> As far as my observations go this is particularly not fitting the perception experienced under the influence of weed.

And that is the point of what they're saying. Being bored can be uncomfortable. One route out of that is to do something more interesting and productive, another is to alter your perception so that you are ok with it.

People are usually bored doing math hw, but most people would still consider it "productive and interesting" once they are doing it. If you smoke weed and become more actively engaged with the boring activity of math hw, you become more interested and productive.

If people got to choose what they were doing it seems unlikely they would be bored in the first place though...

I think it depends on your definition of boredom. What does feeling bored mean to you?

Most people say that weed helps them be more creative, which is the opposite of the South Park quote. Having creative thoughts and dreams but not acting on them can lead to depression. "Being in the moment" is doing what you are thinking, and not letting worry or doubt stop you. Hence the creative energy people often get when high.

Good point - personally, I am skeptical whether weed increases creativity. I never experienced that. I just don't like the weed-bashing from the angle of the you-have-to-be-productive-dogma.

When I was younger (in my early/mid 20s mostly) I enjoyed it and in some ways I think it can stimulate creativity. The way it always felt to me was that it made me think "tangentially".

The stereotype of an absent-minded stoner is one way to look at it, but I often found that it caused my mind to wander and occasionally follow trains of thought that would normally be cut off earlier by "normal" thought processes.

That said, letting your mind wander can spur creativity and cannabis is something that enables this state. At the same time, if all you do is come up with random ideas (some of which might have value to yourself or others), it's only the start of the process. Brainstorming is great but if it never goes past the daydream phase, it may be irrelevant.

Either way, as I got older I stopped reacting positively to cannabis and I find it makes me more anxious than anything these days (yeah, yeah, I tried "that one strain I just had to try"). For whatever reason my brain just doesn't like being in that state anymore. But I'd never tell someone else how to relax or when it's valid to indulge in a bit of daydreaming if it agrees with them.

Maybe weed only helps them feel more creative.

Looks more creative: https://www.google.com/search?q=weed+art&num=50&tbm=isch&tbo...

I don't see a problem with the definition you posted.

I do - for me feeling bored means facing some kind of a vacuum. A lack of motivation and inspiration. When you deeply look into this it is for me often the only moment that makes me feel inspired. Of course it can cause weariness and if one responds to this boredom with avoidance - be it playing computer games or smoking weed. That's usually not benefiting personal growth.

"Weed makes you feel - provided one responds positive to it - not weary, not impatient and one finds the present activity overly interesting." - Exactly. It makes you ok with being bored rather than feeling weary and impatient and prone to go and do something instead of finding whatever banal activity you're doing overly interesting.

If cannabis makes you ok with being bored, just admit you're a boring person. It's there inside of you and you're using the cannabis as an excuse to continue it. You're not even considering what the implications are for add and adhd users, that is, they can concentrate on a task for much longer without feeling the same banality and lack of connection for example.

What's wrong with "banal" activities?

You're right, it's a matter of values.

Banal: Overeating/overdrinking/overconsuming, sitting around, reading reddit/HN for hours, playing video games or twitch.

Not banal: Challenging yourself to new activities or hobbies that require skill. Seeing the world, interacting with other people IRL. Learning (new topics, reading, etc). Building things. Getting out of your comfort zone.

Essentially, being passive/not learning/not engaging vs. learning/challenging oneself and trying to be more than you are.

While I can say I have the experience of not 'growing' at times (now), I would never say that's the weed's fault. Mostly because I've felt the exact same thing before ever smoking weed (I didn't smoke until my 30s). It's depression for me, and it's pervasive.

That said I can say that having depression (and a bit of PTSD) is way more of a hell without the weed to take my mind off it. And even if it's just playing a video game for 6 hours (rimworld is my current 2nd drug) that's far more active and engaging than my typical super depressed not leaving my bed state.

I also think bettering yourself and being a success isn't a one-size-fits-all package. I have a friend who smoked so much damn weed it's a wonder they have any brains left. They learned to play league of legends 10+ hours a day sometimes while high as a kite. They're now making multiple times the money streaming on twitch than they ever would've with any job they would be qualified for. They're the happiest they've ever been, met their SO through twitch, and are living the good life all by ignoring the advice being given here.

