3 ms·

I'd say let them be. Mainstream industrialized consumption of... well basically everything that is productized and sold at scale will invariably hit the lowest

I'd say let them be. Mainstream industrialized consumption of... well basically everything that is productized and sold at scale will invariably hit the lowest common denominator. Because each and everyone of us is in our own path, so it's not hard to think that to accommodate for the sum of all current experiences you have to accommodate for the median. That being said you can pretty much gloss over all this if you stay true to yourself and your path, and maybe help those near you get out of the herd mentality.

lo_zamoyski 2y ago
> stay true to yourself Herd mentality is dreadful, but given how fickle and flawed the self is, this, too, can be terrible advice. There is a reason why Shakespeare had Polonius, a total buffoon, give the "to thine own self be true" speech in Hamlet. But our English departments have, for the most part, completely misread this passage, and, in doing so, revealed their basic worldview and moral orientation. To borrow from Augustine, a man has really only one fundamental choice to make in life. Either he conforms himself and his desires to the truth, or he conforms the "truth" to himself and his desires. Both paths will entail suffering, but it is the latter that leads to misery. Self-absorption is the very prison that produced your problems in the first place. As Zizek would say, you just discover a lot of shit. Only the first one leads to authentic freedom. The self is not the source of truth, but can be its reflection. That is only possible if you turn away from the self and toward the truth. So I would say: stay true to the truth. Anything else is a dead end.
- dalmo3 2y ago
  Intriguing comment! What do you mean by truth?
- svilen_dobrev 2y ago
  > stay true to the truth that is quite a demand.. it means endless discovery and, awakeness to allow for that. Not everyone would go there.. One easily becomes "inconvenient" to the everyday's mantra and its, er, broadcasters and.. manufacturers..
- gchamonlive 2y ago
  I'm not saying that the self is absolute, but I would definitely not call it fickle. Flawed yes, but that is why it's not absolute. I'm only saying that the self is the best thing I can know. What I want is the truth, but what I know is the self, so I'll rely upon myself so that I can long for the truth. I know it's start sound like poetry, but it's the best way I can describe it.

lo_zamoyski 2y ago

> stay true to yourself Herd mentality is dreadful, but given how fickle and flawed the self is, this, too, can be terrible advice. There is a reason why Shakespeare had Polonius, a total buffoon, give the "to thine own self be true" speech in Hamlet. But our English departments have, for the most part, completely misread this passage, and, in doing so, revealed their basic worldview and moral orientation. To borrow from Augustine, a man has really only one fundamental choice to make in life. Either he conforms himself and his desires to the truth, or he conforms the "truth" to himself and his desires. Both paths will entail suffering, but it is the latter that leads to misery. Self-absorption is the very prison that produced your problems in the first place. As Zizek would say, you just discover a lot of shit. Only the first one leads to authentic freedom. The self is not the source of truth, but can be its reflection. That is only possible if you turn away from the self and toward the truth. So I would say: stay true to the truth. Anything else is a dead end.

dalmo3 2y ago
Intriguing comment! What do you mean by truth?
svilen_dobrev 2y ago
> stay true to the truth that is quite a demand.. it means endless discovery and, awakeness to allow for that. Not everyone would go there.. One easily becomes "inconvenient" to the everyday's mantra and its, er, broadcasters and.. manufacturers..
gchamonlive 2y ago
I'm not saying that the self is absolute, but I would definitely not call it fickle. Flawed yes, but that is why it's not absolute. I'm only saying that the self is the best thing I can know. What I want is the truth, but what I know is the self, so I'll rely upon myself so that I can long for the truth. I know it's start sound like poetry, but it's the best way I can describe it.