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BooksandTrees

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If you cannot rock climb or play hockey right at this moment, is there a thing which you are unsure about that you can try?

There was an experiment done on psychology of satisfaction where people had to choose between the sure thing where they have control over the result and the uncertain thing which brings less than the expected result. Most people prefer predictable paths. But predictable paths become boring over time and dont give you a sense of adventure (if I may put it that way)

example:  I withdrew from football for more than a year after I played it consistently for a year.

 

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17 minutes ago, Empathy said:

Hey @BooksandTrees
Thank you for a hint in my journal.
I see a great journal to read and I admit I have to do this gradually to not spend too much time on the internet.
Still I see it as a source of inspiration for my struggles.
Thank you!

 

No problem! I believe in you. I'll be a resource for you if you need. 

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Today was interesting. I made some big decisions on the project I'm on. My office has been giving me a tremendous amount of responsibility over the past few months and I'm starting to notice they respect me more now. I think they always have, but maybe I'm starting to realize it now as I become comfortable. It's taken me a long time to become comfortable after my disastrous year last year.

I might be wrong about this, but I was studying the COVID19 infection rates around the world and have noticed a pattern that health experts already know. I just like looking at numbers for a living.

If you look at Figure 1 below, China had 500 cases on January 22nd, 77,000 cases on February 22nd, and 80,000 cases on March 12th. This means it has tapered off and been contained a bit. 

image.png.ee1ca09f2bc938423052287fc5777a3e.png

Italy is currently the most volatile epicenter for the virus and if you notice the curve in Figure 2 between March 2nd and March 10th it looks similar to China's curve towards the end of January into February. It will be interesting to see if this curve is mimicked and can taper off like in China.

image.png.48b08b84790e5f6bb1c242e14cb61870.png

Italy's curve is also similar to the curve in Iran in Figure 3 below.

image.png.bd0a8fb034941a793561183251fcaed6.png

An interesting anomaly is South Korea, seen in Figure 4, which appears to be progressing at a much slower rate. Its curve looks similar to China's current curve and should be something to pay attention to over the next 2 months.

image.png.5fe9afa42adf79e21aa121f1ef07e3fd.png

Currently, the United States is seeing a similar curve to those initial first two weeks that the previously listed nations observed. The United States' curve is steeper because only 1500 people are infected and not the several thousand infected in the previous four figures. So try to compare it at two weeks at a time.

image.png.057016f9b31b109698191b158294cf00.png

I think we should pay attention to the numbers over the next 2 months to just compare the rates and curves taking effect in each nation. It could reveal which countries are taking the most effective steps in limiting the virus, which it seems like China has started to see over the past few weeks and South Korea is beginning to show at the start of this current week.

Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

Edited by BooksandTrees
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I read an article off NPR, I will try to find the link. 
 

Basically stating that societies don’t put in place measures to stop the spread of the disease until its too late.

 

I find it very interesting that Japans numbers are not higher. 
 

Take care

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I agree with @James Good to the most degree. Especially the United States are not in a good condition to fight something like that. Someone like Donald Trump is certainly not helping the situation ^^. 

The problem is that in the end, we don't really know, how it is going to develop the next couple of weeks. I am concerned reagarding my Bachelor thesis, because I think, it will become a lot harder to gather participants now. ^^ 

But in the end, something like that is not as important as to take care that the healthcare system in any country is not entirely collapsing, not only in regard to help corona patients, but basically to help all the other patients.

Regarding the difference of mentalitiy of Asia and America that is not really a surprise, as western countries are said to be individualistic societies, while eastern countries have a collectivistic mentality. Learned this in my studies.

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14 hours ago, James Good said:

All flights were shut down to China, we have temperature checks and alcohol gel at the entrance of every mall and club, free masks were being given out everywhere almost instantly, testing kits were implemented incredibly fast, and people here are much more cautious in general when it comes to disease prevention. It's very much a collective hive mind way of thinking in Asian countries, everyone is part of the same system. Whereas in somewhere like America, it's very much a "'I only care about my family so f*** you".

 

11 hours ago, Alexanderle said:

Regarding the difference of mentalitiy of Asia and America that is not really a surprise, as western countries are said to be individualistic societies, while eastern countries have a collectivistic mentality. Learned this in my studies.

I guess another example that nicely demonstrates this was when there was Cold War, the socialist countries had their conscripts and supplies at the ready at all times, whereas the FGR's soldiers had their 40 hour workweeks and weekends off. Different worlds.