>Not banal: Challenging yourself to new activities or hobbies that require skill. Seeing the world, interacting with other people IRL. Learning (new topics, reading, etc). Building things. Getting out of your comfort zone.

All those things feel AMAZING while high, even if the banal things feel way better than sober. Cannabis doesn't just somehow discriminate to make only unproductive activities feel better.

I personally reached the conclusion to start seriously self-learning coding while stoned out of my mind and would furiously code in my room while stoned out of my mind. Now, about seven years later, I have a good career as a developer and still get stoned silly every night.

There's nothing in cannabis that stops you from engaging in these activities, and for some the consumption of cannabis can enhance these activities that are otherwise difficult to enter for them to enter on their own. You seem to be unaware of just how many great pieces of pop culture were developed or punched up while high. There's nothing preclusive about getting high, it's time to stop blaming the drug that has widely different effects in people and start looking at the people themselves and the environment they're apart of. I'm willing to concede the clinic trials that show cannabis has a negative effect on word list memorization and digital symbol substitution tests, but it's not forcing you to do anything you were incapable of doing before, and if it you let it can open so many windows.

We really need to look at society and ask why people are looking for a way out instead of a way in, but I guess it's easier to blame weed.

Banal is a pretty negative connotation for activities that I think are pretty core to human happiness

Some of the unhappiest people I know obsess over optimizing every second to be productive

Sometimes, often, in fact, we need banality to reset ourselves, to rest and recuperate.

We're not all Elon Musk, working 90 hours a week and always starting up a new start up. Banality will ensure we don't burn out before we're 40.

@jimmaswell: "Relevant note here is that Elon actually smokes it himself"

Also Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Richard Feynman etc. (of course that doesn't prove anything - but it helps keeping things in proportion)

Relevant note here is that Elon actually smokes it himself

Or a matter of definition? For me banal means reading a novel or playing a game. Maybe that's because the term "banal" in German means just almost the same as in English. The German "banal" just means "nothing special", "ordinary", "not ingenious".

Is sleep a banal activity?

Sleep, dreams, and mental recuperation are underrated. How many coders wake up with the solution to a bug or problem they couldn't resolve.

That's the point, one person's "banal activity" is another person's necessary re-charge.

There is nothing wrong. It's just that they don't contribute to success. Now you might ask, what's wrong with not striving for success? Nothing, I suppose. It's nice however to be able to reach one's fullest potential.

While I agree that spending your free time sitting around, smoking weed and watching Netflix is a poor use of your time, I'd be wary of defining for yourself what the 'fullest potential' of another person is.

That's such a proud and confident thing to say. No need for a throwaway account.

I would argue that striving for success is often the best way to actually not reach one's fullest potential.

You misunderstand me. I'm not making value judgements. Success and non-success means the same thing in the end. But while we're here, might as well experience a drive for success? Or smoke up and be lazy, that's fine too. I've done both and don't necessarily prefer one over another. I really don't think pride or confidence comes into play here.

but its better chances than trying to reach averageness.

> Weed makes you feel - provided one responds positive to it - not weary, not impatient and one finds the present activity overly interesting.

That's basically what he said. You're doing something that you'd ordinarily find boring, but now you don't feel bored.

Feeling bored is your mind telling you that you should be doing something else.

And how is that bad?

Okay - so you normally would feel unpleasant. Now you don't because of weed. Of course you can argue weed is unhealthy - totally possible. But regarding the perceived state change. How is that causing harm? Because s/he's not going to become wealthy or "successful"?

It’s not causing harm, it’s preventing growth.

I think sometimes, not a big deal.

The problem is if you do it to excess. When you would rather stay in and get high, than meet up with friends, drop out of school etc. When you are not living up to what you consider successful for yourself. Then you have a problem.

Being able to not rely on government assistance for ANYTHING, including health care, would be a start.

Please do not post political flamebait, or any flamebait, to Hacker News.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Good luck finding a single person on a developed country who fits this description. If anything, people with incredible drive lean on government assistance the most (e.g. Elon Musk and his two heavily-subsidized companies), because they know how to find leverage to accomplish their goals.

As a young, successful stoner living in Western Europe, I salute your ignorance

Please be civil on Hacker News.

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