Benjamin B. recently wrote on Google+ about apathy and the paralysis of choice in the modern world. He said, “it’s easier and more enjoyable to not see a movie than to struggle to decide on what movie to see.”
I think part of this is also due to our world changing. We grew up in a world of comparative scarcity: there were not too many cinemas playing movies, VHS tapes were hard to get, when I grew up, the state offered two TV programs and the second one of them was only broadcasting from 18:00 to 21:00. So we grew up with a mindset of collecting things. Keeping stuff. So much stuff to see! We’ll be watching it later. All of it! This is awesome! Such richness! So many books! I don’t even have to go to the library. Or the bookshop! This is awesome! Oh, and the whole Internet, too. For free! This is awesome! And now we’re drinking from the fire hose and drowning in information. What was scarce is now abundant. We didn’t have to make many choices because there was little to choose from. We valued choice and called it freedom. Now we’re constantly struggling to weigh the minutia of benefits, pondering the trade-offs of time spent, of opportunity costs, of alternatives missed. And it just drains us.
The question is: What better mindset would benefit us? Or if not us, then our kids? Throw away the books we don’t read. Kick the TV from the living room. Unsubscribe from newspapers. And people are already doing that. There just is no time. The things have no value because they’re abundant. Mute most of your friends and family on social media. Don’t read the movie reviews, the book reviews, the announcements and blogs of publishers and writers. They’ll just make you want to buy things which you will then have to choose to buy, and read or watch, and it’s a big investment of time and energy, comparatively. Often the dollars are no longer the limiting factor. But it all makes us so *tired*. Anyway. That’s how I often feel.
Old.
And tired.
#Life #Philosophy
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It’s fucking screens, man. I bet you don’t feel that way when you’re hiking. Exercising, cooking, going for a stroll, drawing or playing a boardgame all are useful to me.
Anyway, cheer up Alex!
– Enzo 2015-12-16 10:10 UTC
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Haha, good point. Damn monitors! 😃
– Alex Schroeder 2015-12-16 13:35 UTC
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Since years I try to limit my in front of a screen time - but there are to many interesting things which need a screen this days. Good thing is that I still can avoid the tablet on the RPG table - mostly...
– Sam 2015-12-18 08:56 UTC
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Must. stop. reading.!!
– Alex Schroeder 2015-12-18 10:55 UTC