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Absolutely true, I have the same thought pretty often. It’s one of many examples that we, in the first world, all ignore or take for granted every day. We’re so

by Dig1t 4y ago

Absolutely true, I have the same thought pretty often. It’s one of many examples that we, in the first world, all ignore or take for granted every day. We’re so far removed from the struggles of our ancestors that we’ve invented new struggles just to pass the time. We can devote entire lives to the pursuit of frivolous activities like this and it’s pretty great.

pessimizer 4y ago
Elites have entertained themselves with soap opera drama and frivolities throughout human history, plenty of which had a body count measured in poor people. It's not a sign of civilization, or a sign of humans in general being detached from material needs. There have always been subsets of humans who haven't had anything to worry about other than social position, acceptance and their own entertainment. Other people are skipping meals to pay off medical debt.
- noirbot 4y ago
  That said, it's curious how often some fractional subset of those "frivolities" are something genuinely important. Far back in history, the basis of a lot of science and cultural advancement was through Elites "wasting time" on mathematics, chemistry, and the like. What's interesting now is that the pool of elites in the world large enough to engage in frivolous activity is now so much larger than before. So instead of some royal scion who's very into fox hunting, we have fairly relatively poor people who are passionate about all kinds of other things. I find it hard to be too dismal about more people having the freedom to do things other than backbreaking labor that is necessary to stay alive. How many more people now are able to keep their body in shape and soul happy via "frivolous" artistic ventures or sports? And of those, how many of them refresh themselves by doing something that may ultimately seem as important as Isaac Newton's idle musings about math or Byron's poetry?
- InCityDreams 4y ago
  >It's not a sign of civilization, or a sign of humans in general being detached from material needs. Which 'it' are you referring to in the previous sentence (or in the original comment)?

by Dig1t 4y ago

pessimizer 4y ago

Elites have entertained themselves with soap opera drama and frivolities throughout human history, plenty of which had a body count measured in poor people. It's not a sign of civilization, or a sign of humans in general being detached from material needs. There have always been subsets of humans who haven't had anything to worry about other than social position, acceptance and their own entertainment. Other people are skipping meals to pay off medical debt.

noirbot 4y ago
That said, it's curious how often some fractional subset of those "frivolities" are something genuinely important. Far back in history, the basis of a lot of science and cultural advancement was through Elites "wasting time" on mathematics, chemistry, and the like. What's interesting now is that the pool of elites in the world large enough to engage in frivolous activity is now so much larger than before. So instead of some royal scion who's very into fox hunting, we have fairly relatively poor people who are passionate about all kinds of other things. I find it hard to be too dismal about more people having the freedom to do things other than backbreaking labor that is necessary to stay alive. How many more people now are able to keep their body in shape and soul happy via "frivolous" artistic ventures or sports? And of those, how many of them refresh themselves by doing something that may ultimately seem as important as Isaac Newton's idle musings about math or Byron's poetry?
InCityDreams 4y ago
>It's not a sign of civilization, or a sign of humans in general being detached from material needs. Which 'it' are you referring to in the previous sentence (or in the original comment)?