In terms of items I have owned, I have always been limiting the amount that I own. For e.g., 5 pieces of work clothes (Shirt and Pants), 5 sets of exercises clothes, etc.. It got me thinking isn’t being a minimalist by owning less basically keeping only the essential items that you need and require? So how does it differ from an essentialist? And also does anyone have difficulty not doing retail therapy? I find buying new things to replace old or broken items, a great thing to do, but watching every review to find out the best item for your buck seems like a very time consuming activity.
Many physical buttons and knobs are infinitely superior to a touchscreen in a car and I’ll die on this hill.
1-muscle memory lets you find it without looking
2-works when wet.
3-doesn’t require an ultra precise and specific press, jaw your sausage fingers all up on the knobs.
And more. People hit other cars doing stuff as simple as turning a single know for the radio. Selecting through a touchscreen take a lot more time and focus.
Fully agree with this.
I'm not against a touchscreen, but every car should have an analog fallback option so you are not forced to use it. My winter gloves can't work with it for the 5 months of the year.
And the tiiiiniest bit of moisture like cmon I gotta wipe the windows or my leaky faucet of a face!
Reminds me of when US navy went full touchscreen on boats that roll and move with the ocean.
I am absolutely dreading having to get a new car right now. I love my tiny old car.
Plus not as likely to break and No updates needed.
Essential updates
Channel you listen to is moving to a different station!
The almost infinite list of safety concerns aside it’s just a lot more annoying and difficult to use. Of course automakers are doing it, they can stop making and designing individual car controls. Slap a shite quality screen in there and call it a day.
Shite quality? Yes there are grades to electronics and Tesla is famous for using not automotive grade electronics that are built and made to break in 5-6 years.
“Industrial grade” was chosen over “automotive grade” electronics.
https://www.thedrive.com/tech/27989/teslas-screen-saga-shows-why-automotive-grade-matters
Until it doesn't, the iPad kids who grows up and starts driving in a few years will be more adjusted to touch-screens than we are. Maybe even more adjusted to the digital touch controls than the physical knobs and buttons.
Doesn’t mean it takes them 0.5 seconds to go through 3-4 menus to find the volume control to then start adjusting it.
Still takes time to go through each of those steps, time and focus away from the road.
A single point of contact (one screen) is much less efficient than everything right there ready to go.
Agreed. I do think it can be less and more well made. And some buttons should be physical as you said.
My understanding is that minimalism is more about your physical and digital clutter, whereas essentialism is more about how you spend your time, energy and focus. There's some overlap obviously, but I read the book Essentialism and found it was more about streamlining your lifestyle, how to prioritise and time/energy management.
This topic about digital clutter is so actual, really! I don’t know what goes first, digital or physical. Sometime I think that digital clutter is so similar to clutter in the mind.
Minimalism is about owning as few possessions as possible and only having what you need to survive and be happy. So, for instance, owning items for your hobby is not needed for basic survival but they are needed to be happy and have a life and not just exist.
Essentialism is internal and means only doing the basic tasks to survive and be happy.
So I guess you could say an essentialist would naturally be a minimalist but you can do minimalism without essentialism. So essentialism is a more extreme sub-section of minimalism.
That's my understanding of it. Maybe I'm wrong.
From my understanding, essentialism is more about personal fulfillment, rather than survival. It’s more so about making trade offs of where to spend your time and energy, even if it means accumulating more. A minimalist that finds joy in puzzles may have 1 puzzle box in their home at a time to reduce the physical amount owned. If an essentialist finds joy in puzzles, they may own a 10 puzzles-but these puzzles hold sentimental value because they were purchased while on their travels; however this essentialist won’t have board games or toys because they personally don’t see the value in it. This can apply to tasks too.
Essentialism doesn’t have a scarcity, survival mindset. You can have more of something if it’s essential to you. And as a result, you’ll naturally reduce the amount of your overall possessions for things that actually bring you joy.
I think this describes it well.
Essentialism is prioritizing what is essential in your life whilst still bringing you fulfillment and joy.
Minimalism is removing things out of your life that is not in use anymore, that does not serve a purpose. And only keeping things that are required.
For e.g. Keeping all the medals from marathon races on the wall even though they don’t serve any purpose is considered Essentialism, the joy comes not from the clean wall but from the clutter of achievements even if you rarely view them daily.
Am I right to say this?
That makes it clearer for me. I obviously didn't fully understand it, until now.
I think essentialism counts as minimalism, but it's not exactly interchangeable
like how all medicine is drugs but not all drugs are medicine
I can't say that I have heard of essentialism, but minimalism has many versions and boils down to what YOU need to be comfortable and function in life. I expect that essentialism is pretty much the same. I strive for minimalish. I'll never fully live as a minimalist but I have pared down my life a considerable amount and I'm happy to see how little I need to be comfortable and happy.
Essentialism is just minimalism for people who have hang ups with calling themselves minimalists
No.
[I]sn’t being a minimalist ... only the essential items that you ... require? ... [H]ow does it differ from an essentialist? ... [A]nyone have difficulty not doing retail therapy?
Minimal is a range while essential is a threshold. Essential has things cut to the wire. And Minimal has more breathing room.
Re:Retail Therapy, delayed gratification works wonders. If it takes 3 months to get here, do I really need it? Is there a better way?
What you're describing is ascetism.
Could be that but it lacks the part where one is doing it for spiritual goal(s) though
Way before the new ways of simple living, frugality, minimalism, even ´essentialism' became popular, was a great Greek philosopher, Epicure. He was not a hedonist, and talked little about food and wine. So, not much to do with nowaydays "epicurians". Epicure did believe pleasure and avoiding pain and displeasures were important for happiness, but his way to achieve those goals was certainly not through accumulation and constant trepidation to be busy, rich, powerful and so on, but to prioitize instead the simple life, the good healthy life, the tranquil life, the peaceful mind (ataraxia), with gardening, good friends, exercize, nature walks, and so on. The epicurian would probably go for a symposium once in a while (a nice meal with intelligent guests) but far from a gluton, or a stressed hedonist, the real epicurian is a practical minimalist.
No, minimalism and essentialism are not the same. But some people tend to conflate them. There is some overlap. Essentially, essentialis only buy essentials. As minimalist may buy some added creature comforts, may choose to buy quality items, etc
Ah okays, so as an essentialist, you are prioritizing what is important only, for e.g. if you need to call people on your phone, a wired earphone works so you dont have to get a true wireless earbud. As a minimalist, you know what you require for a certain purpose and you are looking into buying quality items that will last you a lifetime or a few years instead with extra perks and comfort. Is that what you mean?
No.
Let's use clothes as an example.
- One person will only choose what's "essential"
The other (me) will have all clothes that are favorites.
Favorites are not essentials.
But both are still minimalist.
ie "I only keep what's essential" vs "I only keep everything I love" == not the same.
I don’t thinks so, not for me.
My version of minimalism includes a comfy sofa with fuzzy blankets, and enough stuff but not much.
I don’t care about only having what is essential, I care about not having too much. Only having what’s essential is more time and effort than I want to invest in dealing with things. The point to me is to not invest time and effort in things.