Conversations For Transformation: Essays Inspired By The Ideas Of Werner Erhard

Conversations For Transformation

Essays By Laurence Platt

Inspired By The Ideas Of Werner Erhard

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No More Thrashing

Harvest Inn, St Helena, California, USA

June 23, 2024

"To do nothing means to do exactly what you're doing. That's the way to do nothing. If you do what you're not doing, that's doing something. If you stop doing what you're doing, that's doing something. But doing exactly what you're doing - that's doing nothing."


...

"Thrashing: the state of affairs when a computer is doing more work doing the work it's assigned to do, than the work it's assigned to do."

... Laurence Platt

This essay, No More Thrashing, is the twenty second in a group of twenty two on Nothing:

I am indebted to Anita Lynn Erhard who inspired this conversation.

To process assigned tasks (updating formulae in a spreadsheet for example, printing a document etc), a computer requires resources: processor capacity, disk space, memory size, download / upload speed etc. Yet even when optimal resources aren't available, a computer can still process its assigned tasks, although it takes a little longer to process them than when optimal resources are available. So even if it requires more work by a computer to process any assigned task when optimal resources aren't available, it can still process its assigned tasks with the inevitable additional cost of the tasks running slower.

In essence, we could say an assigned task performs work, and a computer does work processing the assigned task. And if the computer doesn't have the optimal resources available with which to process the assigned task, it will then have to do more and more work processing the assigned task. Eventually it's conceivable / possible that the computer may have to do more work processing the assigned task, than the work performed by the assigned task itself.

When a computer is doing more work processing an assigned task than the work performed by the assigned task itself, we say the computer is "thrashing".

Descension from Optimal Functioning to Thrashing

Spreadsheet assigned task uses 6 system units of work.

Computer uses 2 system units of work processing assigned task.

Optimal computer functioning; assigned task completes quickly.

Spreadsheet assigned task uses 6 system units of work.

Computer uses 5 system units of work processing assigned task.

Computer and assigned task both run slowly; assigned task completes.

Spreadsheet assigned task uses 6 system units of work.

Computer uses 9 system units of work processing assigned task.

Computer is thrashing; computer and assigned task both run very slowly; assigned task may not complete.

Now I'd like to extend the notion of "thrashing" (it originates in the world of IBM mainframe computers) by applying it in the world of people too, where it becomes a useful distinction. Try this on for size: when a person is doing more work processing living their life than the work performed in living their life, I would suggest that person is thrashing. And as a segue from this point to my next, the possibility transformation offers is the possibility of being alive with no more thrashing. To ensure no more thrashing in life, consider doing more nothing in life. Yes, I'm suggesting this: do more nothing, no more thrashing.

<aside>

"Say whut!? Laurence, how do I do more nothing? Are you suggesting that if I want no more thrashing, I should consider doing nothing? (what does that even mean?)".

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm suggesting. But the thing is the 'doing nothing' to which you're hearing me allude, may not be the 'doing nothing' of which you've already always conceived.".

<un-aside>

Specifically, the "doing nothing" to which I'm alluding, is Werner's

<quote>

TO DO NOTHING MEANS TO DO EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE DOING.

<unquote>

While it may not make much sense when it's interpreted logically or intellectually, it makes total sense when it's interpreted experientally ie not when it's debated or argued but when it's experienced directly. When you do what you do while you're doing it, the experience is one of doing nothing. And what's counter-intuitive about this is when you do nothing, you get more done and there's no thrashing. Gee! I hope you get that. No more thrashing while you're living your life, frees you to live your life. Furthermore, doing what you're doing while you're doing it ie doing nothing, frees you even more to live your life.

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