I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t get why people reply with “yeah but your action won’t solve the entire problem” where «problem» is a massive systemic issue; as if that kind of reply were worth considering or profound or something.
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@octothorpe I like to use the opposite framing, and I’ve said this phrase so much to my family that they can now predict when I’m about to say it:
“IT CAN ALWAYS GET WORSE.”
The point of the phrase is to break yourself out of an all-or-nothing mindset. If you can imagine things getting worse, that means you’re actually somewhere on a CONTINUUM of bad-to-good. And if you’re on a continuum, that means things can get BETTER. You may not be able to fix everything, but you can usually make things better.
PS: The full phrase I use is: “It can always get worse; you could also be standing in shit.”
Dad used to say the best way to clean up an enormous pile of shit was to grab a shovel and start digging.
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@octothorpe I like to use the opposite framing, and I’ve said this phrase so much to my family that they can now predict when I’m about to say it:
“IT CAN ALWAYS GET WORSE.”
The point of the phrase is to break yourself out of an all-or-nothing mindset. If you can imagine things getting worse, that means you’re actually somewhere on a CONTINUUM of bad-to-good. And if you’re on a continuum, that means things can get BETTER. You may not be able to fix everything, but you can usually make things better.
PS: The full phrase I use is: “It can always get worse; you could also be standing in shit.”
@drahardja ha! I get that. And it makes sense. Luckily it doesn’t happen much where acts of kindness are involved. It’s more like ‘why bother writing this thing when it’s not novel and won’t be read by the people who really need to read it’ or ‘if I make this thing and put it out there, then I’m forever responsible for it, and you absolutely don’t have the energy’
But I’m totally using that in the future. Cheers!
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I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t get why people reply with “yeah but your action won’t solve the entire problem” where «problem» is a massive systemic issue; as if that kind of reply were worth considering or profound or something.
My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.
We don’t need to solve the ENTIRE problem to make a substantial improvement. Every small act of restoration is a valuable act of defiance. Do it not because it solves EVERYTHING; do it because it solves SOMETHING. Let yourself be known as a helper, someone who does what CAN be done, while looking for opportunities to do EVEN MORE.
Don’t become a speed bump on someone else’s journey to find solutions.
Be part of the solution, be curious and learn to help, or be muted/blocked.
@drahardja
Thank you for the clear headed response to this.Please help family, friends and neighbors confirm their voter registration and have a solid plan to vote. We go door to door in our neighborhood with candidate info and encouragement.
Vote out ALL Republicans. Local, State and Federal. Every One! That'll help.
#vote #elections #democracy #family -
I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t get why people reply with “yeah but your action won’t solve the entire problem” where «problem» is a massive systemic issue; as if that kind of reply were worth considering or profound or something.
My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.
We don’t need to solve the ENTIRE problem to make a substantial improvement. Every small act of restoration is a valuable act of defiance. Do it not because it solves EVERYTHING; do it because it solves SOMETHING. Let yourself be known as a helper, someone who does what CAN be done, while looking for opportunities to do EVEN MORE.
Don’t become a speed bump on someone else’s journey to find solutions.
Be part of the solution, be curious and learn to help, or be muted/blocked.
I think:
- be suitably pessimistic in order to figure out the most important area to work on (do risk analysis)
- build a prototype to prove the naysayers wrong
- be prepared to throw away prototypes
- build knowledge and expertise
- iterate
Some people are just energy vampires. Exclude them or give them the grey rock treatment.
I think pessimism as a philosophy gets a bad rap, but when you see a persistently negative person, it's not necessarily pessimism that drives them, but nihilism. Definitely avoid/shun those ones!
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I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t get why people reply with “yeah but your action won’t solve the entire problem” where «problem» is a massive systemic issue; as if that kind of reply were worth considering or profound or something.
My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.
