Useless Activity or Not?

[Nylena]

Spending hours on end image-surfing for video game fanart while listening to video game music. Does anyone else not understand the appeal of such an activity(or does non-active activity, seems a better description)? My roommate does this and, to me, it just seems like a pretty huge waste of time. What do you think?

[Mitera Nikkou]

I've spent months worth of hours nabbing all of the images that I've got and, while I usually don't see those images again for a while, I still get to enjoy them again when I do instead of never finding them again on the Internet.

To each their own, I guess. It's a way of keeping artwork alive and accessible for others to see, when it comes right down to it. I honestly don't know if it was worth all that time, but I feel better having the images around because I have a fondness for the kind of artwork that I've found. It probably isn't good for my sanity, though, since they feed my fantasy. ;p

[Nylena]

There is no fantasy, there is only reality that is unaccepted by people in general.

[Mitera Nikkou]

I see what people call a reality to be a fantasy, and the fantasy that I mentioned was just my personal one outside of what others have fashioned among cultures around the world. It depends on how you look at it, I guess. For instance, if what is in my head is the reality, then what would normally be called a fantasy by many would in fact be the opposite.

[Nylena]

I now pronounce you...an Enlightened person.

[Mitera Nikkou]

Nuuuu! I want a divorce this instant! I have already made a commitment to my collection of images.

[Haylie]

Not necessarily bad, but you could do a lot better.

[Lanzerus]

to each their own, i spend hours watching anime and listening to the O.S.T. from the show. i feel i have spent several hours wasted especially if it was a bad/Boring series.

[Helel]

There's probably other more 'productive' things in the world your roommate could be doing, but to each their own, as long as he's willing to reap the consequences.

[Mitera Nikkou]

The only reason why I didn't suggest that there are more productive/better things is because it's relative to the individual. The person who is actually doing the activity may not see it as many of us do, and find it well worth the time and/or effort.

Plus, for someone who can't find/manage something that they deem better, it's nice to have something to fall back on to pass the time.

[Helel]

Well, I'm not sure about Nylena's living arrangements or whatever with zee roommate, but if there's bills to be paid, you'd think the roommate could be looking for/working a job to pay expenses, or taking classes to improving prospects for a job and so forth.

You're right though, being 'productive' is relative to the person, but I suppose my main concern is moving on from the here and now to the there and future, whatever that may be.

That isn't to imply that Nylena's roommate ought to be working towards becoming the president or a CEO, but at least exploring further possibilities for things out there, rather than apparently remaining in a static state.

[Mitera Nikkou]

Shouldn't be a problem if that's what they're doing with their spare time. For all that we know Nylena's roommate has a job, is satisfied with it for now, and doesn't feel like working in-between working. People can find the oddest things to while their time away. For instance, personally, I have no idea what the appeal of stamp/coin/bug collecting is.

In the end, if the activity doesn't get in the way of priorities, it should be neither useful nor useless.

But why listen to someone who has nothing but free time, right? I'm twenty-five and I've never held an official job in my life. ;/ Still, in said spare time, I do a lot of browsing to pick up information and learn things. Most people will likely call that a good activity; but, is it really, when the vast majority of what I learn can't be used and is forgotten?

Maybe I'm making this out to be more than it is. But I can't help seeing things from multiple dimensions. I'm in no way trying to justify my own lifestyle.

[Xia]

One of my favorite lounging activities is what I call "Tangential Surfing"

I start with A. From A I move to B, which is found via a link on A or something random that caught my eye on A. From B I move to C, C to D, E to F, etc.

I've made some pretty interesting discoveries using this method. Waste of time? Possibly, you can always be doing something more productive than what you're doing currently (well, almost always). But just because something is more productive doesn't make it any more useless.

For example, its much more productive to roll silverware while not having any tables at the resteraunt I work at, but that doesn't make it any more useless.

The big deciding factor, I think, is whether or not the things the person needs to get done are getting done. If they are, and in a fashion that isn't counter-productive in the long run (procrastinating for instance. The reason why I'm currently writing a lit review at 4am), then whether or not it is useless doesn't matter.

[Raleigh]

As far as I'm concerned, there is only one thing that is a waste of time. That being watching other people play sports. If you want sports, go play them yourself not sit there and eat while others do it. Aside from that, I think everyone is entitled to spend their time as they desire.