Something from Nothing: Procrastination. Idealism. Nihilism.

in #philosophy6 years ago

Something from Nothing: Procrastination. Idealism. Nihilism.

By T. Dalton

This is a popular talk on procrastination. The speaker, Tim Pychyl, has a book on the topic with pretty high reviews. Two things stood out to me. First, his point about death and bereavement. Second, procrastination as a habit of negative reinforcement. This helped me formulate some ideas I’ve had for awhile, as well as reflect on my own habitual procrastination.

He mentioned that procrastination can affect your health, and cited research on people grieving over someone they lost, friend or family. He said that their number one regret had to do with plans they’d have with the person who died, plans they never fulfilled because the procrastinated on it.

And how real is that? I lost a friend last year. He played drums with us. I’d intended to call him for awhile. Two months go by since I'd last seen him and then he died. Yet, this is how it always happens. Impermanence, the Buddhists call it. Forgetting this, what should be the first tenant of any belief system, promotes procrastination.

At the heart of procrastination is a belief in time. Mainly, that we have it. When we don’t. As Althusser says, the future lasts forever. Tomorrow is a point we never reach. We’re prisoners of today. More accurately, now. To put things off is to believe we are able to do them later. There is no later. There is never a later.

Procrastination in this way is a form of idealism. It’s a habitual misrepresentation of the real state of affairs. It’s a refusal to look at the truth of our existence as finite beings. The mind of the procrastinator attempts to exist in a solipsistic realm, often one of pleasure and comfort. It exists as an abstraction from the real world, a world that will end, probably in a very unpleasant way.

Hence the second point of interest. Procrastination is a habit of negative reinforcement. This means its a removal of the stimulus. Call it ‘the act’ or ‘the labor’. The necessity of doing whatever it is that must be done causes unpleasant feelings. Maybe you think that the task has weight to it.

Removing those unpleasant feelings (negative) allows the person to feel pleasure or comfort.

I wonder if there are those who, without any power for themselves, exercise the only power they do have by not doing anything. Existing in pleasure, removing the stimulus of unpleasant truth, is their way to be a king in of their mind. Perhaps this is the secret to why people choose to continue being consumers.

But the negative reinforcement depends on that original stimulus.

So I ask myself, how do you prevent that unpleasantness? I would answer with "perspective".

One mode of recognition, one perspective, is a political one. Essentially, this is utilitarian in form.

"How does the task contribute to the goal?"

This contributes to a long term view. I study for myself and for my political goals. I play guitar for myself and because it’s a skill that can be used. I write because I like exploring twisted and fucked up worlds. I cultivate motivation from Mao’s phrase: make civilized the mind, make savage the body. I remember that our species is enslaved by psychopaths and that ecological collapse is a real imminent possibility.

But a deluge of facts, for me, doesn’t work as effectively as another kind of perspective.

What works best to avoid procrastination, for me, is remembering that both the unpleasantness (stimulus), and the necessity of having to do anything at all (labor) are both illusions.

That task has no weight. No task has weight. Like yourself, the thing exerts no gravity. None of existence bears significance. I revert to a foundation of eternal impermanence.

I watch this video on Jupiter, in awe and terror.

I worship the truth of cosmic nihilism.

I have no fear of labor so long as I remember the act itself is completely without point.

What is effective for me is asserting, remembering, this paradox.

Knowing that nothing has meaning gives me the energy to do it. I no longer feel weight because I no longer insist that I have any. I begin to produce when I realize that it’s not my shadow that follows me with every step, but the death of my illusion of self, always present in the forever of tomorrow.

Sort:  

You just planted 0.34 tree(s)!


Thanks to @theironfelix

We have planted already 6265.10 trees
out of 1,000,000


Let's save and restore Abongphen Highland Forest
in Cameroonian village Kedjom-Keku!
Plant trees with @treeplanter and get paid for it!
My Steem Power = 22217.13
Thanks a lot!
@martin.mikes coordinator of @kedjom-keku
treeplantermessage_ok.png

I liked the insight about how procrastination is a form of idealism, that makes sense to me. I'm not a nihlist though. It is true we are finite beings. We try to make a "legacy" to be remembered, some do anyway. There is a lot of stress in this endeavor as most people never reach in their mind's eye what they feel is a satisfactory memory of themselves. However if we dispose of the procrastination perhaps our chances to fulfill this are greater as we allocate more time to the task of building our memory. Is this realistic or possible? I've seen it happen. There are people that pass away happy without regret. So it is possible.

It is true we are finite beings. We try to make a "legacy" to be remembered, some do anyway. There is a lot of stress in this endeavor as most people never reach in their mind's eye what they feel is a satisfactory memory of themselves.

There's so much in these few sentences. Creating a memory or a lasting impression that accords with your own mental image. It's the eternal battle of fighting your own specters. Hoping that you can at least make a mark in the geological record, be a little quartz in the stone of time.

be a little quartz in the stone of time.

Ohh I love this so much thank you dirge, your words have left their mark.

My experience with procastination is that it is the fear of failing in the task. Then you push it away, ignore it and when it is too late you try and.. fail. So, yes I agree, it is a negative reinforcement.

My trick to trick procrastination is that I am trying to write down how much I spend with different things. After doing it for a while you get some nice stats where you can see how lazy (or not) you are. It can be quite shocking when you realize how much time of your life you spend with unimportant nonsense and how little with those things that give you something back (education, friends, sports..). At least for me, keeping an activity record helps to bring me back on track..

the quantified-self approach can certainly be illuminating. happy to hear it works for you.

For me, I unconsciously know when I'm fucking around and how much time I've wasted. When that fact comes to the surface, I feel harrowing dread. I might end up working from that feeling, or I might be up all night hating myself. So really I think it's not as effective for me.

I try to take the mindfulness approach. be aware in the moment, lose the idealism, feel no weight for the task, just trying to 'be'.

“La mort est du domain de la foi!” - (Death belongs to the realm of faith!) Jacques Lacan. To go on further but in English: “You’re right to believe you will die. It sustains you. If you didn’t believe it, could you bear the life you have? If we couldn’t totally rely on the certainty that it will end, how could you bear all this?” - Jacques Lacan. Just thought this snippet was relevant to this philosophy posting.

awesome thanks for the link. i don't think ive actually seen lacan speaking. from the little ive understood of his work, and I admit that's sparse, he's maybe the main reason I take Freud seriously

Marxist-Freudian (Lacanian-Maoist) squad, unite!

I also have a serious case of procrastination. For me it's the thought of the long term damage I am doing to my life that makes me act on unpleasant tasks. I like your take on removing the idea of unpleasantness from the task at hand. Have you ever read Tim Urban's post on procrastination at WaitButWhy? He comes at it from a very different angle from you, but it's a great post

For me it's the thought of the long term damage I am doing to my life that makes me act on unpleasant tasks.

This. and when I realize it my anxiety shoots through the roof and i stay up all night feeling like I've wasted everything, leaving me unable to sleep so the next day at work I'm barely functional and then I can't do anything when I get my freetime.

That's why I try to just stay in the moment and be active to avoid the procrastination.

Damn the dark playground

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.35
TRX 0.12
JST 0.040
BTC 70601.11
ETH 3576.21
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.78