2020-02-19
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	What is a healthy state of mind? I don't see
	many people who are not distracting themselves
	or numbing themselves. Is that the best we can
	hope for? Is all business distraction and is
	all rest numbing?

	I suppose this is the sort of question that
	you can only ask in a time of relative luxury
	compared to human existences through the ages.

	If you had a family that was chronically on the
	brink of starvation, you would not be asking.

	Is that why people are so into disaster movies?
	Living in an emergency makes your role in it
	seem more than just a distraction.

	Of course it is also in some very real way true
	that a regular career is a complete waste of time
	when compared to the necessities of surviving
	disaster.

	I've been listening to podcasts about effective
	altruism and how to have an impactful career.
	Some of it is a bit high flung. I mean, talking
	about the heat death of the universe is not
	what I would call effective use of time.

	But other stuff is very interesting. I just
	listened the 80000 Hours Podcast about reacting
	to a virus like the Corona and it is just pretty
	amazing how humanity is constantly being caught
	with their pants downs. It really seems to me like
	most people who are supposed to be "responsible"
	are just collecting a paycheck, not really trying
	to get into shape for the next big hit. Just
	things like, there are no extra beds for a big
	outbreak. The personal protection that hospitals
	have (like masks and gloves) will run out in a 
	couple of days if the supply line is interrupted.
	And the supply is coming from China, which seems
	to be where all these flus come from as well, so
	you can bet that in case of a biggie the supply
	lines will be interrupted. Most countries don't
	have a general plan to an unknown pandemic with high
	infection rate.

	And this is not the only field where things are
	like this. It's really absurd. You can look
	anywhere and you have a bunch of lazy bureaucrats
	sitting on their asses. And if you go there and
	try to make things better, they will actively
	try to stop you since you make them look bad.

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