4 ms·

What you're looking at actually is potential. It's like we have to flush all this nonsensical, vile shit out of our unconscious to detox it for big creativity.

by thunk 16y ago

What you're looking at actually is potential. It's like we have to flush all this nonsensical, vile shit out of our unconscious to detox it for big creativity. Or like you can't have the crest of a wave without a trough. I see the stuff you described and I'm always so thankful that humanity finally has public, anonymous dumping grounds for the worst of our id. It's therapeutic and, I think, healthy.

aharrison 16y ago
Psychologists have pretty much debunked catharsis as being a good thing. [1] I think that having a environment of competitive creation is a good thing only when it causes people to excel, and only then when it is not done to excess and thus burnout or what have you. Sometimes, also, you can get some amazing things [2] when you have a negative influence which causes you to excel, but that isn't what we are seeing here, either. So sad to see so much time wasted on unproductive [3] stupidity. [1] A weak citation is here (but I bet you could find plenty more where that came from): http://books.google.com/books?id=Pye5IkCFgRYC&pg=PA853&lpg=PA853&dq=catharsis+psychology+debunk&source=bl&ots=syS7IADfUR&sig=pwWe087rMe7NipuerJkTtmTgwzY&hl=en&ei=uKAJTOzNK4iyNuauxLUE&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CC8Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=Pye5IkCFgRYC&pg=PA853&#... [2] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1286253 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1286253 [3] Unproductive in the sense that it isn't helping anybody. As is mentioned in the book excerpt I cited in [1], this isn't even "relaxing" people, except from exhaustion. It would be better if they were doing something which reduced their arousal.
- thunk 16y ago
  It seems to me that creative catharsis is a different beast than the rage catharsis of punching a pillow or screaming. Giving one's moods free reign seems a recipe for bad socialisation. But giving creativity free reign seems a requirement to get some of the stranger or more unexpected results. Ascii cock-and-balls and racism with bad grammar seems a small price to pay.

by thunk 16y ago

aharrison 16y ago

Psychologists have pretty much debunked catharsis as being a good thing. [1] I think that having a environment of competitive creation is a good thing only when it causes people to excel, and only then when it is not done to excess and thus burnout or what have you. Sometimes, also, you can get some amazing things [2] when you have a negative influence which causes you to excel, but that isn't what we are seeing here, either. So sad to see so much time wasted on unproductive [3] stupidity. [1] A weak citation is here (but I bet you could find plenty more where that came from): http://books.google.com/books?id=Pye5IkCFgRYC&pg=PA853&lpg=PA853&dq=catharsis+psychology+debunk&source=bl&ots=syS7IADfUR&sig=pwWe087rMe7NipuerJkTtmTgwzY&hl=en&ei=uKAJTOzNK4iyNuauxLUE&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CC8Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=Pye5IkCFgRYC&pg=PA853&#... [2] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1286253 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1286253 [3] Unproductive in the sense that it isn't helping anybody. As is mentioned in the book excerpt I cited in [1], this isn't even "relaxing" people, except from exhaustion. It would be better if they were doing something which reduced their arousal.

thunk 16y ago
It seems to me that creative catharsis is a different beast than the rage catharsis of punching a pillow or screaming. Giving one's moods free reign seems a recipe for bad socialisation. But giving creativity free reign seems a requirement to get some of the stranger or more unexpected results. Ascii cock-and-balls and racism with bad grammar seems a small price to pay.