[paxys]

The ROI calculation is way too short sighted to be meaningful. To start you are already paying college tuition, and the expectation is to get an education that will help you pay off the loans (and then some). Going a few hundred deeper in the hole every month to have a roof over your head (you know, the most basic requirment for humans after water and food) is a no brainer and will massively increase your education ROI. A couple months of "homeless man" cosplay is probably fun and games but start to face the heat, cold, humidity, animals, police, theft, physical danger and more and those As aren't going to remain As for long.

[5mv2]

You're right that I was arguably irrationally attached to not ending uni with too much debt.

For the rest, I'm with you it might be hard to replicate beyond this n = 1 sample, but I'm convinced this experiment's ROI is actually much more positive than suggested in the post.

Not only did I get better grades that semester from being forced to spend more time in the library, but I learned a lot living at people's places afterwards, and, most importantly, the feeling of freedom from materials matters allowed me to make bolder bets that paid back multiple times over.

You can even go further: even if my grades had gone down, I still would have been more employable for many types of companies, starting with early stage startups.

[bboygravity]

Doesn't living in a tent also make you less vulnerable to smartphone and laptop addictions?

I noticed in myself that when I stay in minimal places (camping/jungle hut/tent), I tend to be more connected to the real world and less addicted. More productivity, clearer thought.

[Tijdreiziger]

I read a comment on Reddit along the lines of ‘if you doomscroll every day to wake up, you wreck your dopamine levels for the day before even getting out of bed’.

I don’t have enough medical knowledge to assess this claim, but I made a simple rule: don’t touch the phone before getting out of bed! (except to turn off the alarm)

So far, it really seems to work!

[lugu]

This is even more true for kids. Zero screen in the morning.

[5mv2]

That’s another huge plus yes! I made a point of never bringing my laptop and turning off data on my phone before going every night.

Hard to quantify how much of a difference this made, but it definitely translated in higher drive and propensity to being present.

[dangus]

That sounds like an unrelated problem to your own addictions.

Arguably a dorm is pretty minimal as well, it’s just a climate controlled room with a bed.

If you have to physically remove yourself from housing to stop using technology negatively, that’s an addiction problem, not a problem with housing.

[5mv2]

That's definitely true, but you also see how some settings make it easier to be virtuous than others right?

Also, the success apps like tiktok and instagram does suggest addiction is more the norm than the exception.

[dangus]

Perhaps, but it’s not really a reason to eschew conventional shelter. You’d probably try some smaller changes first (e.g., setting up screen time restrictions, deleting apps, switching to a dumb phone).

[knuppar]

Better grades: could've spent more time in the library while paying rent anyway.

Learned a lot living at people's places: you could plan a month of no accomodation and couch surf, don't think that's such a stretch. More fundamentally, the tent piece was just a "social opener" to learn more about others. Many other things can be this social opener.

Material freedom: I buy that the experiment showed you that and that's awesome, but I also think some solid therapy around one's understanding of material reality could play a similar role.

[5mv2]

For the grades, it's true you could always spend more time in the library out of sheer willpower. It was nice just to be nudged into it by this lifestyle, and definitely helped as willpower is limited.

People's places: have you heard of people doing this? I'm genuinely curious because I could never bring myself to be a nuisance if I didn't absolutely need it, meaning the blocker is definitely real yet fully in my head here.

Material freedom: I guess I haven't seen enough to agree with this one yet. The only intellectual pursuit I know that would genuinely get you closer to not caring about life so much as to reduce your fear in homelessness is the study of physics!

[danans]

> but start to face the ... animals, police, theft, physical danger and more and those As aren't going to remain As for long.

These are the real dangers that a roof and walls offer you protection from. If you happen to find a benign niche where you don't face these threats, it's likely because there is an invisible layer of defense being provided to you by the societal structures around you.

[divbzero]

> I learned a lot living at people's places afterwards

The “Community Support” section was my favorite. I would love to hear you elaborate on experiences and lessons you learned while staying with others.

[rambambram]

Why put this experience along some pseudo-objective yardstick? Just read the article, the author tells you already how he experienced it and why he decided to do this. If you would not do this yourself, that's okay, but don't take away from the author like this.