When is reading/surfing/contemplating mental masturbation?

[Agape]

Now, as you are all reading this I presume you all spend at least some time surfing the internet. My housmate and I were discussing the detrimental side of this when surfing degrades to mere base mental masturbation. You may be familiar with those vapid indefinate Youtube trauls seeking empty stimulation. I doubt any of you would disagree that this would be detrimental and to be avoided due to its lack of substance.

I then got to thinking, at what level does something (such as contemplation of topics of substance/philosphising on here for instance) become mental masturbation. When we do legitimate research for a project, personal or otherwise, this could be said to be worthwhile and not a waste of time. We take in knowledge from a second hand source with the specific intent of aiding our own knowledge, or just enjoy it for its own sake, say, if we were philosophising for philosophy’s sake. So at certain times contemplation and data collection has its merits in aiding 1st hand knowledge. But there are these people who will remain in their ivory towers all their lives and never experience life first hand. This clearly is a poor route to take also.

How does one determine when something is detrimental from when it is not? The particular thing in question here I would say is ‘contemplation’ and rationalising.

I think this comes down to the old maxim- too much of anything is bad and it comes down to common sense to be able to determine if you are overdoing any particular thing. For instance, art can be seen as one of the ‘highest goals’ but imagine the artist who, loving his art so much, neglects all other areas of his life and fails to even eat properly thus in fact even eating into the quality of art he produces (lol not literally). This shows it is not in his interest to do art all the time thus a balance must be mete out.

I think the easy conclusion to this is to say that: something becomes detrimental when you know there are better things you could be doing. Now what it is to know there are better things you could be doing is a whole n’other thing indeed . Know thyself.

[PavlovianModel146]

@Agape

Now, as you are all reading this I presume you all spend at least some time surfing the internet. My housmate and I were discussing the detrimental side of this when surfing degrades to mere base mental masturbation. You may be familiar with those vapid indefinate Youtube trauls seeking empty stimulation. I doubt any of you would disagree that this would be detrimental and to be avoided due to its lack of substance.

I then got to thinking, at what level does something (such as contemplation of topics of substance/philosphising on here for instance) become mental masturbation. When we do legitimate research for a project, personal or otherwise, this could be said to be worthwhile and not a waste of time. We take in knowledge from a second hand source with the specific intent of aiding our own knowledge, or just enjoy it for its own sake, say, if we were philosophising for philosophy’s sake. So at certain times contemplation and data collection has its merits in aiding 1st hand knowledge. But there are these people who will remain in their ivory towers all their lives and never experience life first hand. This clearly is a poor route to take also.

How does one determine when something is detrimental from when it is not? The particular thing in question here I would say is ‘contemplation’ and rationalising.

I think this comes down to the old maxim- too much of anything is bad and it comes down to common sense to be able to determine if you are overdoing any particular thing. For instance, art can be seen as one of the ‘highest goals’ but imagine the artist who, loving his art so much, neglects all other areas of his life and fails to even eat properly thus in fact even eating into the quality of art he produces (lol not literally). This shows it is not in his interest to do art all the time thus a balance must be mete out.

I think the easy conclusion to this is to say that: something becomes detrimental when you know there are better things you could be doing. Now what it is to know there are better things you could be doing is a whole n’other thing indeed . Know thyself.

Better is a relative term, and it also depends on one’s definition of better.

Taken in context, I believe by better what you really mean is, “more productive,” but detrimental’s most common definition is “harmful,” and for something to be unproductive (or less productive than an alternative) certainly does not imply that it is harmful. For instance, if I need to mow the grass and I take a nap instead, the alternative I have chosen is far less productive, but the productive thing to do (especially if I was taking a nap because I was actually tired) is the more detrimental of the two options to myself.

If by better, you simply mean, “The best possible option,” then as rational creatures, every human being should already be doing what they view for themselves at the time to be the best possible option. In some cases, best may be most productive, or it may be most enjoyable, or it might be the kindest thing to do, it depends on the context in which you are using, “better,” or, “best.” However, (in reference to actual “free time,” by which I mean time that you are not obligated by another person or entity to be doing something else) we as humans typically do what we view best at the time.

[Wonderer]

well now… when you engage in an activity for pleasure, there is possible grounds to call it massturbation i guess…

[SuperCulture]

@Agape

Now, as you are all reading this I presume you all spend at least some time surfing the internet. My housmate and I were discussing the detrimental side of this when surfing degrades to mere base mental masturbation. You may be familiar with those vapid indefinate Youtube trauls seeking empty stimulation. I doubt any of you would disagree that this would be detrimental and to be avoided due to its lack of substance.

I then got to thinking, at what level does something (such as contemplation of topics of substance/philosphising on here for instance) become mental masturbation. When we do legitimate research for a project, personal or otherwise, this could be said to be worthwhile and not a waste of time. We take in knowledge from a second hand source with the specific intent of aiding our own knowledge, or just enjoy it for its own sake, say, if we were philosophising for philosophy’s sake. So at certain times contemplation and data collection has its merits in aiding 1st hand knowledge. But there are these people who will remain in their ivory towers all their lives and never experience life first hand. This clearly is a poor route to take also.

How does one determine when something is detrimental from when it is not? The particular thing in question here I would say is ‘contemplation’ and rationalising.

I think this comes down to the old maxim- too much of anything is bad and it comes down to common sense to be able to determine if you are overdoing any particular thing. For instance, art can be seen as one of the ‘highest goals’ but imagine the artist who, loving his art so much, neglects all other areas of his life and fails to even eat properly thus in fact even eating into the quality of art he produces (lol not literally). This shows it is not in his interest to do art all the time thus a balance must be mete out.

I think the easy conclusion to this is to say that: something becomes detrimental when you know there are better things you could be doing. Now what it is to know there are better things you could be doing is a whole n’other thing indeed . Know thyself.

There isn’t any such thing as mental masturbation, what you’re thinking about is about word games. Many of histories greatest accomplishments came from extremists, outcasts, weirdos, etc… and many people ‘mentally masturbating’ themselves.

It’s an empty phrase, since it is based on a cultural worldview and set of values of what is ‘productive’ and what is ‘wasteful’, many cultures would not even have the phrase ‘mental masturbation’ in their language. Our concepts of things are not universal to human beings, they are relative to the culture and age in which we exist.

As for “mentally masturbating”, pfff… it’s a bunch of crap. Sure there is an endless amount of interesting stuff on the net, but say we lived in the future, didn’t have to work, lived extremely long lives, etc… would anything we do be considered ‘mentally masturbating’ or a ‘waste of time’ when we now have all the time we ever need to self-realize, etc?

See this whole idea that one must work to be worthy or be productive to be ‘considered worthy’, is a bunch of crap. It’s based on the silly social status games people play… not to mention the economic and cultural ideology we currently live under.