Listening to books, getting by

[flexagon]

Moderately rough week at work -- getting team quarterly goals approved by my reluctant and micromanagey director, moderating a disrespect incident (minor, but time-consuming), having HR tell me that I can't make a presentation I wanted to (shouldn't have asked).

I'm also bleeding heavily, and I can't tell you whether it's late or early given how wacky last month was. I'm keeping track though.

I'm reading The Elephant in the Brain, which is fun, and it has a whole section on "what would the world be like if we didn't really notice each others' purchases and possessions". It amused me, thinking of the retail world's free-fall in the age of coronavirus. The book uses the example of an alien transforming the species, but all it really took was keeping away from each other and never going out. I, for one, lost all interest in clothing for months, except for my ever-increasing desire for comfort in the fabric I put on my body. (But we can go out again, distanced of course, and hot damn these are cute capris that look great from 6 feet away, and I bought them). Anyway -- good book. There are a few other interesting concepts in the same book, now that I'm talking about it, like the idea that there are two basic forms of status people compete for: dominance and prestige. (I said to a friend "I immediately realized that I go for prestige myself... there's so much less competition because the field is wider, and I'm no threatening silverback gorilla", and the friend said "Nnnnnnhhhh..." kind of like I think you forgot that you're terrifying and I laughed).

Audio books do seem pretty good for folding laundry, working out and cooking / doing dishes, and I will probably continue. It might be that some of the non-fiction that's been waiting on my bookshelf would do well in this format.

Comments

[ckd]

My brain just doesn't do well with audiobooks, podcasts, etc. I suspect it's a combination of no meaningful speed control (I can read a whole lot faster than I can watch or listen) with the lack of other-sense input. (The "Well There's Your Problem" podcast sort of works for me because of the slideshow they include with it on YouTube, but even there I tend to wander a bit.)

[flexagon]

Yeah... I can definitely only imagine dealing with the slow speed if my hands are occupied and I have something else to do. They never worked for me, or even appealed, before. But now that I do have a bunch of slow, light-mental-load stuff to do, and my mind tends to wander to a particular sad topic if given even the slightest excuse, I find myself benefitting.

[ckd]

Hmm. I wonder if they would mix well with decluttering or similar tasks (maybe not vacuuming, though noise-cancelling headphones might be an option). I'll give that a try. Thanks for the inadvertent suggestion! :-D

[raino]

All the best stuff seems to be in podcasts these days! I feel so left out since I dislike listening to content (the slow speed is one reason, listening at 1.75 or even double speed makes it better but still not as nice as reading).