9 ms·

>most people today have headphones on all the time. I don't understand it. I'm not sure, but it would seem people hate their own voice? I can't generalize for

by jasode 1mo ago

>most people today have headphones on all the time. I don't understand it. I'm not sure, but it would seem people hate their own voice? I can't generalize for everyone and maybe some of those people you observe are just listening to music all day long. In my circle, we have earphones all the time because we're listening to podcasts of news, tech industry commentary, macroeconomics and finance, etc. If one is working in an area where you're professionally rewarded by being curious about the changing world and being "plugged in", having "headphones on all the time" can help with staying up-to-date. Even with all that headphone time, there are still many hours in the day in personal silence. Laying in bed consolidating various thoughts before falling asleep. Standing in the shower. Reading blogs, etc. Before podcasts, we'd have to "waste time" sitting in front of the computer to catch up on the same material. Podcasts help us multitask. Of course, not everybody needs (or wants) to have headphones on all the time. The mathematician Andrew Wiles pursued Fermat's Last Theorem for 30 years before finally solving it. He doesn't need a random podcast that talks about the Iran war and its downstream economic effects on manufacturing computer chips. That type of "useless" news would probably bore him. >, even driving. In fact, I think my problem is the opposite: I just can't do two things at once. If I'm listening to something, then I can't be doing anything else. It just depends on the threshold of mindless activity. If I'm driving in an unknown city with confusing one-way streets, I don't want a podcast voice yapping in my ear while I'm concentrating on reading the traffic signs. On the other hand, driving through 100 miles of monotonous corn fields on a highway means I can catch up on a backlog of podcasts.

igleria 1mo ago
My non expert and personal opinion is that multitasking for a long time is not a free lunch and could lead to burnout for most people
- iammjm 1mo ago
  Yes, or the question is how much of both are you really engaged with and will remember at all. And then if you do, maybe the information was crap and not worthy of your attention anyway. I think anything really worth doing is worth doing at your 100%.
  - Forgeties79 1mo ago
    I love listening to audiobooks and such because it’s hard to find time to read. I mostly pick “fun” light to medium grade stuff like the stormlight archives, things that don’t demand my constant attention but aren’t as surface level as 90% of podcasts.
- jasode 1mo ago
  >multitasking for a long time is not a free lunch The multitasking I was talking about was combining a mindless repetitive task that has low cognitive demands such as walking on a treadmill, yardwork raking leaves, driving on non-descript boring roads ... with listening to a podcast about whatever topics are interesting. The mind is engaged while the hands and feet doing the work are on autopilot. In those cases, it can be a "free lunch" in the sense that the curiosity-seeking mind got fed while whatever physical task that needed to get done also got done with less procrastination and dread. I wasn't talking about trying to edit a Excel spreadsheet while listening and concentrating on a podcast about the politics and protests of datacenter buildouts.
  - conception 1mo ago
    It’s also under appreciated that its good to have the brain be bored and doing nothing. While you are being curious you aren’t thinking or contemplating or creating or imagining, just consuming that dopamine sink.
    - D-Machine 1mo ago
      There is indeed quite a rich literature on the importance of boredom too. Basic links can be found on Wikipedia, Buddhism generally confronts it as well, and even research in psychology generally sees it as an important cognitive or emotional process. Sadly I feel we are losing sight of this.
    - ipsod 1mo ago
      I was a professional glass artist and auctioned all of my work. When you've done it for years, molten glass keeps the hands busy, but seems to leave the mind free - very easy to listen to a podcast or music while working. But... if I didn't... I made substantially more money per hour. Partially by being faster, but mostly by being better. On the surface, it felt like nothing was going on, simple as driving to work, but just having that headspace for intuition to happen made a big difference. Also, probably worth mentioning that I never did production work, only explorative, so perception/intuition was maybe overweighted. I half suspect that it's true for all of life, though. It's just a lot harder to tell when you don't have the market telling you the value of how you spent your hours each week.
- stronglikedan 1mo ago
  With the right kind of music, it's not multitasking. A soothing repetitive beat with no lyrics (lofi or trance for me) is perfect for me to work with, without getting an overwhelming sensation.
toasty228 1mo ago
> maybe some of those people you observe are just listening to music all day long. Is that supposed to be better? Modern humans can't stand listening to their own thoughts
- rcxdude 1mo ago
  What does not being able to stand listening to your own thoughts mean, to you? This feels like a very 'kids these days' comment but I don't feel like I actually understand what people are talking about when they say this. For me music helps me concentrate with some tasks (especially in a more noisy environment where there are more distracting sounds), distracts for others, and for some just makes it a little less boring. I don't really find that I want it for the sake of displacing my own thoughts, if I'm bored doing something it's because there aren't any particularly interesting thoughts involved (and full disclosure, I have ADHD so my mind doesn't really need any encouragement at all to wander).
  - zaphar 1mo ago
    Introspection is the act of looking inward to examine your own thoughts, feelings, and motives. It is a personal process of self-reflection that helps you understand why you act and feel the way you do. Pretty much everyone can benefit with some time for introspection. This is considerably easier to do if you have silence and boredom. Music, podcasts, television all hinder the practice of introspection. It takes practice though and that means being okay with silence and constantly keeping your mind on the task of examining your thoughts and feelings. I think the poster was perhaps expressing that it doesn't look like enough people are comfortable with this process and seem to do anything they can to avoid it.
    - rcxdude 1mo ago
      Ah, fair. I do often listen to music but I don't find myself short of time for introspection, in fact I probably spend too much time on it overall.
    - jdkdjckwjd 1mo ago

