Everything2
Near Matches
Ignore Exact
Full Text
Everything2

Slack is a way of life

created by 65535

(idea) by 65535 (6 y) (print)   ?   (I like it!) 4 C!s Tue Jun 20 2000 at 21:21:48

slack is a way of life if ("slacking off" != "being unproductive") {
    write aNodetoClarifySituation;
}

It's a common misconception that all "slackers" and "potheads" are people without motivation -- the ones who smoke pot and play video games and not much else. While this is true of some, it must be realized that more than a passtime, or an adjective for loafers, slack is a way of life.

Conventionally, when these slackers use the word slack, they are not necessarily referring to idleness. Rather, slack is a more general term which loosely means: "any occupation that is not shitty and boring and is probably some amount of fun". This definition allows for the inclusion of "real work" or "maximum lounge mode".

let's see...
these are some examples:
SLACK                  |               NOT SLACK
-----------------------+------------------------
                       |                        
Web design for fun     |  Searching in vain for 
                       |  drivers you need      
                       |                        
Programming for fun    |  School- or work-      
                       |  assigned development  
                       |                        
Sitting back, smoking  |  Sitting in your chair,
a joint                |  realizing it's only   
                       |  9.20am                
                       |                        
Playstation            |  Windows 95a           
                       |                        
Sex                    |  Meetings              
                       |                        
Time with friends      |  Time with the co-     
                       |  workers               
                       |                        
Listening to music     |  Rebooting             
                       |                        
Watching clouds go by  |  Rotting under the     
on a spring day        |  fluorescents          
                       |                        
Here are the slackers I mean:
Slackers are divided from the rest of society not by their uselessness, but more by their selective and sometimes self-centered ways.

Slackers are not bound by the mechanical ideals that elevate the importance of time and work.

Slackers want the world to be custom and comfortable.

Slackers are those damn kids who were ready for the internet before it happened.

For further reading:
Special cigarette
In Praise of Idleness by Bertrand Russell
that feeling like you weren't paying attention
Church of the SubGenius
We Are the Music Makers
work slack project
Choose Everything

printable version
chaos

In Praise of Idleness special cigarette work slack project Church of the Subgenius
Nodespotting We are the music makers The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics Slackware
I enjoy slacking. Does that mean I'm going to Hell? Horizontal is a way of life Bertrand Russell anecdotes J. R. "Bob" Dobbs
Screw UNIX, I'm just going to smoke pot and eat Cheetos for the rest of my life slack Corporate Sedition slacker
Grammar as a tool, not a rule Legalization of marijuana Just because you should do something doesn't mean you can !=
Fluorescent excremeditation Bertrand Russell Boss key
Y'know, if you log in, you can write something here, or contact authors directly on the site. Create a New User if you don't already have an account.
  Epicenter
Login
Password

password reminder
register

Everything2 Help

Cool Staff Picks
Just another sprinkling of indeterminacy
Morrowind
Bozo the Clown
Für Elise
feline hedonism
Angelheaded Hipsters
Take now your son, your only son, Isaac
porridge
Choosing and applying to a Graduate School
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
United States Sex Laws
Music For Supermarkets
Everything Quests - Discover India
Information doesn't want to be anything
New Writeups
octillion369
Frost wyrm(person)
kalen
Three "T"s(idea)
octillion369
Undead(idea)
archiewood
Ico(fiction)
Heisenberg
Why I love Everything2(log)
octillion369
Death Knight(person)
XWiz
Are you hoping for a miracle?(review)
santo
The Host(review)
LostPsion
"Shut the Fuck Up" Theaters(idea)
Vanish
The line between normal and not(place)
Vanish
insanity(thing)
beatrice
You've been slowly taking me over for nearly a year, do you know that?(idea)
Berek
YouTube(thing)
shaogo
How to Pretend to Have a Job(idea)
hapax
Les Provinciales(review)
E2 is a by-product of the existence of The Everything Development Company