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Do we need to have a single, common cultural experience? Mass media, and the resulting mass culture, are a recent phenomenon, and certainly one that has been he
by GMoromisato 2y ago
Do we need to have a single, common cultural experience? Mass media, and the resulting mass culture, are a recent phenomenon, and certainly one that has been heavily criticized.
My sense is that we're in the middle of a phase-transition, and the unhappiness and dislocation that people feel is because the old world (shared cultural context) is dying, but the new world hasn't yet been born.
Our generation will have the hardest time because we have a foot in both worlds.
- lantry 2y agoWhat existed before mass-media was a shared experience with unmediated interactions. With mass media, the interactions are mediated but there is still a shared experience. With social media, there is neither unmediated interaction nor shared experience. So I think you are correct that we are transitioning to a new "phase", but I disagree with the implication that things will be better once the transition is over. They could be worse!
- GMoromisato 2y agoI'm not sure what you mean by "a shared experience with unmediated interactions." Without mass media, how did people share an experience? Do you mean sharing with your friends/family/church? If so, isn't that option still available post-transition? Or is your point that social media destroys personal interactions, so the next generation is left with nothing (kind of like porn destroying healthy sex lives)? If so, then I agree the future might be worse. But it's also possible that social interactions are changing, and it is only because they are different for us that we think of it as "worse". Moreover, society hasn't yet had a chance to adapt to the new technology, so we don't know exactly what social interactions will be like in the future. It could be that kids tomorrow will learn to adapt to social media just as our generation learned to adapt to TV.
- computerthings 2y agoHow did people adapt to TV, and how was it prior to that adaption?
- glial 2y agoHere's an essay reflecting on the value of having a shared experience of the world, cultural or otherwise: https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/common-worlds-common-sense-and-the https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/common-worlds-com...
- GMoromisato 2y agoI certainly think there is value in shared cultural values. But my point is: 1. We value a shared culture because that's what we're used to. There's no guarantee that future generations will agree. 2. Shared cultural values also have downsides, and depending on your perspective, the downsides might outweigh the benefits.