Allowing yourself to be foolish and playful, and allowing others to do the same without judging them negatively and actually enjoying when they are funny, is reaching another level of enlightenment 💡. "Why would you make a total fool of yourself in this manner? Well - aren’t we all fools already? [...] I’m a big fan of this flavour of foolishness, and I think it can make the world better, or at least more bearable."
My advice for how to allow yourself to be foolish and playful is to hone a better sense of humor by exposing yourself to as much comedy as possible, and laugh as much as you can:
Be Relentlessly Happy 🤗: 9 Movies To Start You (Or Keep You) Laughing
My personal motto/quote for a very long time (and possibly still is) was: "Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused."
Though now I'm wondering ... but what if you CAN just get a suit of armor and a rubber chicken and make something absurd just like that?! (I had a friend once in high school who could do the most amazing things with a rubber chicken and an audience. He passed away a long time ago but his humor and humanity stay with me.)
>>"what if you CAN just get a suit of armor and a rubber chicken and make something absurd just like that?!"
Challenge accepted.
I mean YOUR challenge accepted. I'm accepting it on your behalf. Best of luck! Looking forward to seeing the results (there had better be photos)...
And an ability to poke fun at oneself - properly, not in that false modest way - is definitely part of my methodology for filtering out the best people from the rest. Anyone who can't do it, it's like one of Nature's warning signs...
Hmm. It occurs to me that there must be a ton of psychological research on this, and that I know none of it, and I *want* to know it. Hmmm:
I should have known you could find a study on it! Now you get to write something delightful about it 😀
Okay, look, I might goof off with a rubber chicken over a pint or two, but the suit of armor is not going to happen. Do you know how hard it is to find suits of armor fitted for women? (I also do not know but assume it's difficult and am just going to stop there 😉)
It says it’s low on stock. Quick set up a Kickstarter and I’ll contribute enough to buy at least one gold-like decal. (Maybe we should stick with rubber chickens!)
Wintry walks are a delight. And I think I often prefer them to summery walks, because when you overheat in broad sunshine, you're pretty much stuck with it, but when you get cold in wintry conditions you can just speed up until you get warm again...
You reminded me that I wrote about the wonders of #3 - what I call 'Minimum Viable Technology' - back in 2015, when 'contactless' payments were all the inexplicable rage.
I think there are huge benefits to using the MVT - not least the reminder that the tool is not the task. Out on the North Yorks Moors, you needed a tool that could contact mountain rescue, but you had a tool that could post to Facebook. :D
MVP: I really like this. Thank you - I'll add a link to it in the Web version of my newsletter.
And - I think at the very least we can all make sure we know *how to do the MVP version of everything*, even if we don't use it as standard. A short cut loses a lot of its value if we forget what it's short-cutting - and of course, as soon as we can't rely on our fancypants workarounds and have to resort to Ye Olde methods, we're totally stuffed. That certainly *is* a growing problem, and not just in the Bear Grylls kinds of skillsets...
And most of all, as you note in your piece, we can optimise for human connection. If it's taking that kind of human to human genuine contact out of the picture, what are we losing? Way too much, perhaps. The kinds of losses that add up into things we have to alleviate with other technology (eg. medicines) rather than get to the root of it all...
Great point about short-cutting. Ultimately, it leads to magical thinking I suppose. And, quite possibly, the collapse of civilisations as the outgoing generation fails to teach the newcomers all the necessary elements needed to keep things ticking along.
I once wrote an entire book about This Sort Of Thing... and then threw it away in a drawer after one little demoralising experience with a publisher. Maybe 2022 is the year I dust myself off and get it seen. Thanks for the encouragement!
I've been toying with the idea of a stupid phone now for a while, although replacing my 3 year old phone that works perfectly fine also seems stupid. Seems freeing, I wonder if there is a model that doesn't have a stupid camera?
Allowing yourself to be foolish and playful, and allowing others to do the same without judging them negatively and actually enjoying when they are funny, is reaching another level of enlightenment 💡. "Why would you make a total fool of yourself in this manner? Well - aren’t we all fools already? [...] I’m a big fan of this flavour of foolishness, and I think it can make the world better, or at least more bearable."
My advice for how to allow yourself to be foolish and playful is to hone a better sense of humor by exposing yourself to as much comedy as possible, and laugh as much as you can:
Be Relentlessly Happy 🤗: 9 Movies To Start You (Or Keep You) Laughing
https://moviewise.substack.com/p/be-relentlessly-happy
My personal motto/quote for a very long time (and possibly still is) was: "Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused."
