Does anyone with a WSJ subscription want to pastebin or otherwise share the content of the article from the daily beemail?
@dreev feel free to delete this if I shouldn’t be asking.
We (as Beeminder) shouldn’t endorse/facilitate that but I can at least reproduce what I said in the beemail:
The article is live today and I can now reveal that the Very Fancy Publication I referred to was the Wall Street Journal. The good news is it will be in the print edition tomorrow, maybe even technically on the front page. The bad news is most of the pro-Beeminder parts got cut and the point of the article is basically “look how crazy tech nerds are ruining an Ancient Eastern Practice”. But, y’know, no such thing as bad press. Oh, the other bad news is that the article is pretty strictly paywalled:
(Not that we’re philosophically objecting to paywalls, it’s just bad news in terms of exposure for Beeminder. I’m not even sure how to tweet about this without being a total tease. I’m sure I’ll come up with something though!)
Anyway, here are the Beemindery excerpts:
In one online group, members regularly check a leaderboard to
see who has meditated the most days in a row. A habit-tracking
website charges the credit cards of meditators if they miss
their sessions too often. One company is pitching meditators
on a wristband that reminds them to practice and, if they don’t,
gives them a mild electric shock.[…]
Some people are using goal-tracking services like Beeminder,
which charges fees when users don’t stick to new habits,
including meditation.Michael Merchant, a 29-year-old San Francisco tech
entrepreneur, found the site helpful about five years ago even
though he “felt so much shame” when he lost $810 after
repeatedly failing to practice mindfulness an hour a day. He
could have logged false data but decided to come clean.“It’s weird to admit, but it was kind of cathartic,” said Mr.
Merchant. “I’ve paid for my screw-up. Literally.”
STRAW POLL: Do you relate to this idea of paying Beeminder being cathartic? I guess it’s kind of related to Be Nice To Yourself | Beeminder Blog
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As far as I can tell, this Google loophole still works: “The Wall Street Journal to close Google loophole entirely” - https://digiday.com/media/wall-street-journal-close-google-loophole-entirely
Loading the article on incognito mode should allow you to read it via their “1 free article” limit
https://www.wsj.com/articles/stressed-type-as-are-turning-meditation-into-a-competitive-sport-1528814126