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Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

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Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#111

Post by bsenftner »

mdp2021 wrote: post #67
gomerspiles wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Biden was never an entertainer like the other 2 demented old men (entrusted with WMDs) under discussion. If we send you to space you'll have to pass a fitness test.. Because we aren't stupid? But sure, anyone in the middle of a psychotic break who can't tell fact from fiction should be fine for the entirety of national interests. Shoot down another plane for the old Gipper!

> If we send you to space you'll have to pass a fitness test.. Because we aren't stupid? The real problem societies face is reaching a good fitness test for decision makers. That includes voters - discriminating, promoting, managing (etc.) the best electorate. And we had more focus and success in the past (abbeys, Venice etc.) than in the present, where the matter of electoral systems is kept like a theoretical branc…

That "fitness test" would be measuring a person's maturity, or better said "lack of immaturity". How to measure maturity might just be the most important measure ever devised by the human race, because it would enable US, the humans being led by our democracies, to finally demote the power hungry smooth talking immature, short sighted leaders.

Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#112

Post by yldedly »

alexashka wrote: post #74
yldedly wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>it's what capable and smart people value and pursue that makes all the difference. How do you know capable and smart people will keep having good values? Seems to me that it's true until it isn't - populism takes over politics, ideology takes over the humanities, science gets Goodharted to death, etc. Values are highly circular - we value what high-status people in our (sub)culture value, and you become high-status…

> How do you know capable and smart people will keep having good values? 'Good' values don't exist, so we need not worry about that one :)

Then what do you mean when you say "make a difference"?

Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#113

Post by jumping_frog »

have_faith wrote: post #79

People always reference 1984 but Orwell’s essay “Pleasure Spots” is probably more relevant to this subject: https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwel...

I think there was a quote by a Nordic writer (possibly Hans Christian Andersen) in which he talked about how circuses and amusement parks keep people distracted and busy so we don't focus on important policy issues.

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220818-the-surprisingl...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses

Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#115

Post by jumping_frog »

mixtureoftakes wrote: post #55

Most of us will read this and continue living our life exactly the same way as before …wake up

Even if people wake up and "do something", govts will just tire us out. Similar to how online protests against reddit, (or on ground protests like occupy [X], and so on) and others failed. We have no option but to accept what is handed out to us.

Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#116

Post by tempodox »

tlb wrote: post #62

The sad thing is that none of it is very amusing. Current events twitter is more aggravating than amusing. We're aggravating ourselves to death.

The point is that it's both distraction. Social media has told us that enragement sucks up even more attention than amusement. Mission accomplished.

Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#117

Post by Nevermark »

chongli wrote: post #58
onion2k wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But no one wins as long as Global Human Attention isn't given purpose. The problem is that "people working in Attention Capture fields" are the exact people who are winning, at least by the most common scoring mechanism of 'wealth'.

They're enriching their bank accounts just as they're impoverishing their spirits. On their deathbeds, no one ever says "gee, I wish I'd spent more time at the office." The same could be said for any other wealth-motivated exercise. If I have learned one thing in life it is this: money is, at best, a necessary evil. A means to an end. Pursuing it as an end in itself is an indication that we have strayed from the path…

Money has made it far easier to barter work into what people need to survive, obtain stability & enjoy life, than its absence.

It’s easy to be jaded by those that obviously value it more than others’ well being.

But the mismatch of priorities is what is wrong, that doesn’t negate money’s positive practical value & impact.

Most people have a more multifaceted relationship with money than as a dehumanizing god or drug.

Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#118

Post by hshshshsvsv »

onion2k wrote: post #35
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.

I think it's fair to say the "why not inject yourself with bleach!" people shouldn't be running the show while there's a class of people who do what people tell them without questioning whether it's a good idea. People in power have a responsibility not to suggest things that would kill people. That isn't a high bar.

This assumes people are stupid and have no intelligence of their own and needs to be told what they should be doing.

Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#119

Post by TacticalCoder »

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.

> Lenin eventually took the same view - that chess was distracting him from a higher purpose

The world would have been a better place had he kept playing chess then.

Re: Amusing Ourselves to Death (2009)

#120

Post by j_maffe »

tankenmate wrote: post #78
mikub wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is not really wrong. Chess can be fun, but I always thought it is pretty fascinating that the chess champions are viewed by the media as some kind of genius. I mean, it's just a game, not more but also not less.

But playing Chess at any serious level (more than a couple hours a week) has some non Chess side effects; it teaches you to examine your own behaviour, it teaches you that even if you're very good you can still lose (and hopefully how to lose well), and it teaches you that the other side gets a vote (get a turn, no action happens in a vacuum). All of which are very valuable life lessons.

You learn all of these lessons by practicing most other practices/crafts.
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