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14 hours ago, James Good said:

It's very much a collective hive mind way of thinking in Asian countries, everyone is part of the same system. Whereas in somewhere like America, it's very much a "'I only care about my family so f*** you".

This... exactly. 

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It's strange being in my position now. My exam is postponed until October 20th or something. I was kind of hoping to study at this apartment, pass the test, find another apartment, do hobbies, and then buy a house next February.

People told me to try and buy a house now, but the market is going to implode because of the virus as we've seen already. It's a very uneducated move to buy a home right now, especially when people could lose their jobs. I might be one of the better engineers in my office, but economics changes things in an instant. I won't take that chance and continue to wait for another year. That also lets my car payment end so I can afford more.

I guess I can relax now. I can't do any social hobbies for the next 2 months. I might end up working from home starting next week for the next 2-3 months as well. We can't really predict this stuff.

I was proud of my coronavirus statistic post last night. I was watching the presidential speech and the CDC director and White House Pandemic coordinator both mentioned trendlines that matched what I spoke about and how they wanted to be more like South Korea than Italy, etc. Maybe they're a member of GameQuitters ;). Jk, I mentioned they already have known those numbers for weeks. I see Spain, Germany, and France passing Italy on the hot zone in the next month.

This all gets me thinking how I might be better off owning an Earthship home or a tiny home one day where it's 100% reliant on nature and can thrive with solar, wind, geothermal, rain/groundwater collection, grey water usage, farming, and more. It's been a dream of mine and in situations like this it's very understandable. Maybe I can design one over the next few years and see if I can afford it. 

Anyone want to build a tiny home community with me with a shared community farm just let me know lol. I'm just kidding. 

Edited by BooksandTrees
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Wow, did this turn into the coronavirus journal. I feel like I'm missing out! 

You are 100% spot on with the patterns in those trends (though the numbers themselves may be vastly underreported in each with maybe the exception of South Korea). The China graph is great news. At first, they ignored the issue, saw exponential growth like in the start of any epidemic, and then saw tapering due to very restrictive (but effective) isolation and quarantine procedures. They would've been fucked if they didn't. Other countries which ignored, or didn't know include the US and Europe, and since they started later, we are still in exponential growth. Italy is a bit further along than the US is--the US is about two to three weeks behind in both count and restrictions. Iran is the most extreme example of this group, at this point. The UK will probably be extreme too since right now they said they are going to delay the spread for now, and then actually plan on having 60% of their population get sick by the summer--intentionally--so you can burn the virus out by reducing the amount of potential hosts that are left due to acquired immunity. They are like the anti-China, and that's kind of dumb since if China does truly have it under control by now, they are unnecessarily making things worse for themselves.

South Korea saw this and didn't want to go down that road and started testing practically everyone, including everyone in a 200,000 person megachurch. They pioneered the "drive-through" testing that many places are starting, which is much better about minimizing hospital spread of disease. They aggressively traced contacts and imposed quarantines. They used peoples cell phone data to track stores they went to, and then made apps to warn people if they were within 100 meters of a site visited by someone confirmed infected. They went balls out on the virus, and as a result of that, growth has been significantly slowed, which A) ensures more beds are available for virus patients who need it, saving lives and B) helps their economy because people can more safely go to work since they have things very contained compared to some other country that I live in. South Korea is doing an awesome job. Hong Kong, Singapore, and to an extent Japan are in this boat.

I just needed to nerd out for a second. I'm terrified and fascinated at the same time. Learning more about this is calming in a way.

---

And sorry to hear about your test getting cancelled. That's frustrating since you've really made a lot of adjustments to your life plans to accomplish this.  Enjoy the enforced spaced-repetition learning!

I say you're spot on with the house assessment. If you're looking to buy in sometime after the summer/fall, there will probably be a price drop and a bunch of foreclosures on the market (if that's your thing). 

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32 minutes ago, DaBest said:

Wow, did this turn into the coronavirus journal. I feel like I'm missing out! 

