City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

City goes to TED Talks

Amethyst_Star

By Amethyst_Star,
Posted on: 2012-07-10 09:18 in CoH and CoV General Discussions

 

Posted

That was interesting speech, thanks for sharing.

Make a man a fire and keep him warm for the day, SET a man on fire and keep him warm for the rest of his life.
Incarnates: K'lir(Fire/Dark Corr):Hot-House Flower(Plant/Fire Dom):Kinrad X(Kin/Rad Def):Itsy-Bitsy Spider(Crab):Two Ton Tony(Mace/WP Broot):Teeny Weeny Widow(Fortunata/Widow) : Zeroth Law (Ice/Fire Tank)

 

Posted

This was actually addressed in a thread about "regretting gaming when you die" a couple weeks back too.


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Posted

Just started watching the video, but I find it entertaining that she makes a point of extending the life of everyone watching the video by 7.5 minutes and the video's 20 minutes long.

I dunno. Just me.

MA Arcs: Yarmouth 1509 and 58812

 

Posted

I have to say, that video meant a lot to see. Thanks.

I'm almost fully recovered from a car wreck I had a year and a half ago (the lingering problems are small and few between), but I experienced several months of what she went through. She went through it for even longer and I know her experience was much worse. I have a ton of respect for that woman. I wasn't expecting to feel the way I felt when she started talking about her accident and recovery. I don't even know how I felt. A mix of things. This woman understands me. For nearly a year, the most I could do was try to put into words what I was going through, but words were never good enough.

Unlike Jane McGonigal, the spark inside stayed bright and I never wanted to die. But I was very scared that some parts of my brain, and my eyes, might not get better. During the first few weeks, when all I could do was lay in a completely quiet and dark room (to avoid as much sensory input as possible), I learned to just let my mind float away into the darkness, into nothingness, where things like boredom, happiness, or depression ceased to exist. It helped, it helped a lot, but as I began to gradually participate in the World over the coming weeks, life was often an exercise in frustration. I often came up with my own little challenges and games, but I would have been better off with Jane's "Super Better" game. Things like City of Heroes, reading, music, talking to people, things that helped me relax, all turned against me; I cannot express to you in words how much real physical pain these things caused when I was exposed to them for just a few minutes.

One thing that was really surprising is some of my friends on Virtue who left me PMs here on the boards every few days. Friends who never even came to the forums before that. They signed on to wish me well and ask how I was doing. I'd log in for two or three minutes and type a sentence--even with my monitor's brightness turned almost all the way down, that was all I could do. They were genuinely worried about me. City of Heroes already meant something to me, helping me to wind down after so many long days at a previous job, but now it means even more.

I honestly don't think the forum community here is the welcoming, friendly community it was once known as. Those days were already drawing to a close when I started in 2009. But it never mattered to me because I guarantee you that there are good people out there in Paragon City. Really good people.

@Captain-Electric � Detective Marvel � The Sapien Spider � Moravec Man � The Old Norseman
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Guide to Altitis � A Comic for New Players � The Lore Project � Intro to extraterrestrials in CoH

 

Posted

Well worth watching. I had known that certain things in my life made it better. It was nice to learn some whys behind those whats.

Thank you for the link!

 

Posted

This is a very smart video, and I applaud it for being as positive as it is... But at the same time it strikes me as REALLY trying to change people and in so doing it really replaces one problem with another. One of the deathbed regrets was "I wanted to be more like myself instead of what people told me I should be," paraphrasing because I closed the video tab. Well... The thing is that some of those things are squarely aimed at making me like what people say I should be.

"Social resilience" is the subject that really rubbed me the wrong way, because it actually tramples the difference between an introverted person and an extroverted one, assuming that an extroverted person is one "true" state, as well as that introverts are just extroverts that need to be helped to see the light. Drawing strength from the people around you is a key trait of an extroverted personality, and placing an introverted personality in that situation is a recipe for disaster. I say this, because a lot of introverted people draw strength from being alone and then expend this strength to be in a group.

Now, I consider myself an introverted person. It might seem hard to believe given my posting history and the stern tone of this very post, but I've been off the forums for a week now, so I'm well recharged. Moreover, trace my posting history and you'll note that it is, by and large, impersonal even when I get angry at people and devolve into childish bickering. Ways to handle social interaction for people whom social interaction drains exist, yes, and some allow us to focus enough strength into limited interaction to where we appear assertive, aggressive and dominant. But what you don't see is the recovery process. You don't see me coming home from work, shutting the door and refusing to speak with anyone for at least an hour. You don't see me typing up two-page posts, then changing my mind and closing the tab without actually posting it.

Why I say the above is I've tried. I've tried being social, I've tried shaking people's hands and hanging out and being part of a group. I tried that for years, and for me, it just doesn't work. I can manage it when it's the exception to the rule, only occasional enough to where I can enjoy it without it becoming too much of a drag. But to think that this would be my actual personal relaxation time? That would actually make ME want to die. And I'm not saying that lightly, because I went through that before I realised just what extended socialisation does to me. Even at its most benevolent, such as teaming in a game, it stands a good chance of making me not want to play.

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Funny thing about "don't stay still," too. I realise it's bad for physical health. Just like the food I eat and the habits I have. There's no denying that. Yet at the same time, this is what makes me - and you're not going to believe this - one of the calmest, least irritable people I know. Yeah, I get fired up over forum posts, sure, but when forced to wait an hour and a half in front of a doctor's office or go through a mind-numbingly repetitive process at work, it rarely bothers me. Stillness of body helps encourage stillness of mind, and that helps with patience. While my friends will fidget, walk around and lose patience, I can just sit down and simply wait.

Again, I know it's not a good thing, because activity is healthy. But jumpy mindset that can't sit still for more than an hour seems to bring more stress than it relieves. And I'm honestly not sure if the extra 10 years are worth the stress. I'm not sure if extra years of life are worth many more years of uncomfortable habits to earn them. Someone mentioned the irony of earning people 7 more minutes of life through a presentation that's 20 minutes long, and that's kind of what I worry about, as well. Is it worth devoting years to a lifestyle that doesn't make me happy in exchange for having more time to be unhappy in?

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Really, I'm not criticising the video. It's entirely positive and I endorse it heartily. I just think it's a bit TOO positive and a bit TOO aggressive in its attempts to "fix" people.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcanaville View Post
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

 

Posted

A very personal and insightful response, Samuel_Tow. It takes a lot of courage to be so honest and open.

My personal hope is like all things that attempt to present an answer to anything, it will appeal to those who need the change or insight and not even seriously blip on the radar for those people to whom it will not apply.

Yes, that requires an unstated assumption. But I can't imagine any motivational talk could stay on topic if it had to constantly tell people if it applies to them. I believe it is the responsibility of the individual viewer to decide if they will benefit from applying advice to their life or pass on to other things.