.

dendrite9 3y ago

My high level time organization has been ski season (Nov-Jun) and other (May/Jun-Oct) for many years. My partner is a swimmer though so now there is lake swimming season as well. Last year I introduced her to a native berry and it turned out she actually like berries after a lifetime thinking she didn't. This year I've shown her more than 10 species that can be found nearby and we have moved our targets based on the season and which species are fading as others come into ripeness. It has been interesting to see someone learn how elevation can delay stages of the season, or how going to the dry side of the mountains moves the season forward. Now we are in a stage where the blackberries are a gamble. Many are still ripe and ripening but some are fermented on the vine, some have lingered because they are just bland, and unpicked clumps are overwhelmed by drosophila that have been able to go a couple generations uninterrupted. When it finally rains the season will be over for good. But the less prolific Rubus laciniatus is about to ripen for one last batch of berries as summer fades.