User:CFCF/sandbox/Waste

Remember—Sisyphus was cursed to carry his boulder—as a volunteer you are free to avoid pointless tasks. If you find yourself performing one, ask yourself: "Does this really need doing?"

As a Wikipedian you will be told that your efforts are pointless and likely amount to very little. If you're reading this essay you have likely already overcome this argument, either by virtue of a rational argument you crafted to justify your actions—or by simply ignoring what other people say and going your own way—a sure sign of being a sociopath[] (but more likely simply stupidity)[]. If you by the off chance are in need of rationale for your wasteful behaviour you may consider that Wikipedia despite all its criticism actually is read by at least a few people.

Enough of pithy or rambling prelude—the point of this essay is to convey that despite this lack of deeper purpose many of us share, there are those things to concern us with that are so preposterously inane and insignificant that they amount to Sisyphean tasks—and not in that noble "fighting the good fight"-kind of way, but rather the original meaning of the phrase; endless repetition, without any effectual progress.

Before doing anything that you feel may be of limited use you should always ask yourself—does fulfilling my esoteric desire to engage in this pointless manner ruin things for others? If the answer is yes then you are not only being pointless, but you are actively being disruptive and the world is lesser for your existence.

One may argue that writing an essay about pointless practices is the very essence of pointlessness, which is why this text tries to be humorous so that at least it can produce some value. I will hereby try to bring forth some examples of pointless tasks that makes the act of producing verbiage on this obscure annoyance pale in comparison. Also, do keep reading to find out about the brilliant barnstar you can award to anyone who engages in such practices.

Justification

Volunteers are in the favorable position of not needing to justify their actions to anyone but themselves, thus it suffices that they bring personal fulfillment. As long as an action does not negatively impact others — you are free to pursue it to the end of the world. This can be considered a type of Wikipedia-libertarianism, where the only role of the police is to ensure we do not encroach on the rights of others.

Fooling yourself

Seeing as we so often have to justify our work for bosses, spouses, etc. we end up with the mentality that everything needs justification, and that everything we do must be meaningful by mere virtue of us having done it. Now, don't get me wrong, pointless actions aren't unconditionally evil, as John Lennon once put it:

Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.

— John Lennon

The crux is when we know something is inherently of very limited value — causing an obligation to be far more observant of whether it damages others. Even if potential issues are minuscule or even negligible they may outweigh the benefits. So don't believe that because you've done something for a long time — it has become more meaningful, for all it's worth the very opposite is true. That doesn't mean you've wasted your time, what you've done may very well have been fulfilling for you, but you shouldn't feel the need to convince others of the same. Consider that what you're doing has an impact on others, and wasting someone else's time is far worse than wasting your own.

Risks

Don't end up like this 14th century Sisyphus, crushed by pointless tasks. If what you are doing is pointless, find something better to do.

The problem with doing something pointless is that you can quickly get lost, fall under the influence of faulty reasoning — burning yourself out and taking it out on others. Repetition creates a habit, and once it is formed you are less likely to see the error of your ways. Spending time doing something pointless may cause you to overstate the value of the practice to the point where you inevitably push it so hard that you end up getting in the way of those who are doing meaningful work.

So before undertaking a 5-month quest to rid the encyclopedia of every ... example here — consider that while you may be proud of this achievment — but was it really the best use of your time?

Identifying pointlessness

This is where it gets hard — but there is a pretty simple protocol to follow

Analogies

To some degree people say you should not micro-optimize, but if what you love is micro-optimization — that is what you should do.

— Linus Torvalds, Aalto University Talk 2012

You literally ought to be asking yourself all the time what is the most important thing in the world I could be working on right now, and if you are not working on that why arent you?

— Aaron Swartz

Editing Wikipedia is similar to engaging in the world of open source software.

As a volunteer you are seldom

There is no need to justify beyond to yourself

Pointless jobs ...

Don't be an inadvertent troll

Sometimes we work slavishly hard to undo the work of others—often without even realizing it. Always question what motivates a certain action before you spend hours doing it.

Don't be an inadvertent troll or don't waste other peoples time means that it is okay to waste your own time, just don't waste others.

When posting to a talk-board always take a moment to think — this thing which I'm posting — will anyone actually be helped by it; will anyone be interested? If you're not 100 % clear that it is useful, or if you've previously posted multiple times and just been ignored — you might need to take a hint.

Gnoming vs. imping

It's sometimes hard to say which direction is the right one — but working against eachother is never right.

Barnstars

This barnstar should likely not be handed out, it may cause people to get angry at you. Use it humorously, as you might Wikipedia:Trouting

seldom does one see such unabashed devotion to the meaningless—you are hereby awarded the Sisyphean S of senseless sillyness. Think over why the editor who gave you this award might think you are wasting your time and contemplate refocusing your efforts.

Examples

• Judaism in Rugrats
• List of list of lists
• High_five#.22Too_slow.22
• Pogs#Military_uses