How to Be Useless

Re:How to Be Useless by halfnormalform on Saturday January 15, 2022 @12:08PM (#29948067)

The story isn’t about being a lazy mooch. It’s about realizing if you only view yourself in terms of your utility to others, you will be consumed for your usefulness.

Don’t laugh but there’s an excellent comic book version of Zhuangzi’s writings: https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691008820/zh...

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Re:How to Be Useless by throwaway_JiY4E on Saturday January 15, 2022 @12:40PM (#29948395)

> if you only view yourself in terms of your utility to others, you will be consumed for your usefulness.

I have seen what you say firsthand in myself over the years. Concepts about treating yourself like a business and over emphasizing your "brand" are part of this. I'm not demonizing those concepts, just they can be overdone or overemphasized.

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Re:How to Be Useless by gumby on Saturday January 15, 2022 @01:21PM (#29948812)

Mistaking the path for the journey.

(Or more prosaically, mistaking the how for the what or the process for the goal)

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