Geekosaur News 3: It's not a backlog, it's a collection

Feb 13, 2021geekosaurNews

Welcome to the 3rd issue of Geekosaur Weekly, wishing everyone a great lunar new year!

Shower Though: It's not a backlog, it's a library

This comes from the r/patientgamers subreddit, which I highly recommend if you are a gamer.

Months ago I saw a post on Reddit called You Don't have a Backlog. It got me thinking, and helped me a bit to manage my FOMO, at least with books and games I have piling up. The thing is: backlog is a list of tasks that should be done. They are chores, and you do because you have to. That's not how it works for leisure time.

The way we should refer to it should be collection or library, and know that what we have is a list of things we can consume as we want, when we want. Time is the one thing you can't get back, and you can't buy more. Spending time on games (or books, or anything else) just because you bought them on a sale is not good for anyone. That's the basis of the sunk cost fallacy.

I can't say that this though 'cured me' of thinking that my consoles are not being used, or that there are shows that I didn't finish, and books I bought that I didn't read. But being more aware of it definitely helps puts things into perspective.

Article: The Sunk Cost Fallacy Is Ruining Your Decisions

Since I mentioned the sunken cost fallacy in the previous section, I think it's good to have an article on it as this week's suggested reading!

The Sunk Cost Fallacy Is Ruining Your Decisions

Reading

This week I devoured The Institute by Stephen Hawking. That's my first Stephen Hawking book and I can say that I definitely get it why people rush to read his new books as they come out. The book is quite long - around 560 pages with a font that's not so big. I'm not a speedy reader when it comes to enjoyment, and the book took me a bit over 14 hours to finish, 13 of which was this week - I started the previous Friday, but only read a bit on the first 2 days.

Last time I mentioned I wanted to read more, about 5 hours a week, and I guess I exceeded the goal. Now I'll chill for a bit, and maybe start binging my next book tomorrow!

A few quotes from it

Great events turn on small hinges.

He wanted to tell Luke that he loved him. But there were no words, and maybe no need of them. Or telepathy. Sometimes a hug was telepathy.

Music

Did you know that Steve Martin plays the banjo, and he's really good at it? He collaborated with Steep Canyon Rangers for a while. He also worked with Edie Brickell. I highly suggest checking his Youtube Channel.