You are 100% spot on with the patterns in those trends (though the numbers themselves may be vastly underreported in each with maybe the exception of South Korea). The China graph is great news. At first, they ignored the issue, saw exponential growth like in the start of any epidemic, and then saw tapering due to very restrictive (but effective) isolation and quarantine procedures. They would've been fucked if they didn't. Other countries which ignored, or didn't know include the US and Europe, and since they started later, we are still in exponential growth. Italy is a bit further along than the US is--the US is about two to three weeks behind in both count and restrictions. Iran is the most extreme example of this group, at this point. The UK will probably be extreme too since right now they said they are going to delay the spread for now, and then actually plan on having 60% of their population get sick by the summer--intentionally--so you can burn the virus out by reducing the amount of potential hosts that are left due to acquired immunity. They are like the anti-China, and that's kind of dumb since if China does truly have it under control by now, they are unnecessarily making things worse for themselves.

South Korea saw this and didn't want to go down that road and started testing practically everyone, including everyone in a 200,000 person megachurch. They pioneered the "drive-through" testing that many places are starting, which is much better about minimizing hospital spread of disease. They aggressively traced contacts and imposed quarantines. They used peoples cell phone data to track stores they went to, and then made apps to warn people if they were within 100 meters of a site visited by someone confirmed infected. They went balls out on the virus, and as a result of that, growth has been significantly slowed, which A) ensures more beds are available for virus patients who need it, saving lives and B) helps their economy because people can more safely go to work since they have things very contained compared to some other country that I live in. South Korea is doing an awesome job. Hong Kong, Singapore, and to an extent Japan are in this boat.

I just needed to nerd out for a second. I'm terrified and fascinated at the same time. Learning more about this is calming in a way.

---

And sorry to hear about your test getting cancelled. That's frustrating since you've really made a lot of adjustments to your life plans to accomplish this.  Enjoy the enforced spaced-repetition learning!

I say you're spot on with the house assessment. If you're looking to buy in sometime after the summer/fall, there will probably be a price drop and a bunch of foreclosures on the market (if that's your thing). 

Thank you! I love talking about interesting data and planning so this topic is right up there. Plus, I'd rather focus on trends than dying. Maybe this is a healthy form of escapism we can participate in while we are forced inside during the pandemic. 

Honestly, the pandemic could cause people to relapse due to stress, boredom, and isolation. This is important for us to be strong. 

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2 hours ago, James Good said:

I'm also not sure whether to congratulate you or offer my condolences about your exam getting cancelled. What a strange situation to be in 🤔

No joke one of my plans is to build a sustainable shared community in the countryside. I don't know if it's because of the town I grew up in, but I love being friends with the baker, butcher, bookshop owners, blacksmith and only having around 10 shops in the town. I used to hate living there, it was so boring, but now I appreciate it so much and really miss living there.

When we've got a load of money we can build  GQ community in real life lol

Thank you. I honestly was stressing out a lot, but started to find a groove studying. I might slowly study a few days per week so I'm not cramming this fall for the exam. We'll see. 

Yeah, being a structural engineer, I've really been planning designs for efficient, sustainable homes with great appeal. I dream of it.

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Today I'm 73 weeks free from gaming. My rib injuries are finally healed after 5 weeks. My exam is canceled. The class I'm taking extended my online availability to study from April to October. I might be forced to work from home. 

We're in a difficult crisis as game addicts. Social isolation is important for human health at this time, but it may affect you and your relationship with video games. 

I urge you all to come up with daily routines within your home and have a physical checklist so they are always on your mind. 

My checklist will include cooking, bathing, cleaning the house, work, yoga, reading, movie nights (yes, I'm gonna do more movie reviews and mini essays in here), 3d modeling, and yes, I'm gonna keep studying a little so I don't lose information. I now have 7 months to study and you can be damn sure I'm going in there and murdering the exam. I might also try painting or making videos since I have a crazy setup and had been neglecting it because of studying. 

I encourage you all to write in your diary what you plan on doing in isolation to keep you busy. This is a fantastic time for you to practice new habits at home and new hobbies. 

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4 hours ago, BooksandTrees said:

@DaBest I'm probably going to make another statistical post like that in 2 weeks. It will be the tipping point for Italy to see if they peak or not. It will also show if Germany, Spain, France, and the United States have different trajectories and we can compare each nation's response vs their infection rates. 

Spain here ✌️ Alarm state decreed today on all the country, so now it would be a good time to start monitoring. Before that you should check the data by autonomous region, since most of them have the authority on normal days over health issues (cause Spain administration is basically modern feudalism) and their reaction times were different. Differences by province can be explained mostly by transport and infrastructure (e.g. Málaga has the most relevant international airport in all the south and the cases there went up exponentially from early on). All schools are bound to close today so most students will travel back home (they're already doing it) and that'll be a problem. 

