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Entertaining Ourselves to Death

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Dear friend,

I believe in active leisure in life— rather than just ‘entertaining ourselves to death.’

1. I love technology

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The world is an amazing place. We have access to the entire sum of human knowledge through technology and the internet. We have instantaneous internet connectivity, through a 4’’ metal slab that conveniently fits in our front pocket. We have access to every movie, book, poem, photograph, or image made by humanity from the last 2,000+ years.

I think this is amazing. I love technology — and how it can empower the human spirit and humanity.

But it is fucking us up. It is like an all-you-can-eat buffet, and the problem is that we never get ‘full.’

2. What is our stopping-point?

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When I go to all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ, there is a stopping point. After my 5th plate of pork belly or beef belly, my stomach literally hurts. I had a hedonistic pleasure of eating the delicious fatty meats for about an hour and a half, but after that— eating additional meat gives me pain.

However with entertainment, video games, movies, films, information — we are gluttonous. There is no limit. We will never be full.

3. My regrets

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I know for me, I regret all the time I wasted playing video games and watching cable TV growing up as a kid. I can’t wholly blame myself— I blame my circumstance in life. My parents were never home, and you cannot trust a 12-year old to control himself. I was a glutton — constantly plugged into the internet (AOL 3.0) via my 38.8k modem (dial up). After school, I would rush to finish my homework (often finishing homework while still at school), so I could binge on my N64/Sega Dreamcast at home.

I regret all that time I wasted. I wish I rather built my creative strengths — by learning how to program, spending more time drawing, imagining, daydreaming, reading myths and stories, or creating art.

4. A human being shouldn’t be a potato

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I think Netflix is awesome. Yet the scary thing— it is like a bottom-less bowl of spaghetti. It doesn’t help that Netflix (and YouTube) automatically play the next video. And after a long 8-12 hour day at work, of course you just want to sit back on the couch, and vegetate.

But as humans— aren’t we more than potatoes and vegetables?

5. We are living in a ‘Brave New World’

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Aldous Huxley’s book: ‘Brave New World’ warns us of a future where the citizens aren’t being oppressed by some big brother 1984 Hitler-type. Rather, Aldous Huxley warns us of a future in which we are just getting ‘entertained to death.’ In this world, we have the power and freedom to fight against oppressive dictators, yet we prefer not to— because we prefer mindless entertainment, drugs (soma), and other distractions.

As an internet marketer, blogger, and tech enthusiast/critic— I know how addictive the internet is. It is like giving crack cocaine to a 12 year old kid. We cannot control ourselves.

6. How to overcome distractions and mindless entertainment

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I know for myself, I am not immune. This is what I did to kill distractions in my life.

I started to use Reddit when I was at UCLA (2010) — working at the Undergraduate Admissions department, as tech support. I was bored most of the time. I would be on Reddit literally 20-40 hours a week, just clicking on dumb shit. It relieved a bit of the monotony of my job— through novelty and entertaining dancing cat GIF images. Yet the problem is that it distracted me— prevented me from studying, starting my own business, etc.

So I decided to quit— but I couldn’t trust my own free will or strength. Rather, I took the Ulysses strategy against the Sirens— I tied myself to the mast. I ‘pre-committed’ to this decision by installing the ‘StayFocusd’ plugin to block Reddit, and other distracting tech websites/blogs. I blocked Reddit, Digg, Engadget, The Verge, TechCrunch — sites that would give me no value.

I also hated how I would get distracted by Facebook. I still wanted to use it to keep in touch with friends, but the news feed totally screwed with my emotional response. I would always feel envy and jealousy when I saw my friends on a holiday in Mexico with a Corona, buying a new BMW, or showing off a new Rolex watch. I wondered: “Can I still use Facebook without the newsfeed?” I discovered a plugin — that removed the newsfeed. I installed it, and haven’t looked at a Facebook news feed since 2014. Now I am much more focused, productive, and happy.

My biggest (recent) breakthrough is eliminating superfluous distractions from websites I frequent. I discovered ‘Adblocker Ultimate’ — in which you can block certain elements of websites. So you can disable distracting ‘Suggested Content’ side-bars, with is mostly full of distracting ‘Click-Baity’ stuff. Or you can just make the web a cleaner place. I personally used it to remove ‘Suggested Videos’ on YouTube, so I prevent myself from binging on YouTube for hours on end.

I also mostly keep my smartphone off now — and I communicate with friends and family via instant messaging on my laptop.

7. Your time is more valuable than money

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The thing I want to stress to you: never forget— your time is your most valuable asset. Your time is infinitely more important than your money. Because at best, you might live to be 120 years. Realistically, you will probably die at age 80-90.

Depending on however old you are, you don’t have much time to live.

If you’re 70 years old, you might only have 10-20 years left to live. Your smartphone battery only had 5-10% charge left— you better make your time count.

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If you’re 50 years old, you might only have 20-30 years left to live. Your smartphone battery is around 35%.

If you’re 30 years old, you might have 50-60 years left. But that is assuming that you don’t die a ‘pre-mature’ death from cancer, heart disease, a car accident, or even get Alzheimer’s, Schizophrenia, or a mental disease (happened to my father at around age 55). So assuming mental disease is contagious— (currently at age 29, I might only have 26 years left to live).

8. Listen to your gut

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Portrait by Neil Ta

I am not telling you that you just need to be productive and hustle for the rest of your life.

Rather, I am trying to encourage you — think of what empowers you, or what ‘de-powers’ you.

