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By this logic, most things we do because of sentimentality and feeling, which many consider to be exactly those things that make us human, are “just silly”.

by zellyn 3y ago

card_zero 3y ago
Yes.
- antisthenes 3y ago
  No one is stopping you from discarding all those sentimental things in your own life. A bit presumptuous to lecture others on it. Maybe cloning the exact tree is silly, but replacing it is absolutely not. This was a valuable tourist site, and just like anything of value, you replace it when lost. You would replace your shoes or car keys if you lost them, right?
  - card_zero 3y ago
    I'm not sure. Speaking as an extremely silly person, I'm liable to go barefoot, or do anything. But I think we should all be self-aware about these matters if possible. Like I said at the start, it was a nice tree, I like trees. I think it was mainly a nice tree because it was nicely framed, though, and in a movie with Kevin Costner and that awful Bryan Adams song in it. The subsequent snowballing of sentimentality around the significance of the material traces of the memory of the tree in the significant movie is ... it all has a wild memetic life of its own. I don't suppose it's harmful, but it's a strange outgrowth. The main point I'm making here is not so much "stop being silly" as "oh, look at that".
ljm 3y ago
Every culture has its rituals, traditions, and indeed quirks. The preservation of history in each culture seems to be universally consistent. What I find interesting is that often this is respected when observing other cultures from the outside, but when it comes to our own culture, or a very familiar one, it can often be dismissed or taken for granted. I suppose some might find it silly, but when it comes to culture and identity I think this stuff is quite symbolic of what is considered important and much more positive and thoughtful than what you might assume from current affairs and politics. A few hundred years later and this will simply be part of the fabric of the long history of the island.

By this logic, most things we do because of sentimentality and feeling, which many consider to be exactly those things that make us human, are “just silly”.

by zellyn 3y ago

By this logic, most things we do because of sentimentality and feeling, which many consider to be exactly those things that make us human, are “just silly”.

card_zero 3y ago

Yes.

antisthenes 3y ago
No one is stopping you from discarding all those sentimental things in your own life. A bit presumptuous to lecture others on it. Maybe cloning the exact tree is silly, but replacing it is absolutely not. This was a valuable tourist site, and just like anything of value, you replace it when lost. You would replace your shoes or car keys if you lost them, right?
- card_zero 3y ago
  I'm not sure. Speaking as an extremely silly person, I'm liable to go barefoot, or do anything. But I think we should all be self-aware about these matters if possible. Like I said at the start, it was a nice tree, I like trees. I think it was mainly a nice tree because it was nicely framed, though, and in a movie with Kevin Costner and that awful Bryan Adams song in it. The subsequent snowballing of sentimentality around the significance of the material traces of the memory of the tree in the significant movie is ... it all has a wild memetic life of its own. I don't suppose it's harmful, but it's a strange outgrowth. The main point I'm making here is not so much "stop being silly" as "oh, look at that".

ljm 3y ago

Every culture has its rituals, traditions, and indeed quirks. The preservation of history in each culture seems to be universally consistent. What I find interesting is that often this is respected when observing other cultures from the outside, but when it comes to our own culture, or a very familiar one, it can often be dismissed or taken for granted. I suppose some might find it silly, but when it comes to culture and identity I think this stuff is quite symbolic of what is considered important and much more positive and thoughtful than what you might assume from current affairs and politics. A few hundred years later and this will simply be part of the fabric of the long history of the island.