A.S. (a hikikomori from Russia), if you aren’t doing so already, start reading the Antinatalist Blog.

I feel some kinship with Doug S. (especially his minimalist conception of “the good life” or “the necessities”) but I think if I were in his situation I’d hate myself.

When my brother hit puberty he started to spend most of his discretionary waking hours working on cars and in woodworking shops, and my Mom was constantly reminding him to stop to eat.

When I hit puberty I started to spend most of my discretionary waking hours with source code and mathematics, and in college many times I worked from one end of the day to the other without stopping to eat.

My brother and I have always been rail thin even though neither of us seem significantly above the U.S. mean in Executive Function.

Don’t try to be an Eliezer unless you think you are . . . a lot more disciplined.

Still confused about that. I’d have guessed that Eliezer is even stronger on Executive Function (discipline, control over impulses, able to delay gratification) than on general intelligence or fluid intelligence.

AS:

You sound rather depressed. I’ve been there too. Given time, things with seem different. Ganbare!

Richard:

Yes, you pretty well summed up what I’m saying. Don’t try to be an Eliezer unless you think you are at least as smart and a lot more disciplined, and even then only if you don’t have a safer alternative life strategy.

Also, what I specified was the minimum level of material possessions that I’d be satisfied with. A computer with an Internet connection is sufficient, but a top-of-the-line computer that plays the latest games is preferred to one that is good for Web browsing and word processing but can’t play games less than four years old. A television, recent video game consoles, and video games to play on the consoles would also be very nice, but not required.

I won’t say I want a pony, because I don’t. What I do want is a cat. I’ve always wanted a cat. I love cats. I’m crazy about cats. I used to read every book on cats that I could get my hands on. Cats tend to like me; thanks to all that reading, I’ve got a pretty good understanding of how to encourage them to like me. I don’t have a cat, though, because my family is allergic and my mom won’t let me keep one in her house. (My brother has asthma.)

I’m not the kind of hikikomori that’s afraid to leave their room or their house. I’ll go to the movies with my family, get phone numbers from girls in bookstores, and things like that. I also love to go to geeky conventions. I’m pretty social when there are people around me other than my parents; I just don’t mind being alone in a room, not when there are so many games to play, books to read, and blogs to post comments on.

Oh, and my parents are borderline workaholics who love their jobs, while I ended up with what might as well be ergophobia. I’m lacking in impulse control (always have, it caused problems for me in school) and have no self-discipline whatsoever. I’m completely incapable of being productive when I don’t feel like it.

What’s worse is that I don’t find self-discipline to be a trait I want myself to have. I want to do what I feel like doing, and I don’t even want to be able to want to do what I don’t feel like doing. To hell with the long run, I want to feel good now! I’ve deliberately cultivated a short time horizon, because I don’t see the future as being better for me than the present. “Free time” is one of the things that is most important to me, and I don’t see how “growing up” and becoming independent from my parents is going to get me more free time than I have now. How is spending 40 hours a week working for an employer going to get me more free time?

I’ve posted about my own messed-up psyche on this blog before; have I started to get boring or repetitive?

Do you need a “rental sister?” I mean, I won’t pry your oyster open, but really, if you are truly a hikikomori, there are safe ways out of your room if you think you’d like to try.

A very strange game spindizzy is playing. Let me see if I can play.

Aspire to a cabin in the first-class section, do not aspire to save the boat from sinking or to transform it into a General Systems Vehicle.

Do not try to pull the sword out of the stone.

Be a Microsoft Certified System Engineer, not a Linus Torvalds!