Re: "The Small Stuff" book review

On Jul 31, 2026 at 3:52:16 PM EDT, "dart200"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> On 7/31/26 10:00 AM, Dude wrote:
>> On 7/31/2026 8:56 AM, dart200 wrote:
>>> On 7/31/26 8:15 AM, Tara wrote:
>>>> On Jul 31, 2026 at 10:53:13 AM EDT, "Noah Sombrero" <[email protected]>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> On Fri, 31 Jul 2026 14:12:02 -0000 (UTC), Tara <[email protected]>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> (I haven't read this book yet but I heard the author interviewed on
>>>>>> CBC this
>>>>>> a.m and liked what he said).  Just another self-help book or one of
>>>>>> that ilk?
>>>>>> Nah, I don't think so.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> The Small Stuff
>>>>>> How to lead a more gratifying life
>>>>>> -Ian Bogost -  Atlantic Columnist
>>>>>> 
>> <snip>
>>>>> 
>>>>> In other words, why well off people are not happy.  So they pine for
>>>>> the good old days, forgetting that they were not happy then either.
>>>> 
>>>> Uhhh. No, not really what the book is about.
>>>> 
>>>> why don't you read the book.
>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> "sleek, but soulless, design".  Of course that is not satisfying.  On
>>>>> the other hand, if a person has a satisfying fulfilled life, it won't
>>>>> matter what knickknacks one includes or not.  Who notices such things?
>>>>> 
>>>>> On the other hand, "automated self-checkout counters"?  Who puts up
>>>>> with such emptiness?  As if people needed another way to avoid
>>>>> interacting with each other.  But if you have plenty of human
>>>>> interaction in your life, maybe those counters wouldn't matter so
>>>>> much.  There it is, we are so isolated from each other in our cars,
>>>>> and lockable houses that we need to interact with clerks in stores.
>>>>> 
>>>>> How do we feel?  Lonely and bored.  Scared of each other, and out of
>>>>> patience with ideas we don't want to listen to (from other people).
>>>>> Simple, huh?
>>>> 
>>>> His approach is more about being aware of the pleasure and experience of
>>>> holding and drinking a warm cup of coffee on a cold morning.  kind of
>>>> stuff
>>>> like that.
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> it's called mindfulness and it's been written about by like a million
>>> times by now
>>> 
>>> but in this case instead of actively cultivating mindfulness of what
>>> he's still manually doing (which life still involves a lot of), it
>>> seems he's bitching about being robbed of petty shit like manually
>>> flushing toilets in public restrooms. or not having a pile of keys in
>>> ur pockets instead of using the rfid in my watch. or paying for
>>> everything with dirty ass money instead of just tapping my phone.
>>> 
>>> it's like an even more retarded form of complaining that dishwashers
>>> and washing machines have ruined taking care of households because
>>> we're not spending a hours a day manually washing dishes and laundry
>>> anymore 🙄
>>> 
>>> this is the kind bonehead that bitches that electric cars having "no
>>> soul" cause they don't go vroom vroom when u hit the gas! like ok
>>> bro ... is the small electric wine that goes along with the rocket
>>> ship acceleration not enough for you to be mindful of? 🤣
>>> 
>> Everyone that thinks, is being mindful everyday...
>> 
> counterpoint: all the absfg duds reading this

you know... it's an old one but apropo here I think. Why don't you go back
under the rock you crawled out from. Seriously