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Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?

theguardian.com

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Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?

#81

Post by Zababa »

I personally don't feel the need to "keep up" with anything. That may reduce the number of things I can share with strangers I meet, but not that much. When I have a few friends that talk about the same thing for a long time, I tend to take the time to see/read it. Usually I have a good time, and I can talk to them about something that they like a lot. But this is a few movies a year at most.

Someone else quoted something from Seneca against reading too many book: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29317420. I feel like the deeper I go into something, the more I get from it. Going deeper could be seeing/reading the thing multiple times, talking about it with friends, researching it. It transforms what can be a passive consumption into an active one. I see a lot of videos, explanations or memes that are based on taking way too seriously something. While this is often used as a joke, I feel like there is value in that. I think everything can be used as a lens through which you can perceive the world, if you spend enough time with it.

Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?

#82

Post by Zababa »

wott wrote: post #35
trabant00 wrote: post #5

How one can misspell "entertainment" as "culture"? And the answer is clearly yes, the west consumes too much of it. The stress leads to distraction gluttony which leads to detachment from the real life which leads to stress as one can hardly navigate efficiently the social hive when his mental picture of it is taken from movies, shows, social media, etc.

Before I saw your post, I was indeed about to ask "When did the word 'culture' replace 'entertainment'?" In my country, where the same phenomenon happened ('divertissement' is now labelled 'culture'), I would say it was less than 10 years ago, perhaps closer to 5 years ago for a systematisation of the use. During Covid-related lockdowns and other limitations, it reached new highs: how dared we limit access to the vit…

> During Covid-related lockdowns and other limitations, it reached new highs: how dared we limit access to the vital need which 'culture' is, how dared we forbid 'culture' people ('culture' producers (!)) to work for some time, and so on.

The same thing happened in France, using the exact same wording.

Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?

#83

Post by throwaway55421 »

Hokusai wrote: post #65
throwaway55421 wrote: post #59

The Guardian aims at a particular kind of person who essentially spends their entire life in artistic theory and not the real world. They derive their worth from being able to quote at each other. For those people I'm sure it does feel like an enormous struggle. If you watch for enjoyment rather than as an attempt at gaining social cachet then it's fine.

Maybe you are right, I want to be able to talk and discuss topics with friends and peers. I feel that is hard sometimes to know what others are watching and how it matches my taste. I enjoy as much watching and reading media as I enjoy sharing that experience with others. If you do not enjoy sharing experiences with others, whatever you see is good if you like it. > rather than as an attempt at gaining social cachet…

There is a difference between what you describe, and "being cultured", which is an attempt to elevate one's self above others.

UK class system stuff vs. being in a subculture on a forum. "The" culture, vs some shared interest.

Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?

#84

Post by lm28469 »

maze-le wrote: post #45
trabant00 wrote: post #5

How one can misspell "entertainment" as "culture"? And the answer is clearly yes, the west consumes too much of it. The stress leads to distraction gluttony which leads to detachment from the real life which leads to stress as one can hardly navigate efficiently the social hive when his mental picture of it is taken from movies, shows, social media, etc.

You are probably thinking about "high culture" when you mention "culture". Culture is everything humans do to express themselves, from literature to theatre to entertainment to dancing to philosophy and religion.

Entertainment would be low culture then (?). A lot of modern media (marvel, netflix, most of youtube, anything trending basically) is made to be consumed once and forgotten. They're templated products made to generate the maximum amount of revenues from the least amount of work. Yet this is what people think about when you talk about culture these days (and definitely what they "consume" the most), culture has been made global and is all about marketing (go watch the top 1 movie on netflix right now, red notice, it's objectively bad on almost all aspects yet it cumulated 150 million hours of streaming)

Modern "culture" is almost entirely based on entertainment and pass time. How many times have I recommended a book and a movie to be told it's "too hard", "too serious", "not entertaining"... There is a reason why Marvel movies are always in the top of the charts, unplug your brain, grab you favorite sugary snacks and teleport yourself 3 hours in the future.

We call it "content" for a reason, shapeless and tasteless content to fill up the mere containers we became.

Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?

