How we spend our time

[Rahn127]

Today I was at a storage facility, cleaning it out and moving boxes around, trying to organize things.

As I was carrying a box outside, a silver like metal ring, the kind a man might wear on his finger, caught my eye in the dirt and gravel.
I carried the box inside with the intention of going back to examine the ring. I walked back outside and looked around on the ground for the ring.
I knew the general area and began looking and looking. I'm usually quite proficient in spotting things that are literal needles in a haystack, so it shouldn't be that hard to find.
I mean, it's a shiny metal ring. It caught my attention immediately when I first walked near it and yet I can't find it. No trace of it.

I went back over the area in a grid like formation thinking that it must be here. Maybe I kicked it. I should expand my search.

I stopped for a moment and began to think about how much time I had wasted looking for this ring. I began to question if I truly saw a ring in the first place.
I examined the brief memory of a simple glance on the ground in which I thought I saw a ring. Maybe it wasn't a ring at all. Maybe my brain turned that small glint of light into a ring.

I walked back inside to grab another box. Before I could even get to the box, my mind wanted to give just one more look on the ground.

I went back to look again, wasting more of my time looking for something that should have been so evident if it was really there.
I couldn't find any evidence of the ring and I was left with the idea that maybe I saw something that wasn't really there at all. A trick of the mind.

I ended up wasting another 5 minutes looking again. Part of me didn't want to accept that my perception could have been wrong. I didn't want to be wrong.
I don't think I was wrong, but now I'm not so sure.

I went back to work and began thinking about this post I'm making right now about how we spend our time.
I spent some time looking for something that wasn't there. Something I thought was there but couldn't find any evidence for.

I thought about how much time religious people spend focused on something they have no evidence for.

Theists spend so much time on religion that it seems so wasteful to me, but then again, I've also spent countless hours playing a video game that has no real life value beyond entertainment.
If religion was only entertainment, I probably wouldn't have such a hard time with people living out their fantasies on sunday, but it's more than that to them.

To them it's truth. For me I see it as delusion.

Have you all had similar situations in which you thought you saw something but when you went to investigate, you couldn't find anything to justify what you thought you saw ?

[Nakara]

I've had instances where I would suddenly wake but still be half asleep. I would see things, usually something terrifying, like large shadowy snakes coming out of my cieling vents, giant shadow spiders, etc.

I've even ran from these, galvanized by some primal instinct, usually crashing right into the wall next to my bed.

So I and my poor face know pretty well how our mind can play tricks on us. And I can understand how someone might believe in demons or spirits if they didn't know this, or didn't think to look for alternative answers.

My opinion? This is probably an evolutionary adaptation--if you hear the bush rattling and assume there's a leopard, you have a better chance at surviving than someone who assumes it's just the wind. I can see this applying along all sorts of ranges, from a simple glint of light tricking you into thinking there's a ring in the ground, to the wire ok my phone charger casting a large shadow that tricks my half-asleep brain into seeing a massive spider. Some people will believe that these saw demons, angels, ghosts, whatever. You and I understand that these sights can be/are our tricksy brainses.

So in the age of the internet and information, I wonder just how long beliefs of otherwise will persist.

[brewer]

Have you all had similar situations in which you thought you saw something but when you went to investigate, you couldn't find anything to justify what you thought you saw ?

I think I see 8 inches every time I unzip. The ruler says I'm hallucinating.

[The Valkyrie]

Have you all had similar situations in which you thought you saw something but when you went to investigate, you couldn't find anything to justify what you thought you saw ?

I think I see 8 inches every time I unzip. The ruler says I'm hallucinating.

And that's why some women are such bad deivers. All their lives they've been having men tell them that something the size of a pinky is six inches. Hard to judge distances when that keeps happening.

[brewer]

I think I see 8 inches every time I unzip. The ruler says I'm hallucinating.

And that's why some women are such bad deivers.  All their lives they've been having men tell them that something the size of a pinky is six inches.  Hard to judge distances when that keeps happening.

Is that why they keep asking "do these pants make me look fat?"?

 I'd get bitch slapped if I pulled out the measuring tape.

[The Valkyrie]

And that's why some women are such bad deivers.  All their lives they've been having men tell them that something the size of a pinky is six inches.  Hard to judge distances when that keeps happening.

Is that why they keep asking "do these pants make me look fat?"?

 I'd get bitch slapped if I pulled out the measuring tape.

Had a friend who always used to ask that stupid bloody question, "Do these pants make my arse look fat?"

"No, your arse makes your arse look fat!"

[vulcanlogician]

Is that why they keep asking "do these pants make me look fat?"?

The age old "does this make me look fat dilemma" that promises a penalty for either answer... either due to "lack of honesty" or "lack of sensitivity." Damned if you do... damned if you don't. Is there any way out of this?

How about:

"Well, honey, it doesn't make you look fat, but it doesn't make you look as skinny as some of your other dresses do."

[The Valkyrie]

Is that why they keep asking "do these pants make me look fat?"?

The age old "does this make me look fat dilemma" that promises a penalty for either answer... either due to "lack of honesty" or "lack of sensitivity." Damned if you do... damned if you don't. Is there any way out of this?

How about:

"Well, honey, it doesn't make you look fat, but it doesn't make you look as skinny as some of your other dresses do."

Try, "It doesn't matter when you're on your knees..."

Women love responses like that.






*Standard disclaimer*

[Dr H]

As I was carrying a box outside, a silver like metal ring, the kind a man might wear on his finger, caught my eye in the dirt and gravel.
I carried the box inside with the intention of going back to examine the ring. I walked back outside and looked around on the ground for the ring.
I knew the general area and began looking and looking. I'm usually quite proficient in spotting things that are literal needles in a haystack, so it shouldn't be that hard to find.
I mean, it's a shiny metal ring. It caught my attention immediately when I first walked near it and yet I can't find it. No trace of it.

OMG.  You saw "The Ring".


He saw "The RING"!


Damn, I'd hate to be in your shoes.  Be thankful that you didn't see it twice.

And to be on the safe side, hide all your gold; turn all your mirrors face to the wall; watch out for dark-bearded strangers; and lock all your doors and windows at night until the next New Moon.  And maybe lay in a supply of mandrake root.  

[Rahn127]

Since no one else was there, it only makes sense that the ring was stolen by leprechauns.

That's the only explanation.

Damn those leprechauns