Been feeling lately I was losing control of my own university subjects so I'll get inspiration from you and use these days to reconnect and get back on track with my studies. Let's do our best! Also what you say about difficult times for recovering addicts is very sensible and correct. What could we do as community to handle it...? 

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23 minutes ago, Hitaru said:

Spain here ✌️ Alarm state decreed today on all the country, so now it would be a good time to start monitoring. Before that you should check the data by autonomous region, since most of them have the authority on normal days over health issues (cause Spain administration is basically modern feudalism) and their reaction times were different. Differences by province can be explained mostly by transport and infrastructure (e.g. Málaga has the most relevant international airport in all the south and the cases there went up exponentially from early on). All schools are bound to close today so most students will travel back home (they're already doing it) and that'll be a problem. 

Been feeling lately I was losing control of my own university subjects so I'll get inspiration from you and use these days to reconnect and get back on track with my studies. Let's do our best! Also what you say about difficult times for recovering addicts is very sensible and correct. What could we do as community to handle it...? 

I think as a community we should investigate more isolating hobbies and discuss them as much as possible. Obviously you can still go for nature walks and stuff as long as you're practicing social distancing and eating at home. 

I think we should be transparent and diligent in our diaries about what foods we're making, hobbies we're trying, some goals, and maybe discussing them together in a positive way.

It's common for people to give up on isolating hobbies because there's nobody to encourage us or be competitive against. I became good at games through anger and competition. I became good at social hobbies through positive encouragement and happiness. Just little things like that. 

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Today was kind of an emotional unemotional day. I felt a little lagged. I share the same feeling that billions around the world currently have which is a displacement from daily life dysphoria. I'm not allowed to go to work, but I gotta work from home. I no longer have this huge goal of studying and I feel as though I should panic and buy months of dry and canned groceries, but I don't feel it's necessary due to the government promising to keep supplies in transit much like China has done.

I kind of just paused and watched a movie and did nothing. I talked to my family for a few hours today. They're worried about me being quarantined. I don't have any symptoms yet so I'm hoping that kid had a fever for other reasons. 

I'm also oddly relieved I can stay home. I am a severe germaphobe where I'll traditionally go out of my way to avoid doorknobs, people, sharing glasses or things, etc. I'm very afraid of getting sick to the point of anxiety attacks where I'll feel like I'm going to faint.

It's really just a great hobby.

But seriously, I'm happy that I can stay home. I think the reduction in stress from human interaction as well as the reduction in stress from studying for my exam will be good for my emotions and mind....and my immune system. 

I feel like I have a second chance in life all of a sudden. I didn't want to study for this test and I had just recovered from a very difficult bout of depression after leaving my old apartment in December. It's time for me to start writing my book. I have a book I want to write and I'm going to at least get the skeleton of it written. I'm also going to 3D model a bit.

Also, I hit a major moment in my life this week. As you know, I encourage everyone in this forum to investigate themselves to discover why they play video games because it's the only way you'll end your addiction. Will power is not enough. I've clearly been a model of success with game quitting. You also know I've been trying to quit porn. After some major thought and self-investigation I've come to the conclusion that I don't want to quit watching pornography for one solid reason. I don't value relationships.

I will delve into this more in a future post since it's midnight and I'm tired. I personally don't see the value in sharing my life with a woman or several women in short term relationships. I don't like the politics involved and I don't think it's worth it. I've been hindered by some very abusive relationships in my life and I just don't feel like there's a woman out there that will change my perspective on this. I currently view loneliness as less pain than being in a bad relationship or being stuck doing things with somebody I don't enjoy being with. I'm tired of the dating process and I haven't met a woman yet who I feel deserve to have me in their life. Yes, that's a selfish statement, but after years of thinking I'm a loser and thinking I'm pathetic I have become appreciative of myself, my journey, and my accomplishments. I now love myself. It took 30 years to love myself, but I do love myself and don't want to entrust my heart with somebody who I feel is going to take advantage of me or not treat me the way I deserve to be treated.