#85

Post by bovermyer »

playpause wrote: post #78
bovermyer wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a sentiment that resonates strongly with me. I've tried to keep up with the latest - whether it's books, movies, or programming libraries - and inevitably, I spread my attention too thin and learn too little about too much. Now, I've swung the other direction, and begun really dedicating my attention to a narrow set of things in just about every facet of my life. It's... an interesting difference.

Can you elaborate? I’m interested to know how you’ve done this, and what differences you’ve noticed, good and bad.

It's been a journey rather than a clearly defined process. Easing back on TV/movies, for example, has been just as much about self-discovery ("what do I actually enjoy?" is a surprisingly difficult question to answer) as it has about choosing what to watch and when.

Fear of missing out has been a struggle, but not as much of one as it used to be. Learning to accept that I won't have context for things others are talking about has been difficult, and sometimes I still feel left out when some friends are gushing about a show I have no interest in watching. On the other hand, being able to have really deep conversations about the specific shows/movies I devote time to is, in my opinion, worth the trade off. It just feels better.

Outside of pop culture it gets more nuanced, but a few things seem universal. I get more satisfaction out of the things I devote time to. I feel less rushed. I feel more confident talking about the subjects I'm familiar with.

Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?

#86

Post by micromacrofoot »

BLKNSLVR wrote: post #68
micromacrofoot wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but why? I already have the title to my house

All other examples of things being done electronically that were done physically go here.

I have my title electronically. I see literally zero benefit to involving the blockchain, but there seem to be quite a few downsides.

Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?

#87

Post by kashyapc »

bovermyer wrote: post #75
kashyapc wrote: post #64

"Too many books" was apparently a problem already 2000 years ago; here's Seneca advising his friend against it, in his letter-2: [quote] Be careful, though, about your reading in many authors and every type of book. It may be that there is something wayward and unstable in it. You must stay with a limited number of writers and be fed by them if you mean to derive anything that will dwell reliably with you. One who is…

This is a sentiment that resonates strongly with me. I've tried to keep up with the latest - whether it's books, movies, or programming libraries - and inevitably, I spread my attention too thin and learn too little about too much. Now, I've swung the other direction, and begun really dedicating my attention to a narrow set of things in just about every facet of my life. It's... an interesting difference.

Fully agree. It's a thoroughly losing game to "try to keep up" on many fronts anyway.

In general, I suggest to embrace "JOMO" (joy of missing out) — a killer feature that helps keep our resting heart-rate remarkably consistent and healthy.

Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?

#88

Post by monsieurgaufre »

BLKNSLVR wrote: post #54
OwlsParlay wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This does feel like my opinion on NFTs / Cryptocoins.

Extend the idea of NFTs to actual registered ownership of a thing you care about, like the title of your house, or your rental agreement, rather than a fucking pixelated jpg a child would be ashamed of, and it might look like something a bit more representative of a worthwhile future.

The house of cards you are standing on doesn't seem to pass the "is it worth something to people who don't already have skin in the game?" contrary to the title of a house. Beanie babies aren't worth much now.

Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?

#89

Post by Mandelmus »

newsbinator wrote: post #63

> Maintaining my fluency was getting harder and harder: I was a media studies professor who was able to devote hours of my ostensible working day to the task of consuming media. I was still falling far behind, and more so every day. In discussing my struggle to metabolise what felt like a never-ending meal, I’m focusing on television. But television was just part of the larger, overwhelming feast. Around the time tel…

I could well imagine those lines in a dystopian 80s scifi novel right next to Neil Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves to Death” on the shelf.

Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?

#90

Post by onemoresoop »

midasuni wrote: post #36
js8 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can one not include entertainment into culture? The word "culture" always had two meanings, a. what people in some collective do and b. "high culture", the stuff that is somehow supposed to reflect on human condition.

Doesn’t “celebrities eating bugs” reflect on the human condition?

> Doesn’t “celebrities eating bugs” reflect on the human condition?

Of course it does but not literally and seen from a certain perspective. I'm thinking of the shallow aspect of fame and the meaninglessness that comes with it and the desperation to keep the spotlight pointing at them. Celebrities behaviors are an aspect of the human nature after all.

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