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Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

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Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#101

Post by somedude895 »

scandox wrote: post #81
helloplanets wrote: post #47

A pernicious excitement to learn and play chess has spread all over the country, and numerous clubs for practicing this game have been formed in cities and villages…chess is a mere amusement of a very inferior character, which robs the mind of valuable time that might be devoted to nobler acquirements … they require out-door exercises–not this sort of mental gladiatorship. A game of chess does not add a single new fa…

Lenin eventually took the same view - that chess was distracting him from a higher purpose. Perhaps a harmless game would have been a better use of his time.

I much prefer people amuse themselves to death than they think and theorize themselves- (or others, in the case of many late 19th and early 20th century intellectuals) to death.

Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#102

Post by wouldbecouldbe »

Topfi wrote: post #90
helloplanets wrote: post #47

A pernicious excitement to learn and play chess has spread all over the country, and numerous clubs for practicing this game have been formed in cities and villages…chess is a mere amusement of a very inferior character, which robs the mind of valuable time that might be devoted to nobler acquirements … they require out-door exercises–not this sort of mental gladiatorship. A game of chess does not add a single new fa…

Another more historic example in the same mold: >>If men learn [to read], it will implant forgetfulness in their souls. They will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling things to remembrance no longer from within themselves, but by means of external marks. Plato, 400-300 BC Basically, learning to read and write would lead to an overreliance and provide only a "semblance of wisdom…

He wasn’t wrong; we did lose the skill for memorising large oral works. He just missed the upside.

Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#103

Post by willguest »

malthaus wrote: post #41
alexashka wrote: post #22

Thinly veiled 'I despise stupid people', this one. They'd be boozing (more than they already are) if there wasn't such variety of cheap and available entertainment, the author doesn't seem to realize? It's not what stupid people do in their free time - it's what capable and smart people value and pursue that makes all the difference. Nietzsche laid this out quite beautifully in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Huxley and Orwe…

are you saying smart people are immune to the temptations of attention-dopamine? because i'd consider myself above average in terms of intelligence and ambition but i still fall into the procrastination trap often. now you might say that this makes me in fact "stupid" per your defininition (or maybe arrogant as i overestimate myself) but i see this in other people as well. i also would not say that being "productive"…

This sentiment, that each is entitled to a life of choosing, resonates strongly with the spirit of individualism. Within it there is a disregard for obligation or belonging that, I think, is connected to the desire for mindless occupation and distraction.

I suspect that, the more one is cut off from a sense of collective purpose, the more one finds solace in activities that reinforce a sense of "alright" in place of true wellness.

Btw, I'm also a big procrastinator and I consider it a gift. Many wonderful things in my life have been helped by it. In this sense, I agree that there is something about an inner drive that should be listened and reacted to, but I am not sure that all activities are of equal value.

Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#104

Post by detourdog »

fallous wrote: post #98
cen4 wrote: post #19

Think more about Attention. Not about Information. Information is exploding and global available Attention doesn't grow. People who pay attention to one thing, can't use the same time to pay attention to something else. So govts and corps fight over this common pool of Attention using the Media (TV/Movies/Radio/Social/News/Sports/Gaming etc etc), just like they fought over land and oil and other natural resources. Me…

Arguably religion used to provide that purpose but most of the Western world has walked away from it without choosing something to replace that sense of purpose. If, as Marx asserted, that religion was the opiate of the masses then the current "attention economy" is the methamphetamine of the masses.

What I have noticed about religion is that today's view of it is distorted. I see it as closer to psychology/sociology/civics. The description I see used today about ancient ideas of social cohesion is narrow minded with a hint of superiority.

Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#105

Post by Nasrudith »

theobreuerweil wrote: post #24
becquerel wrote: post #9

Hey guys, what if good things were actually bad? Wow!! Instead of enjoying ourselves we should instead spend eight hours a day intently studying woodworking & tax policy. The fact that people enjoy talking to each other and looking at cat pictures on social media proves that people will accept fascism and that Western liberal democracy is fated for impotence.

There is a middle ground between woodworking and TikTok, no? People enjoyed talking to each other and had fun before we had technology. It’s easy to see social media as harmless, and maybe it is, but it also has the potential to act as a powerful tool for serving propaganda and brainwashing. I’m not suggesting an actual conspiracy theory here but it’s concerning that a few huge companies have the power to broadcast (…

I disagree that influence is really that malleable. Even if we take the power of selection algorithms for granted it is still constrained and must work with the 'winds' of the content posted. If they tried something 'simple' as promoting non-mammalian meat sources they would only succeed in creating memes mocking the concept.

Besides, the most "effective" influencer does next to nothing because they were going to do that sort of thing already. There is a reason you see music stars doing promotionals for pleasurable to consume caloried drinks as a use for personal funds and not say deferred gratification products like investment banking.

Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#106

Post by detourdog »

moffkalast wrote: post #26
cen4 wrote: post #19

Think more about Attention. Not about Information. Information is exploding and global available Attention doesn't grow. People who pay attention to one thing, can't use the same time to pay attention to something else. So govts and corps fight over this common pool of Attention using the Media (TV/Movies/Radio/Social/News/Sports/Gaming etc etc), just like they fought over land and oil and other natural resources. Me…

Attention is all you need?

Attention is how we see ourselves reflected in others.

Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#107

Post by diego_sandoval »

helloplanets wrote: post #47

A pernicious excitement to learn and play chess has spread all over the country, and numerous clubs for practicing this game have been formed in cities and villages…chess is a mere amusement of a very inferior character, which robs the mind of valuable time that might be devoted to nobler acquirements … they require out-door exercises–not this sort of mental gladiatorship. A game of chess does not add a single new fa…

If this man knew TikTok, he'd have a stroke.

Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#108

Post by soulofmischief »

cen4 wrote: post #19

Think more about Attention. Not about Information. Information is exploding and global available Attention doesn't grow. People who pay attention to one thing, can't use the same time to pay attention to something else. So govts and corps fight over this common pool of Attention using the Media (TV/Movies/Radio/Social/News/Sports/Gaming etc etc), just like they fought over land and oil and other natural resources. Me…

There is a war going on for your mind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ne0DmiuHeg

Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#110

Post by hshshshsvsv »

mrkeen wrote: post #40
hshshshsvsv wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Congrats. You brainwashed yourself into believing only certain class of people can run the country. Founding fathers would be proud.

The founding fathers , not the founding parents . Those slave-owners held it self-evident that all men had the unalienable right of liberty (among other rights.) I can't remember 1984 well enough to remember any specific examples of doublethink, but they can't be as good as this one.

> The founding fathers, not the founding parents.

Sorry. Who among the founding fathers was women to call it parents? Founding fathers seems to be more accurate than founder Mothers or Founding parents.

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