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The person who is discerning has a more active and challenging experience. Plus, a person with critical ability (one step further) can discuss the experience w
by dkarl 18y ago
The person who is discerning has a more active and challenging experience. Plus, a person with critical ability (one step further) can discuss the experience with another such person. For instance, I can't really talk about a cup of coffee I just drank, but I can talk about a movie I just saw. That adds an extra dimension to seeing a movie with someone: talking about it afterwards.
Of course a lot of the motivation for being discerning, especially in regard to food and drink, is class aspiration. Money isn't enough. Urban and suburban Americans engage in a lot of competition to see who can live the most enlightened and refined lifestyle. It isn't the most productive way that energy could be channeled, but considering it's an expression of some of our basest, most ruthlessly hierarchical human tendencies, we could do a hell of a lot worse.
- jodrellblank 18y agoThe person who is discerning has a more active and challenging experience Eh? Surely it's more challenging to enjoy a mediocre film than a really enjoyable one? To create a good picture from a point and shoot camera than a $4k DSLR? To be happy with a $800 used car is more challenging than being happy with a $60k luxury car. Isn't it?
- dkarl 18y agoDiscernment is about perception, about recognizing a difference between things. It's only harder to enjoy an inferior product if you can discern the difference. Discernment can offer some advantages, though. A movie can be bad in interesting ways, or simply interesting in spite of being bad. Plus, the more qualities you can appreciate about something, the more likely you are to find something redeeming about it.