by jasode 1mo ago

igleria 1mo ago

My non expert and personal opinion is that multitasking for a long time is not a free lunch and could lead to burnout for most people

iammjm 1mo ago
Yes, or the question is how much of both are you really engaged with and will remember at all. And then if you do, maybe the information was crap and not worthy of your attention anyway. I think anything really worth doing is worth doing at your 100%.
- Forgeties79 1mo ago
  I love listening to audiobooks and such because it’s hard to find time to read. I mostly pick “fun” light to medium grade stuff like the stormlight archives, things that don’t demand my constant attention but aren’t as surface level as 90% of podcasts.
jasode 1mo ago
>multitasking for a long time is not a free lunch The multitasking I was talking about was combining a mindless repetitive task that has low cognitive demands such as walking on a treadmill, yardwork raking leaves, driving on non-descript boring roads ... with listening to a podcast about whatever topics are interesting. The mind is engaged while the hands and feet doing the work are on autopilot. In those cases, it can be a "free lunch" in the sense that the curiosity-seeking mind got fed while whatever physical task that needed to get done also got done with less procrastination and dread. I wasn't talking about trying to edit a Excel spreadsheet while listening and concentrating on a podcast about the politics and protests of datacenter buildouts.
- conception 1mo ago
  It’s also under appreciated that its good to have the brain be bored and doing nothing. While you are being curious you aren’t thinking or contemplating or creating or imagining, just consuming that dopamine sink.
  - D-Machine 1mo ago
    There is indeed quite a rich literature on the importance of boredom too. Basic links can be found on Wikipedia, Buddhism generally confronts it as well, and even research in psychology generally sees it as an important cognitive or emotional process. Sadly I feel we are losing sight of this.
  - ipsod 1mo ago
    I was a professional glass artist and auctioned all of my work. When you've done it for years, molten glass keeps the hands busy, but seems to leave the mind free - very easy to listen to a podcast or music while working. But... if I didn't... I made substantially more money per hour. Partially by being faster, but mostly by being better. On the surface, it felt like nothing was going on, simple as driving to work, but just having that headspace for intuition to happen made a big difference. Also, probably worth mentioning that I never did production work, only explorative, so perception/intuition was maybe overweighted. I half suspect that it's true for all of life, though. It's just a lot harder to tell when you don't have the market telling you the value of how you spent your hours each week.
stronglikedan 1mo ago
With the right kind of music, it's not multitasking. A soothing repetitive beat with no lyrics (lofi or trance for me) is perfect for me to work with, without getting an overwhelming sensation.

toasty228 1mo ago

> maybe some of those people you observe are just listening to music all day long. Is that supposed to be better? Modern humans can't stand listening to their own thoughts

rcxdude 1mo ago
What does not being able to stand listening to your own thoughts mean, to you? This feels like a very 'kids these days' comment but I don't feel like I actually understand what people are talking about when they say this. For me music helps me concentrate with some tasks (especially in a more noisy environment where there are more distracting sounds), distracts for others, and for some just makes it a little less boring. I don't really find that I want it for the sake of displacing my own thoughts, if I'm bored doing something it's because there aren't any particularly interesting thoughts involved (and full disclosure, I have ADHD so my mind doesn't really need any encouragement at all to wander).
- zaphar 1mo ago
  Introspection is the act of looking inward to examine your own thoughts, feelings, and motives. It is a personal process of self-reflection that helps you understand why you act and feel the way you do. Pretty much everyone can benefit with some time for introspection. This is considerably easier to do if you have silence and boredom. Music, podcasts, television all hinder the practice of introspection. It takes practice though and that means being okay with silence and constantly keeping your mind on the task of examining your thoughts and feelings. I think the poster was perhaps expressing that it doesn't look like enough people are comfortable with this process and seem to do anything they can to avoid it.
  - rcxdude 1mo ago
    Ah, fair. I do often listen to music but I don't find myself short of time for introspection, in fact I probably spend too much time on it overall.
  - jdkdjckwjd 1mo ago