241–250 of 296 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree, apps like these and previously musically (sp?) are extremely shallow and promote narcissistic traits in gullible teenagers. Glad I was not a teen in 2019.
There were plenty of other mechanisms whenever you were in high school to promote "narcissistic traits in gullible teenagers," a sentence which is probably the most "old man yells at clouds" thing I've heard in a week.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There were plenty of other mechanisms whenever you were in high school to promote "narcissistic traits in gullible teenagers," a sentence which is probably the most "old man yells at clouds" thing I've heard in a week.
Let me clarify : I did not say this was the "only' thing that distracts teens. Your passive aggressive statement shows that you're having a bad day and want to be rude just for the sake of it. Good day.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Not sure if you're doing this intentionally Don't say things like this. If you have a problem with my argumentation, then just say it; don't couch it in weasel words. As it happens, I addressed the assertion that people are different. Of course people are different, between individuals, between cities, between regions, between states, etc. You then proceeded to refute that very point, so I'm not sure what your thes…
>I'm not sure what your thesis is Is there a vast, shared culture or not? There is not a vast shared culture outside of the lowest common denominator: popular entertainment. >Don't say things like this. If you have a problem with my argumentation, then just say it; don't couch it in weasel words. Humor can be cryptic online these days. I wanted to make sure you weren't making a joke that went over my head. In my view…
Makes no difference. That simply means the widespread culture is evolving.
> I think "American culture", as you described it, is an antiquated concept that died in the 20th century
You're free to think what you like, but that doesn't make you any more correct. Again, culture isn't static; why are your ideas about it?
> This is just capitalism
Nope. There are plenty of capitalist nations around the world, all with completely different ideas about what's worth spending more for, what constitutes a good deal, whether it's worth demanding to see the manager, etc.
By way of example: haggling, for instance, is very much _not_ a thing in my country. It's seen as incredibly rude. Ditto for tipping, it's not expected by the staff and patrons don't expect to give one. Paying by cash, seen in my country as a bit old fashioned and fuddy-duddy; on the other hand, paying by credit card is a little bizarre. In America, the opposite or something close to it is true; at the very least, the social acceptability of such actions differs to an appreciable extent. Those are examples of cultural artefacts.
> and English
Again, no. Linguistic norms, politeness, courtesy, and all that sort of thing are very different amongst English-speaking countries, even the US and Canada. Yet, widespread, generalisable norms are to be found in America alone that differ from the rest of the world; I gave an example, the use of 'please' and "thank you".
People from Commonwealth countries tend to think Americans don't say 'please' or "thank you" enough; on the other hand, Americans wouldn't dream of saying "thank you" in the same places that British people might.
Anyway, try telling a sociolinguist that "the English language" is global enough to not be used differently between nations. Language is one of the strongest markers of cultural belonging, and the way that Americans, in general, use English isn't limited to trivial things like whether colour (correctly) has a 'u' in it.
> This all varies quite a bit among hispanic, whites, asians, and african americans. No cohesion here.
Again, who is talking about cohesion? You're still under the impression that culture means everybody has to be of the same mindset, as opposed to finding generalisable-yet-shared facets that are common to the largest population of a given group available.
The group in question is Americans, overall.
Again, not a checklist.
> Maybe, but I think we grew up in demographically different "Americas".
I'm not American. I'm from New Zealand. The values of America, the habits, the behaviours, the attitudes, the fashions, the foods, the tastes, the festivals, the celebrations, the commiserations, the way people interact — they are markedly different than here in New Zealand.
And yes, of course there are differences — between people grouped by race, religion, affiliation, their hometown, their current city, whatever state they're in — but the overall, generalisable cultural artefacts are what they are.
If you're only going to point out the differences between individuals or micro-groups, and ignore things at the macro level, then you're not talking about culture at all. I believe the reason is that, as hinted by your notion that "American culture" is something that has the ability to become 'outdated', you think culture is prescriptive: that to be American means ascribing to certain values, certain ideals, certain beliefs.
Yet, culture is not concrete. Culture evolves, it reforms, it absorbs: the multicultural nature of America adds to the culture, transforms it, and makes it something new — but still American.
Culture is descriptive. It is impossible for it to become 'outdated' unless the very idea of an American people is outdated; that is not one that has yet proven to have fallen by the wayside.
Additionally, American culture is exported so heavily through entertainment and literature, books, films, television, and so on, that its saturation around the world might feel like everything that was once so American is now global. I assure you, this is not the case; for our cultures, in all other nations around the world, are just as adept at taking what we like of American culture and discarding the rest, keeping our cultures ours.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have been here rather longer than you, and not noticed a decline in the time period you’ve identified. I do note however there seems to be a tendency in all communities for people to think it declined since they started using it.
I feel like lately there's been more politics, in terms of news articles as well as comments along the lines of "boo Google" or "boo Facebook", and less new software, people announcing their personal projects with Show HN, interesting comp sci concepts, and that sort of thing. A good example is this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19140862 I don't remember seeing that kind of politics on HN in the past.
Tencent has a meaningful ownership of American youth. 12% Snap 7.5% Spotify 40% Epic Games 100% Riot Games 100% Supercell 5% Reddit Hollywood has also been moving in this direction, with a lot of Chinese investment in the studios, and blockbusters adding special scenes with Chinese actors and locations. What does it mean for America when it's no longer the owner or creator of culture? It's historically one of our lar…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’m not sure we have culture anymore that isn’t entertainment.
Cuisine, fashion, religion, basic attitudes, lines of acceptable thought, how to behave as an individual, how to behave in a group, how to behave as a leader, how to behave as a subordinate, acceptable vices, social progress… plenty more I can think of, the majority of them not entertainment. In the US alone, this can very wildly between cities, counties, states, etc. What it means to be American in Idaho is somethin…
> Cuisine, fashion,
Cuisine seems to be universalized in the west. Everyone eats the same stuff, driven mostly by availability and cost. Regional cuisines seems to me 90% scam fed to tourists, 10% something you might find yourself enjoying on a holiday. Fashion, similarly, is almost in lock-step everywhere around the western world; everyone wears the same stuff, and regional clothing is something again fed to tourists, and sometimes seen during festivities.
A lot of businesses in EU and Asia are owned or invested by US companies in many different industries. Why are people so offensive when it is other way around?
I’ve worked with Chinese! Let’s not blame all Chinese because of what their government is doing.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've a similar problem on Twitter. I don't follow anyone for their political views, so I typically unfollow as soon as I read some but it's far from an optimal solution. I resisted setting an account up for years on Reddit, but you're absolutely right - it's the only way to effectively filter things you don't want to see.
Why the pushback on a reddit account? You don't need to post or comment. You also don't need an account if you want to whitelist with the RES extension instead: https://redditenhancementsuite.com/
I'd happily give them $5 to prove I'm human but I won't feed Google.
Tencent has a meaningful ownership of American youth. 12% Snap 7.5% Spotify 40% Epic Games 100% Riot Games 100% Supercell 5% Reddit Hollywood has also been moving in this direction, with a lot of Chinese investment in the studios, and blockbusters adding special scenes with Chinese actors and locations. What does it mean for America when it's no longer the owner or creator of culture? It's historically one of our lar…
Also note in the 1980's the Japanese were buying up a lot of Hollywood.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, it's big and growing quickly. The structure of kids memeing kids (who are told to do so by the TikTok AI and marketing team) plays well and spreads quickly.
I agree, apps like these and previously musically (sp?) are extremely shallow and promote narcissistic traits in gullible teenagers. Glad I was not a teen in 2019.