For me, things that empower me include writing, thinking, reading, watching (insightful) films, spending time with loved ones and having engaging 3-hour dinners, talking Vietnamese with Uber/Grab/Taxi drivers, making photos, stepping outside my comfort zone, challenging my beliefs and thoughts, and creating things.

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For me, things which ‘de-power’ me include caring about what others think about me, reading vacuous information that doesn’t benefit my life, getting distracted by likes and comments on social media (‘crowd-sourcing’ my self-esteem), playing pointless video games, or doing things I don’t want to— or things that I don’t intend on doing.

Playing video games can be virtuous. So can watching films. So can doing things which most people call a ‘waste of time’. But friend, you be the ultimate judge and arbiter of your own actions. You know best. Follow your own morals and ethics— only you can decide what is meaningful to you, and what is a distraction, or mindless entertainment.

9. Some practical ideas to regain control of your life

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Some ways to be less distracted, and to kill mindless entertainment which prevents us from becoming the best versions of ourselves:

1. Remove advertisements from your devices

Install ‘Adblocker Ultimate’ as your browser-plugin, to block annoying ads, distractions. Install Facebook news feed ‘Cleaner’ plugins (News Feed Eradicator for Chrome/News Feed Blocker for Safari). Install ‘YouTube Ad Block’ plugins (Chrome/Firefox). If you have an iPhone, use the ‘Purify’ app to block plugins in Safari. Or if you have Android, use an advertisement blocker browser on your phone.

Whenever you have an app which distracts you in a negative way— you always have the power to uninstall it. I’ve found Facebook, Email, and Instagram (on my phone) distracting like crack cocaine— so I simply uninstalled/disabled it. Now, I have taken it a step further— I keep my phone off most of the time.

2. Block the internet

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If you are an aspiring novelist, creative person— who gets addicted to the internet (in a negative way)— install Freedom.to to block internet access from yourself. Try experimenting— block the internet at 30 minutes, 1 hour, or 2 hours at a time.

For me, the easiest way to focus is to block distractions rather than trying to ‘force’ myself to ‘focus.’

3. Consume your media offline

 

I came up with an idea which mostly is true:

Nothing unlimited is good, and nothing good is unlimited.

The concept: nothing unlimited is good (applies to Netflix, Spotify, YouTube) or any streaming service. The problem is there is no end to the bottomless bowl of spaghetti.

So what I try to do is download things, and consume it ‘offline.’ This means, there is a pre-determined end to whatever it is I am doing.

 

I love Spotify, but I get too distracted listening to a mélange of artists and playlists— rather than focusing on one album, one artist, and one message. So now, I have started to listen to all my music on iTunes on my laptop — I just bought Kendrick Lamar’s “DAMN.” album and have listened to it about 20 times on loop — it is the only album I am listening to now. And I love it— I let his lyrics permeate my soul.

 

If you love photography or art— buy photo books or art books, and consume them ‘offline.’ Which means, look at a photo book (or your art book collection) — instead of looking at the bottomless pit of Instagram.

Instead of streaming Netflix, download a movie— and play it offline— so you won’t be tempted to just start that next episode or movie.

4. Create more

 

We love to consume — but how few of us like to create?

I don’t blame you or nobody. The problem is technology is too much of a powerful distraction.

The secret— break free from your chains of oppression. Just uninstall distracting apps, and websites and blogs. Then you will have more space to create. Apparently Kanye West also got rid of his phone so he could have more ‘Room to create.’

You might need to use your smartphone for work, but when you get home, turn that shit off. Or just keep it on silent. Or when you go to sleep, charge your phone in the living room, and just start using an analog alarm clock to wake you up in the morning.

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I am guilty— I love to consume. I probably spend 80% of my day consuming, and only 20% of my day creating. But I recently had the thought:

What if I switched that? What if I spent 80% of my time creating, and only 20% consuming?

For me, I am happier when creating than when consuming. Creating fully-expresses my human spirit and soul. I feel like I am helping contribute something meaningful to humanity. Whereas consuming is gluttonous — and is often shallow.

So friend, create more art.

5. Don’t aim for perfection

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The last tip for creation — don’t make it perfect. Make it 80% ‘good enough’ and then hit publish.

Share works in progress, and just seek to make each creation 10% better. Then after the course of years or decades— you will become a master.

10. Create more art

I think there is a difference between entertainment and art— just like there is a difference between pornography and sculpture. Or the difference between watching sports or playing sports. Or the difference between being an ‘art curator’ or ‘art critic’ and actually creating art.

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Or the difference between being a ‘film critic’ versus making fun amateur home-videos on your smartphone. Or the difference between being a reader and writer. Or the difference between being a YouTube watcher, or YouTube creator.

I don’t want to discourage you from consuming media, or entertainment. Sometimes I like to just watch superheroes blow shit up on the silver screen. However, the problem is when we become a slave to entrainment. When we are so distracted by Netflix, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, weed, Cocaine, searching for the next good find on Yelp, seeking new artists on Spotify, filling our Amazon wishlists with pointless objects, desiring that next Louis Vuitton bag or Hermes scarf, that next BMW or luxury car, that bigger apartment or home, that kitchen remodel, or politics (it is like watching ‘professional wrestling’ like the WWE — but more absurd).

Spend and devote your life uplifting the souls of others. Uplift yourself. Create more art, and seek to do meaningful work in your life. And enjoy more time with your loved ones— deep philosophical talks with your friends over a coffee, simple walks around the block with your partner, or putting your kids to sleep by telling them bedtime stories.

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Your life is a smartphone battery. If you found out you had only 10% charge left, and no charger— how would you not waste your smartphone battery?

Be strong,
Eric