We don’t need to solve the ENTIRE problem to make a substantial improvement. Every small act of restoration is a valuable act of defiance. Do it not because it solves EVERYTHING; do it because it solves SOMETHING. Let yourself be known as a helper, someone who does what CAN be done, while looking for opportunities to do EVEN MORE.
Don’t become a speed bump on someone else’s journey to find solutions.
Be part of the solution, be curious and learn to help, or be muted/blocked.
@drahardja The only proviso I ever impose on myself is "try not to make your particular solution exacerbate some other problem" and although it's not foolproof, it's a good life principle.
It's not always easy, but I want to celebrate anyone's effort to make something better. Or at least less bad.
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I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t get why people reply with “yeah but your action won’t solve the entire problem” where «problem» is a massive systemic issue; as if that kind of reply were worth considering or profound or something.
My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.
We don’t need to solve the ENTIRE problem to make a substantial improvement. Every small act of restoration is a valuable act of defiance. Do it not because it solves EVERYTHING; do it because it solves SOMETHING. Let yourself be known as a helper, someone who does what CAN be done, while looking for opportunities to do EVEN MORE.
Don’t become a speed bump on someone else’s journey to find solutions.
Be part of the solution, be curious and learn to help, or be muted/blocked.
@drahardja had that happen to me too enough times with random people on the internet
(Bad situation discussed)
Them: what do you propose?
Me: here’s an example of people succeeding, another one, another one, there are more, you can look them up
Them, within 2 mins: this will never work, first will fail
Here because X, second because Y, third because they are over there and we are not them!I wished them a good day because an instant reply shooting everything down is a bad faith argument. People piled on me instead because “just because they disagree with you doesn’t mean it’s bad faith”
I didn’t even see any disagreement. Just everything shot down out of negativity. I’m too old and perimenopausal to argue with shallow, negative thinkers who don’t even want to try.
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I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t get why people reply with “yeah but your action won’t solve the entire problem” where «problem» is a massive systemic issue; as if that kind of reply were worth considering or profound or something.
My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.
We don’t need to solve the ENTIRE problem to make a substantial improvement. Every small act of restoration is a valuable act of defiance. Do it not because it solves EVERYTHING; do it because it solves SOMETHING. Let yourself be known as a helper, someone who does what CAN be done, while looking for opportunities to do EVEN MORE.
Don’t become a speed bump on someone else’s journey to find solutions.
Be part of the solution, be curious and learn to help, or be muted/blocked.
@drahardja@sfba.social Very well said!
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I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t get why people reply with “yeah but your action won’t solve the entire problem” where «problem» is a massive systemic issue; as if that kind of reply were worth considering or profound or something.
My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.
We don’t need to solve the ENTIRE problem to make a substantial improvement. Every small act of restoration is a valuable act of defiance. Do it not because it solves EVERYTHING; do it because it solves SOMETHING. Let yourself be known as a helper, someone who does what CAN be done, while looking for opportunities to do EVEN MORE.
Don’t become a speed bump on someone else’s journey to find solutions.
Be part of the solution, be curious and learn to help, or be muted/blocked.
@drahardja A lot of solutions I’ve seen proposed to complex problems have misunderstood the root cause of the problem, economics, psychology, or (in some cases) all three. As a result, the best that they will accomplish is adding complexity to a system but not actually addressing the problem (which may make it harder to actually fix). At worst, they will exacerbate and entrench the problem.
Doing nothing can be better than doing something if the something is counterproductive. If you have an oil fire on your cooker and someone is about to pour water on it, stopping them won’t put out the fire but it’s still the right choice.
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I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t get why people reply with “yeah but your action won’t solve the entire problem” where «problem» is a massive systemic issue; as if that kind of reply were worth considering or profound or something.
My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.
We don’t need to solve the ENTIRE problem to make a substantial improvement. Every small act of restoration is a valuable act of defiance. Do it not because it solves EVERYTHING; do it because it solves SOMETHING. Let yourself be known as a helper, someone who does what CAN be done, while looking for opportunities to do EVEN MORE.
