[goodJobWalrus]

> It's not really "no harm done" - the opportunity cost of wasting time that could be spent on other activities is a deterrent, for me at least.

But this is really true for any activity. You don't know you'll like it until you try it. If you tried it and didn't like you wasted your time.

The only problem I see is if you continue to do meditation even if you don't enjoy it because you believe in benefits. But like with working out, I doubt that really happens. If people can't find enjoyment in it, they drop it sooner or later.

[icebraining]

The problem with meditation, and similar "experiences that can't be described", is that you never know if you tried it long enough or well enough to actually enjoy it, or if it simply doesn't work for you.

Working out, at least if done correctly - which can be assessed by others - will provide some benefits even if you never get to enjoy it.

And the loss is not just wasted time - it's the feelings of frustration and low self-esteem that come from the perception that you're failing without having idea how to improve.

[goodJobWalrus]

> The problem with meditation, and similar "experiences that can't be described", is that you never know if you tried it long enough or well enough to actually enjoy it

But this is also true for most activities (playing a violin, playing tennis, or programming). Still, we decide whether any of it is for us by trying it. People who get into it, stay in it for long enough to really learn it and get benefits of it, people who don't get into it, and don't enjoy it on some level drop it quickly. I'm not saying that this is theoretically the best way to explore new activities, it's more of an observation that this is how people generally do it and that meditation is no different. You try it, and it either does something for you (enough to keep doing it), or it doesn't and you drop it.

[DanBC]

> You don't know you'll like it until you try it.

Article isn't about whether you enjoy it or not; article is about whether it has benefits or not.

In that specific context "I think it brings me benefits" is not good enough even though "I enjoy it" is.

[goodJobWalrus]

I was responding to a guy/gal that was wondering whether to try it if there is no hard evidence that it is beneficial. My answer to that is: try it, if you like it, it doesn't matter whether there are all those claimed benefits. The fact that you like it is enough a reason to do it.

If you don't like it, even if there are benefits (like there are from working out) and even if you know there are, you likely won't stick to it anyways (like most people don't stick to exercise regimes).