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Here are the key points I took away from the excerpt of "Pleasures" by Aldous Huxley: - Huxley argues that the real threat to modern civilization is not extern
by kosolam 3y ago
Here are the key points I took away from the excerpt of "Pleasures" by Aldous Huxley:
- Huxley argues that the real threat to modern civilization is not external dangers like war, but the "auto-intoxication" of mindless pleasures and distractions.
- He contends that pleasures and entertainments have become progressively more passive and devoid of intellectual effort. People now soak up ready-made distractions like movies, radio, and newspapers without thinking.
- Huxley criticizes the sterility and sameness of modern distractions. The same movies and dances are consumed everywhere without local variation.
- He sees the proliferation of effortless distractions as promoting boredom, atrophy of the mind, and decline of civilization.
- The essay ends with a warning that the bored populace may eventually demand ever more violent entertainments, as happened in decadent Rome. Huxley fears we may "live to see blood flowing across the stage."
- QuantumG 3y agoKill Bill was good actually.
- Hit-squad-17 3y agoI tried to watch it a couple times . Thought it Sucked. Maybe I just was not ready .... I'll give it one more try someday . Same thing w LOST IN TRANSLATION.... Second try , turned out good.
- samplatt 3y agoAmerican Football today is almost as dangerous as the sport in Rollerball (1975). This is probably a better comparison to Roman circuses than Kill Bill.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Hit-squad-17 3y agoThank you
- sixhobbits 3y agoThanks GPT
- redthrow 3y agoI haven't read it but Steven Johnson wrote a book that argued the opposite: Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter is a non-fiction book written by Steven Johnson. Published in 2005, it details Johnson's theory that popular culture – in particular television programs and video games – has grown more complex and demanding over time and is making society as a whole more intelligent, contrary to the perception that modern electronic media are harmful or unconstructive. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything_Bad_Is_Good_for_You https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything_Bad_Is_Good_for_Y...
- ceasesurthinko 3y agoYeah I don't think Mr. Johnson foresaw TikTok.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- echtroipolemos 3y ago"Self-poisoned in this fashion, civilization looks as though it might easily decline into a kind of premature senility." This is the Cartesian distinction between understanding and imagination. Imagination requires a peculiar effort of the soul, which AI is unable to exert. Understanding is knowing that a triangle's interior angles add up to 180 degrees. Imagination is understanding that and being able to represent the image in your mind.