Don’t become a speed bump on someone else’s journey to find solutions.
Be part of the solution, be curious and learn to help, or be muted/blocked.
@drahardja Here's my slightly formal way of saying some of the same!
https://www.academia.edu/2998-3665/3/3/10.20935/AcadEnergy8514
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I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t get why people reply with “yeah but your action won’t solve the entire problem” where «problem» is a massive systemic issue; as if that kind of reply were worth considering or profound or something.
My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.
We don’t need to solve the ENTIRE problem to make a substantial improvement. Every small act of restoration is a valuable act of defiance. Do it not because it solves EVERYTHING; do it because it solves SOMETHING. Let yourself be known as a helper, someone who does what CAN be done, while looking for opportunities to do EVEN MORE.
Don’t become a speed bump on someone else’s journey to find solutions.
Be part of the solution, be curious and learn to help, or be muted/blocked.
@drahardja this is so true, but as a highly abstract person myself I really understand the fear that focusing on the particular can make you unsee the systemical.
It's a real problem
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@drahardja this is so true, but as a highly abstract person myself I really understand the fear that focusing on the particular can make you unsee the systemical.
It's a real problem
@Kir I comfort myself in knowing that my focus is limited, and I cannot both focus on generalities and particulars at the same time, so I must zoom in and out of a problem and pay more or less attention to any particular level of abstraction. Balance is absolutely key. Spend too much time zoomed out, and you develop little expertise about how to actually solve the problem. Spend too much time zoomed in, and you become obsessed at finding a local maximum without making much progress.
I find it similar to driving to a place far away for the first time, using only a road atlas to guide you. You plan a route in the macro, but you must make micro decisions at every intersection and highway exit to actually get there, and navigate around traffic and road construction as needed.
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I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t get why people reply with “yeah but your action won’t solve the entire problem” where «problem» is a massive systemic issue; as if that kind of reply were worth considering or profound or something.
My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.
We don’t need to solve the ENTIRE problem to make a substantial improvement. Every small act of restoration is a valuable act of defiance. Do it not because it solves EVERYTHING; do it because it solves SOMETHING. Let yourself be known as a helper, someone who does what CAN be done, while looking for opportunities to do EVEN MORE.
Don’t become a speed bump on someone else’s journey to find solutions.
Be part of the solution, be curious and learn to help, or be muted/blocked.
"EV cars are not the solution to global warming. We need to move to zero cars. And heat our houses using a treadmill!"
I've muted people for this crap.
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@drahardja A lot of solutions I’ve seen proposed to complex problems have misunderstood the root cause of the problem, economics, psychology, or (in some cases) all three. As a result, the best that they will accomplish is adding complexity to a system but not actually addressing the problem (which may make it harder to actually fix). At worst, they will exacerbate and entrench the problem.
Doing nothing can be better than doing something if the something is counterproductive. If you have an oil fire on your cooker and someone is about to pour water on it, stopping them won’t put out the fire but it’s still the right choice.
@david_chisnall @drahardja Every problem has a simple and obvious solution that will make things worse.
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I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t get why people reply with “yeah but your action won’t solve the entire problem” where «problem» is a massive systemic issue; as if that kind of reply were worth considering or profound or something.
My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.
We don’t need to solve the ENTIRE problem to make a substantial improvement. Every small act of restoration is a valuable act of defiance. Do it not because it solves EVERYTHING; do it because it solves SOMETHING. Let yourself be known as a helper, someone who does what CAN be done, while looking for opportunities to do EVEN MORE.
Don’t become a speed bump on someone else’s journey to find solutions.
Be part of the solution, be curious and learn to help, or be muted/blocked.
@drahardja Yeah at the very least add a but. Like "It won't solve the entire problem, BUT it's a step in the right direction" just saying it won't solve the entire problem, so you curl up and die without fixing it does no one any good.
Unless they can propose a solution to the problem that DOES fix the entire problem then no point in dismissing progress.
