Pleasure VS Productivity - Issue 9 - 15th May 2022
As I am writing, we are beginning to transition from global pandemic to a world that is simply living with the fact that COVID-19 is part of our world. It’s 2022 and two years ago the whole world locked down in silence. Themajority of humans, globally, stayed inside their homes if they were lucky enough to have one, without any outside human contact other than themselves or again, if they were lucky, their loved ones. Some of us were lucky enough to still be receiving salaries, some were not so lucky. Some still had to go to work in order to keep the world turning and some had the luxury of having the option to sit on the couch all day binge-watching Netflix and eating thevery foods that would make them more susceptible to illness from COVID-19. I was in the latter camp but I did not sit on the couch binge-watching Netflix and eating rubbish…for the most part. Like some in a similar position to me, I took this time and made the most of it and started working on projects I had been putting off due to time constraints. I started The In Context Podcast. I sat in my room, recorded three conversations with my generous friends; one an A&E nurse in London, another a mental health social worker in Edinburgh and another a retail worker in Fife, all of whom were doing vital work during a global pandemic to ensure that we didn’t fall too far into chaos. Twenty two episodes later and some incredibly interesting conversations with some of themost interesting people on Earth, the podcast is still going strong. I started writing more for pleasure, I prepared for my second masters degree in philosophy, I exercised more and in new ways ways; cycling and running and I started cooking for my parents, something I had rarely, if ever, done before. Others used this time as a much needed break, which is understandable given the culture of work we employ in the Western world. Working 9-5, five days a week is a tiring existence that does not output the most productivity, so of course many needed to switch off. It’s these two decisions of how to use your time on Earth that I want to utilise to portray how different groups of people live their lives out-with global pandemics.
Excuses are unreasonable if you have the means to better yourself
The majority of the population have never aimed as high as their potential would allow. They conformed and did similar things to their friends and they’re now working in a job that they never wanted to do, to pay off purchases and debt from buying things their bored with now, in order to make them feel some form of contentment or happiness for a small amount of time but inevitably, the house is boring now, the car is just another car and the new clothes have been worn once and will never be worn again. The majority go to a job they don’t like for eight hours a day, come home, eat rubbish for dinner to make up for the hard day they’ve had and distract themselves with TV, social media or whatever other distraction helps them not think about thenext morning. This is a life filled with unreliable and unproductive pleasure as well as needless, unnecessary and unproductive struggle. Going to a job you hate is a struggle but it’s not productive struggle unless it’s funding productive struggle like a side-hustle, education, creative endeavours or your family. Even then, if you’re lucky enough to be financially stable, a side-hustle should not be impossible. Excuses are unreasonable if you have the means to better yourself. Binge-watching TV produces pleasure but the only result from doing that is a slightly increased knowledge of baking. This is unproductive. I’m not suggesting you never take a break or never binge-watch TV, just that you don’t prioritise that over more important goals and ambitions. To be clear, I am not blaming anyone for the lives they live. There are a multitude of factors that lead someone towards unfulfilled potential, an unfulfilling job and an unfulfilling life. We do not give enough credit to the impact of these factors in our lives. Genetics, culture, society, friends, parents, upbringing, illness, grief, class, race, gender, sexuality, height, weight, big nose, small nose, you get theidea. All of these things we have limited or no control over. However, what we may have some degree of control over is finding meaning and purpose in this meaningless and purposeless world, because the world has no meaning, the world doesn’t care what happens to you and to quote Ricky Gervais, “we’re all gonna die soon & there’s no sequel.” So do not despair if you fall into the camp of people that do not have any meaning in their lives, are unfulfilled and “trapped” on the hamster wheel of society. The societies humans have built do not function based on meaning and purpose, they function on attention, previously on output. Facebook does not care about whether or not you have meaning in your life, they just want you to keep scrolling. Netflix does not care about your fulfilment, they just wanted you to watch another episode. Governments, as much as they might say they do, do not care about whether or not your job brings your purpose, all they care about is the next election. So how do we fight back? The answer is clear: embrace struggle and not needless pleasure like Netflix, Facebook or hatred of the other side (yes people do find pleasure in this).
So, as I have said before, embrace struggle. Find something that is a struggle, is productive and brings you some form of pleasure at some point in theprocess. Do not rely on fleeting escapism, distractions, material possessions or virtual approval for your fulfilment or happiness. Work on yourself. Believe in your unfulfilled potential and fill it up. It doesn’t have to be perfect but it sure as hell beats a life of slow depredation, spending the majority of your time either working for something you don’t care about or sitting watching mindless TV for hours on end. We should all want to look back on our lives and say that we struggled but it was worth it.
Keep On Struggling,
Gregor
Personal Trainer I’m Looking Into - @kneesovertoesguy
I came across this guy via Joe Rogan and he has certainly dispelled the myth that we should avoid putting pressure our knees during exercises like squats. I have heard that we should always have our knees behind our toes to avoid injury but I have had a dodgy knee for a while now, especially when I run, so I’ve been looking into Ben Patrick’s philosophy and workouts and I’m going to try his exercises to see if I can reduce the pain I feel in my knee when I run. He posts most days on Instagram so I’d recommend checking him out.
You can watch his conversation with Joe Rogan below.
Conversation I Enjoyed - Joe Rogan & Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker is a cognitive psychologist, psycholinguist, popular science author and public intellectual, who’s latest book is entitled Rationality - What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters. This was an open conversation regarding topics like free speech, conspiracies and rationality and I would definitely recommend everyone listen to this episode as it is some much needed rationality that we need in these current times.
Listen or Watch Below.
Monologue I Enjoyed - Bill Maher on the Truth
I’ve mentioned before that I love Bill Maher’s show Real Time and this week’s episode was a great one. Maher and his panel mostly discussed theRoe v Wade decision in America which is moving towards allowing each state to restrict or ban abortion rights, so it’s a tricky conversation but again, it’s another open one that views the issue from every angle so I would definitely recommend watching the whole episode.
However, it’s Maher’s end monologue regarding free speech, the truth and misinformation that I loved most. I believe we should have complete free speech otherwise we start to pick and choose what isn’t acceptable leading to censorship, which then leads to conversations that cannot be open and non-judgemental which leads to problems continually arising that require free speech in order to be solved. However, where I am unsure is what constitutes hate speech and how to negotiate that with regards to free speech. If any of you have any thoughts on this, get in touch via the links at the bottom. Anyway, I agree with the majority of what Maher says in this monologue and would recommend watching it below.
YouTube Show I Watch - Hot Ones
I’ve watched this show for a while now and I love it. If you’ve never seen it, basically it’s a talk show in which both the host and guest eat the hottest chicken wings in the world, so the premise is already brilliant. However, thehost Sean Evans is also a great interviewer, usually conjuring up deep and wonderful questions that his guests usually reply with some form of “wow you’ve done your research.” Previous guests have included Billie Eilish, Josh Brolin, Colin Farrell and Scarlett Johansson.
Watch Below.