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by th0ma5 3072 days ago
Step 1. Be wealthy :P

I am always enamored with the simplicity of one's living space being directly proportional to wealth. I try hard to not have much stuff, but my living options are seemingly always going to be working class style places with pretty much the antithesis of what is apparent in this photo.

Of course the camera lies, and I shouldn't compare my insides to some else's outsides. There's probably a new puppy being paper trained just behind the camera, or a bunch of pocket change and random pens in a pile usually on that desk, but I do lament that I may never have such a simple, clean, and uncluttered living space. The spaces I may ever have will have things like unvaulted ceilings, windowsills, trim, standard door size passages between rooms, probably carpet heh...

I do wonder if such things prevent clarity of thought.

4 comments

"I have too much stuff. Most people in America do. In fact, the poorer people are, the more stuff they seem to have. Hardly anyone is so poor that they can't afford a front yard full of old cars."

http://www.paulgraham.com/stuff.html

There's another dead comment that explains a lot of it.

I cannot see a reason why that particular comment is dead so I guess it's based on the posting history.

One of the most liberating things I ever did was move country with only a single checked bag.

The sheer amount of useless shit that I threw away was astounding.

That is probably because they are buying non running examples for parts and also do DIY as they cant afford the > £200 ph for a BMW mechanic.
It's easy to get rid of stuff if it's no big deal to just buy it again. Less well-off people don't have that luxury.
Just stash crap in bins or drawers rather than on top of your desk.
Have you given up on making some money?
I guess no? But I did for sure notice a change in my ambition / perspective a while ago after I crossed the theoretical threshold mentioned quite a bit a few years ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1381927

I guess I value time more now? Honestly I may have to sit on your question a while and maybe it was one that was lingering when I posted my comment.

Oh, 60 000 USD/year? My first reaction is that this is tons of money, and that you should easily be able to afford fancy cameras, a high-powered computer, and a well-kept place to live, as we see in the link. Congratulations! Then again, maybe the cost of living where you are is higher than what I'm used to, so I guess I can't draw any certain conclusions.