Robinson Crusoe

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1. noduermeNov 2025
   Actually, I think rote work is quite good too. Problem-solving on a high level is obviously engaging some part of your brain that rote work doesn't engage, but simply reading / writing / doing maths, even the simple fact of having work to do keeps one from vegetating. Thinking about other things while you're doing it is a bonus.

   I wouldn't put manual labor into this category, though. I've got a minor obsession with reading memoirs by people who've survived extreme situations like polar expeditions, trench warfare, captivity, torture, etc. (Probably all started when I read Robinson Crusoe). All their stories seem to congregate around the idea that having to something to do with your mind is crucial to survival, even if it is somewhat rote.

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2. alkyonAug 2025
   > Literature from before 1800, Davis notes, is ‘mostly unread, even by writers’

   I strongly disagree. There are many counterexamples, some authors are still widely read. Besides Shakespeare, it's Defoe, his Robinson Crusoe is one of defining books for me, later I also enjoyed Journal of the Plague Year and Moll Flanders. Swift's Gulliver's Travels is in top ten list all of the books I ever read.

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3. type0Oct 2024
   Robinson Crusoe
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4. ikeserbestianSep 2022
   J. R. R. Tolkien's Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings,

   Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe,

   Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island,

   Most of the Jules Verne's books,

   The Iliad and The Odyssey from Homer,

   The Godfather from Mario Puzo,

   Hermit in Paris, Under the Jaguar Sun, The Complete Cosmicomics from Italo Calvino,

   The Name of the Rose from Umberto Eco,

   In the World from Maxim Gorky,

   ...

   First works coming to mind but there should be more... Also I probably re-read many times basic printed materials related Abrahamic religions like Torah, Quran and Bible.

   Re-reading is inevitable if you love books.

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5. picsaoSep 2022
   Routine :structure the days with little accomplishments. Also reading Robinson Crusoe
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6. labradorJul 2022
   Solitude isn't for everybody. I've always been attracted to it. My favorite books as a kid were about being alone: Robinson Crusoe, The Other Side of the Mountain.

   “Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes.”

   ― William Gibson

   I think people are creative and intelligent, it's just that there are three spheres of life: public, private and secret. The public sphere isn't that interesting because people censor themselves so they don't get judged. People in the public sphere end up playing roles they learned and think that is how one should be in public. Most also have boring private lives.

   Where it gets interesting is in our secret lives. I know people have rich secret lives because of the drama shows that people love but don't talk about because they give life to our fantasies and imagination, so to say what you really like about them would be too revealing.

   There a couple of movies that demonstrate what would happen if people spoke about what was really on their minds with each other. In Judy Berlin a solar eclipse occurs but doesn't go away. It just stays dark for days and days so people start reaching out to each other trying to understand what is happening and in the process start telling the truth. Why not, because it's the end of the world.

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