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I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t get why people reply with “yeah but your action won’t solve the entire problem” where «problem» is a massive systemic issue; as if that kind of reply were worth considering or profound or something.
My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.
We don’t need to solve the ENTIRE problem to make a substantial improvement. Every small act of restoration is a valuable act of defiance. Do it not because it solves EVERYTHING; do it because it solves SOMETHING. Let yourself be known as a helper, someone who does what CAN be done, while looking for opportunities to do EVEN MORE.
Don’t become a speed bump on someone else’s journey to find solutions.
Be part of the solution, be curious and learn to help, or be muted/blocked.
@drahardja
One brick is not the entire house. But it is the necessary first step so that we may build it. -
"EV cars are not the solution to global warming. We need to move to zero cars. And heat our houses using a treadmill!"
I've muted people for this crap.
@cmsdengl @drahardja (scoffs) "_Treadmills_? Clearly the only real solution is to _smash capitalism!_"
Seriously. "Because Capitalism" is a tiresome thought ender to justify doing nothing. How about we reduce the symptoms until we devise a cure? No? Because that sounds like work and requires more thought and creativity than just telling people to _smash capitalism_?
Absolutely mute-able.
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I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t get why people reply with “yeah but your action won’t solve the entire problem” where «problem» is a massive systemic issue; as if that kind of reply were worth considering or profound or something.
My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.
We don’t need to solve the ENTIRE problem to make a substantial improvement. Every small act of restoration is a valuable act of defiance. Do it not because it solves EVERYTHING; do it because it solves SOMETHING. Let yourself be known as a helper, someone who does what CAN be done, while looking for opportunities to do EVEN MORE.
Don’t become a speed bump on someone else’s journey to find solutions.
Be part of the solution, be curious and learn to help, or be muted/blocked.
> My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.
I feel like I have to borrow this line.
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I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t get why people reply with “yeah but your action won’t solve the entire problem” where «problem» is a massive systemic issue; as if that kind of reply were worth considering or profound or something.
My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.
We don’t need to solve the ENTIRE problem to make a substantial improvement. Every small act of restoration is a valuable act of defiance. Do it not because it solves EVERYTHING; do it because it solves SOMETHING. Let yourself be known as a helper, someone who does what CAN be done, while looking for opportunities to do EVEN MORE.
Don’t become a speed bump on someone else’s journey to find solutions.
Be part of the solution, be curious and learn to help, or be muted/blocked.
A lot of time this seems to be because they have their preferred solution to the problem and feel anything else that ameliorates the problem interferes with getting their preferred solution implemented.
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I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t get why people reply with “yeah but your action won’t solve the entire problem” where «problem» is a massive systemic issue; as if that kind of reply were worth considering or profound or something.
My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.
We don’t need to solve the ENTIRE problem to make a substantial improvement. Every small act of restoration is a valuable act of defiance. Do it not because it solves EVERYTHING; do it because it solves SOMETHING. Let yourself be known as a helper, someone who does what CAN be done, while looking for opportunities to do EVEN MORE.
Don’t become a speed bump on someone else’s journey to find solutions.
Be part of the solution, be curious and learn to help, or be muted/blocked.
@drahardja@sfba.social Every small act helps someone! And every bit of reprieve means someone is a little more able to help with the problem!
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I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t get why people reply with “yeah but your action won’t solve the entire problem” where «problem» is a massive systemic issue; as if that kind of reply were worth considering or profound or something.
My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.
We don’t need to solve the ENTIRE problem to make a substantial improvement. Every small act of restoration is a valuable act of defiance. Do it not because it solves EVERYTHING; do it because it solves SOMETHING. Let yourself be known as a helper, someone who does what CAN be done, while looking for opportunities to do EVEN MORE.
Don’t become a speed bump on someone else’s journey to find solutions.
Be part of the solution, be curious and learn to help, or be muted/blocked.
@drahardja Thks
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