What a decadent problem to have.
Maybe the problem isn't that there is too much shit to stare at, but that we spend too much time staring at shit.
Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?
91–100 of 110 posts
Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?
#92How 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.
The assertion that this is a "western" problem is both baseless and bizarre. https://www.statista.com/statistics/454772/number-social-med...
I do think western culture may be more entertainment centric, as many other countries tend to be more religion centric. Not all of them, of course. But many countries of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East place religion front and center and consequently don't value their entertainment quite as much. In American, for example, a lack of common religion means people relate through the media they consume or the activities they engage in. Culture isn't as moored to age old traditions, but instead people relish in throwing away old traditions and creating their own.
Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?
#93How 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…
I sometimes feel as though entertainment IS becoming a large part of culture. If I never watch TV or listen to the music, nor watch videos on the internet, suddenly I'm cut off from entire conversations that are happening. I feel like I need to be plugged in to entertainment in order to truly understand the culture. But I can't say how much this would be true in 1950s America, or in other countries like Nigeria or Bangladesh
Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?
#94There’s always been a lot of cultural stuff, but the key difference is the reduction of shared culture. 30-50 years ago if you wanted to read enough to contextualise The Waste Land [1] it would require a massive amount of ‘high culture’ from earlier centuries (and not just in English). Nowadays it would still be a huge amount of work though perhaps would not require trips to obscure German libraries. But 30-50 years…
>But then 100 years ago when there was no mass shared culture like tv (or maybe there was?) we seemed to not have the same problems, so maybe there is something else at play.
I would say 100 years ago shared culture came from religion, neighbors, and the national conversations one would read about in the news. Religion is increasingly not a part of people's lives be. We still have national conversations through the media, but there too there are so many outlets you can choose a specific narrative that appeals to you and only listen to that. Neighbors are not quite as close as they once were-- the idea of borrowing a cup of sugar from my neighbors sounds crazy in modern times.
Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?
#95Earlier 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?
That's just preparation for 'new-food' being acceptable to the masses.
Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?
#96This reminds me of a Douglas Adams quote - although he was talking about technology, it seems appropriate here also :) “I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies: 1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. 2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting an…
Related to this, I wonder how the average age of HN readership has changed over time. My guess is it has shifted towards an older audience continually since the beginning. To that end what new things are "against the order of things" today.
An engineer _very_ well over 35 taught me about server-less / Lambdas.
An engineer in their 20's keeps trying to get me to learn Lisp.
I think they meant the age you feel, not the amount of times the earth spun about the sun while you were around :)
Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?
#97How 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.
> How one can misspell "entertainment" as "culture"?
In the western society "entertainment" is "culture". It is very hard to find real culture. In some countries bookstores are full with thrash. On radio and tv you get the same selection of mediocre till thrash offers. It is like free speach. You are "free" to speak but your voice is lost in 1000000 more voices. And if you finally are able to be heard, police comes at your door.
Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
To their credit, Beanie Babies holders were always upfront about their desire to make money. There was none of this fig leaf reasoning about how BBs are really a harbinger of a new paradigm of asset securitization.
Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?
#99How 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.
What would be the distinction between entertainment and literature, theatre and dancing? Let's add poetry, orchestras, opera and folk songs to the list as well - those are decent examples of "culture" while being "entertainment".
Re: Overloaded: Is there simply too much culture?
#100Indeed, we all have to prioritize, based on carefully-chosen values and purpose for life. I linked to some details and previous discussions in a previous cmt: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29266094#29269429