Though now I'm wondering ... but what if you CAN just get a suit of armor and a rubber chicken and make something absurd just like that?! (I had a friend once in high school who could do the most amazing things with a rubber chicken and an audience. He passed away a long time ago but his humor and humanity stay with me.)
>>"what if you CAN just get a suit of armor and a rubber chicken and make something absurd just like that?!"
Challenge accepted.
I mean YOUR challenge accepted. I'm accepting it on your behalf. Best of luck! Looking forward to seeing the results (there had better be photos)...
And an ability to poke fun at oneself - properly, not in that false modest way - is definitely part of my methodology for filtering out the best people from the rest. Anyone who can't do it, it's like one of Nature's warning signs...
Hmm. It occurs to me that there must be a ton of psychological research on this, and that I know none of it, and I *want* to know it. Hmmm:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180208104225.htm
I should have known you could find a study on it! Now you get to write something delightful about it 😀
Okay, look, I might goof off with a rubber chicken over a pint or two, but the suit of armor is not going to happen. Do you know how hard it is to find suits of armor fitted for women? (I also do not know but assume it's difficult and am just going to stop there 😉)
I bet you knew this was coming. My first thought as I read that: I wonder if Etsy can help?
Update: ETSY CAN HELP: https://www.etsy.com/uk/market/female_armor_suit
(UK specific, but there must be others on there closer to you. Maybe?)
I am not actually suggesting you get a suit of armour, though. Except maybe I am. I guess that's YOUR call...
For goodness’ sake. Well I guess I have a Halloween costume for next year!
My call. Right … I’m totally getting that feeling 🤣
Also - next time I have a bit of spare cash kicking around, I'll definitely snap up this absolute bargain: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1062024186/medieval-parade-armor-of-alessandro
It says it’s low on stock. Quick set up a Kickstarter and I’ll contribute enough to buy at least one gold-like decal. (Maybe we should stick with rubber chickens!)
Yes, on all counts, especially the walking part! Just came in from a cold, wintry walk. It's always the best part of my day.
Wintry walks are a delight. And I think I often prefer them to summery walks, because when you overheat in broad sunshine, you're pretty much stuck with it, but when you get cold in wintry conditions you can just speed up until you get warm again...
Absolutely--and no bugs!
Happy New Year, Mike! Here's to stupidity!
You reminded me that I wrote about the wonders of #3 - what I call 'Minimum Viable Technology' - back in 2015, when 'contactless' payments were all the inexplicable rage.
'The more basic the technology, generally speaking, the greater the skills you must learn and deploy.' https://davidcharles.info/positive-constraints/minimum-viable-technology/
I think there are huge benefits to using the MVT - not least the reminder that the tool is not the task. Out on the North Yorks Moors, you needed a tool that could contact mountain rescue, but you had a tool that could post to Facebook. :D
Stupify and conquer!
Happy new year!
MVP: I really like this. Thank you - I'll add a link to it in the Web version of my newsletter.
And - I think at the very least we can all make sure we know *how to do the MVP version of everything*, even if we don't use it as standard. A short cut loses a lot of its value if we forget what it's short-cutting - and of course, as soon as we can't rely on our fancypants workarounds and have to resort to Ye Olde methods, we're totally stuffed. That certainly *is* a growing problem, and not just in the Bear Grylls kinds of skillsets...
And most of all, as you note in your piece, we can optimise for human connection. If it's taking that kind of human to human genuine contact out of the picture, what are we losing? Way too much, perhaps. The kinds of losses that add up into things we have to alleviate with other technology (eg. medicines) rather than get to the root of it all...
You've got me thinking. Thank you!
Oh, I'm glad you like it :)) MVT though, not MVP.
Great point about short-cutting. Ultimately, it leads to magical thinking I suppose. And, quite possibly, the collapse of civilisations as the outgoing generation fails to teach the newcomers all the necessary elements needed to keep things ticking along.
I once wrote an entire book about This Sort Of Thing... and then threw it away in a drawer after one little demoralising experience with a publisher. Maybe 2022 is the year I dust myself off and get it seen. Thanks for the encouragement!
Ha! I just saw the typo. Damn you, phone autocorrect...
I would very much like to see that book. Please do.
Stupid enthusiasm is the best enthusiasm!
Also the best stupid! I mean, there are *many* good stupids, but that's at the top of the list for me.
Well said 🤣
I've always been a big fan of daydreaming. I'll be glad to put more of it in my day!
I've been toying with the idea of a stupid phone now for a while, although replacing my 3 year old phone that works perfectly fine also seems stupid. Seems freeing, I wonder if there is a model that doesn't have a stupid camera?