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this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2024
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[Outdated, please look at pinned post] Casual Conversation
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"Anything worth doing is worth doing half-assed".
It's an inversion of the saying that ends in "worth doing well", and it sticks with me because it's genuinely good advice.
Like, turning in a half-completed assignment for a failing grade is way less harmful to one's GPA than failing to turn in anything and taking a "0". I might not have the energy after work to do all of my laundry, but knocking out one load is still better than none. Frozen dinners might not be healthy, but skipping meals would be worse.
You can't whole-ass everything all the time, but half-ass is better than no-ass. 😸
I think this is Boeing's philosophy
Being late for work is better than not showing up at all.
It also helps overcome the paralysis of perfection.
Sometimes just producing something will do far more to help you improve than any amount of prep work. Do a half arsed job, then figure out where you actually need to improve it. By that point you will have a lot more momentum to keep working on it, and a lot more idea where to focus.
This is fantastic advice, especially for anyone with depression.
Fully agreed.
With depression it's more of a lethargy paralysis. It makes you feel like it's too hard, and not worth all the effort. Once you are moving , it becomes more obvious how hollow that feeling is. It often doesn't go away, but can be fought against. I suspect it's why exercise is helpful for some, but not others. It helps get you into the mindset of doing things. When it's mild enough, this can shatter the false walls on your mind.
Yeah, that's definitely been my experience of it. I read somewhere that the evolutionary basis for it is to prevent action when previous action has had consistently bad outcomes. It encourages hiding until external conditions improve. And apparently it's the same for most animals. Appropriately tragic, isn't it?
Ultimately, humans are quite poorly designed for modern life. Our minds haven't significantly changed since we were chasing herbivores across the savannah. Our bodies never even finished coming down from the trees. The fact we function as a modern society is actually quite impressive.
Depression is likely a bunch of different instincts and survival methods messing each other up. It's likely got ties to hiding. It also likely has got ties to hibernation, along with 101 other minor instincts that can no longer serve their original purpose.
I do know that "learned helplessness" is common to most mammals. Rats can show it, along with depression, when conditions get weird enough. It makes sense as a fall back. Huddle down and save energy until something changes for the better.
One of our biggest advantages is our rational brain. Stopping our own instincts is like trying to stop a goods train. What we can do is be smart. We can reach in and tweak the controls, change the signals. It's hard, particularly with things like depression clouding our thoughts. But it can be done.
I am a ghost in the machine, inside of a bodged together biological computer, piloting a poorly designed meat mech. It's completely absurd, but if I don't take control of it, who the hell will?