I'll delve into this more and ask that you refrain from commenting on this for right now. I just feel like I'm not emotionally ready and that means I will depend on porn for getting off and releasing sexual tension and frustration. I was able to quit games because I realized my virtual friends were fake and I wanted real friends, real hobbies, and more time to relax after work and be happy. I've found that and haven't craved video games since over 500 days ago. Porn on the other hand I just haven't found a woman who I enjoy being around. Will that happen one day? Potentially. I'll have to change and grow as a person and so will the women I meet. It's a dynamic that will have to develop and surprise me over the course of a few years as I develop into the person I want to be. I also don't believe in short term flings or fuck buddies so I'd rather just watch porn for 30 minutes and carry on.

I'll have to make sure I don't binge watch porn during this time so I stay productive with hobbies. I've mentioned too much porn usage causes me to be lazy and not pursue hobbies. I'll only watch it a few times a week. But I'm not quitting until my perspective changes and I've met someone who I think is a beneficial person to share my life with for however long we date.

Stay safe everyone.

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I was right. We're forced to work from home until at least April 15th. I think it will be May 1st until it is leveled off. There have only been 24,000 tests performed. Private companies have been allowed to test patients as of late last week (6 months since the virus came out, complete disaster) and they have tested more people in the past half week than the entire past 6 months. I think you'll see numbers grow like crazy in the US since it takes 3-7 days to get test results.

My advice is not overly panic because you're going to see a spike in numbers due to hundreds of thousands of tests being performed instead of 24,000 tests. It's inevitable the numbers will go up. Just be prepared to see larger numbers.

I recommend you don't read into any conspiracy theories or anything. Just read worldmeter.info for strict statistical information and refer to the World Health Organization, Center for Disease Control, and your local hospital's website for information. Nothing else can be trusted and during this time you need reliable information.

As for me, I have let myself down today big time. I didn't do anything productive, slept in, and watched porn. I don't like this feeling. I will do better tomorrow. 

 

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I worked from home today. I brought my desktop home. It's so peaceful. It feels like I'm on vacation to be honest. 

I bought a month's worth of food and medicine and will hopefully survive. 

I'm going to try and watch porn every other day instead of quitting cold turkey. I can't do it. 

I'm also going to commit to a new schedule. I'll be waking up earlier without snooze again and exercising a bit, eating, working, then lunch, work, then I'll have 3 hours before dinner. I'll use those 3 hours to exercise for 30 minutes and then do hobbies til dinner. Then I'll relax after dinner. 

I gotta try it. 

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I think I'm making myself depressed. I usually rely on anger to pull myself out, but I'm not angry right now. Tomorrow will be better. 

In my transition from depression to calmness I find clarity. In that clarity I see my power to create a beautiful story and share it. I have to remember this. 

Edited by BooksandTrees
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I think I officially got burnt out of porn. I can't watch it anymore. I'm tired of it. Until tomorrow lol. But idk. This time feels different. 

This isolation is starting to test me. I've already complained about how weekends torture me. It's like I'm stuck in a 2 to 3 month weekend. 

I have to gather myself quickly before I spiral out of control. 

Wake up, breakfast, work, home exercise and fresh air, work, air, hobbies, talk on phone, cook dinner, relax,  find a tv show. 

The porn is making me more anxious and likely to have a panic attack. I feel it coming and I have to stop it. I'm starting to stay up extremely late. 

Master my domain. Master my domain. Less control is more freedom. I got this. 

Tomorrow, I'm going to wake up, weigh myself, then make a pepper and onion omelet. I'll start work and finish a project component. I'll then eat my spinach and rice lunch that I'll cook while working. It takes 1 hour. Look forward. You can do it. 

I really want a woman companion. I want a hug. I'm going to get it this year. But tomorrow first. 

Omelet.

Edited by BooksandTrees
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@BooksandTrees I also relapsed on pornography yesterday. And I also would like a female companion. Who wouldn't. For me the isolation is also annoying, since I just started to have plans to leave the house more. I am thinking about joining some dance class and a sports association. And I can't even watch nba games. Super annoying. I suggest however that you look from the positive side: You can focus on yourself. The thinks you do, you should not do, because you kinda have to. They should give you something. Something good. It could be fun, sports or some work.

And here is some perspective regarding the woman companion. I was in a relationship a couple of years back and we then hung out for weeks at her place. Guess what, at some point, I was starting to become annoyed because of the absence of freedom and less space I had. So overall, not everyone with a female companion is necessarily more happy in this crysis. 

Take care and don't loose your head. I am also sleeping longer then usual now. So what?

I give you a nice little bro fist. Similar to a hug. You can do it! 

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