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> Passive Media Consumption is Fundamentally Bad Reading books is passive media consumption too. You could reframe this article (with substantial changes) to t
by protontorpedo 5y ago
> Passive Media Consumption is Fundamentally Bad
Reading books is passive media consumption too. You could reframe this article (with substantial changes) to talk about books, wine, food, board games, music, or anything else you can appreciate as a hobby.
- Talanes 5y agoYeah, there's a fine argument to be had about passive media consumption, but it does not hinge on any specific medium. An engaged mind can actively consume any piece of media.
- lmm 5y agoBooks are fundamentally more active - reading inherently involves at least a certain amount of abstract reasoning to turn a meaningless pattern of symbols into something that you can enjoy.
- TameAntelope 5y agoI wish someone would. I've had a feeling that the way I consume music is probably a net negative for me, and I'd love to hear someone smarter than me explore that idea. If passive media consumption is bad for the soul, my soul is probably in pretty rough shape, so I'd love to hear this complete argument so I can figure out whether or not this idea has merit.
- blindmute 5y agoYou'd like to passively consume someone's ideas about passive consumption? It's a matter of the soul, not that it makes you dumber or any objective worsening. No one is qualified to talk about it; everyone is just opining. Only you can decide for yourself whether a life of passive consumption is meaningful to you. Perhaps your instinctive desire to consume someone's ideas betrays the truth of the matter already? I think a healthy soul would look to itself and its own intrinsic virtue for guidance first, before anyone external.
- TameAntelope 5y agoI don't trust my own mind on its own, nor do I trust people who trust their own minds, on their own. It strikes me as the absolute height of arrogance, for anyone to believe they can bring a concept through to full maturity entirely alone.
- blindmute 5y agoAnyone who you'd be reading has engendered their own ideas. Of course all great minds are inspired by other great minds, but this kind of inspiration is not really what you said to begin with. There is a stark difference between creating an idea indirectly inspired by great works, and just wanting to read someone's idea. Aristotle was inspired by Plato, but he did not defer thought to him, or wait to write Metaphysics until he had read someone "smarter" write about it.
- TameAntelope 5y agoWhat exactly are you trying to say?
- blindmute 5y agoIn brief, I'd recommend thinking for yourself about these sorts of things.
- blindmute 5y agoReading pulp genre fiction, sure. There are many genres of books that go beyond passive consumption, and even require active engagement to understand. In the span of all history, the vast majority of them fit into that category.