4 ms·

"Sentimental Nonsense" is one of the most fun aspects of humanity. I fear a day (it will happen) when we walk around like the emotionless idiots found inhabiti

by blhack 17y ago

"Sentimental Nonsense" is one of the most fun aspects of humanity. I fear a day (it will happen) when we walk around like the emotionless idiots found inhabiting the minds and stories of authors like Aldous Huxley. So to answer your question of "Who Cares": I do, deeply.

sho 17y ago
Interesting that you bring up Huxley. I thought he warned against people distracting themselves to the point of functional disempowerment with mass media trivialities, which is exactly what this kind of thing is. "I do, deeply." There must be a 50-year-old woman living somewhere within a few minutes' walk of your current location - go ask them, then.
- onreact-com 17y ago
  In case you refer to Huxley's most known work, Brave New World the people in that story where emotionless hedonistic creatures obsessing with sports, sex with many partners and hierarchy, being an a+ was all the rage. Being emotional was a trait considered as crazy.
  - biohacker42 17y ago
    I think being in deep and true relationships was discouraged, but shallow stuff like sex/sports/etc was encouraged. The criticism that this is exactly the shallow type is valid, imho.
- blhack 17y ago
  I'm talking about Huxley's most famous work, Brave New World. I sounds like you haven't read it. I really suggest that you do, it is a fantastic, albeit frighteningly accurate (seriously drug companies, soma? you named your anti-anxiety medication SOMA!?!?), peak into the future.
  - Alex3917 17y ago
    "seriously drug companies, soma? you named your anti-anxiety medication SOMA!?!?" You do realize the name doesn't come from Brave New World right?
    - blhack 17y ago
      The drug does almost exactly the same thing as the one in the book. I cannot imagine that this was done just out of pure, random chance.
  - sho 17y ago
    I've read it, but I don't agree with your interpretation. The society in the book discourages love and attachment - this isn't love, it's just cheap entertainment. It's "Your Favourite Childhood Stars - Where Are They Now?" with a paper thin excuse. Admit it, if the girl wasn't a cute, white cherub no-one would care.
- cesare 17y ago
  I've read and upvoted the parent post first. But I think you're right. Truly caring and sensitive people are becoming rare these days and it's not easy to identify the main causes. But I think mass media are to blame, at least partly, for the commercialization of people private lives. It is so deeply hardwired in our psyche that even on the web this (commercializing our own self) has become almost a requirement for success.
  - enomar 17y ago
    "Truly caring and sensitive people are becoming rare these days" I doubt people are essentially any different today. The way we communicate is different though. It's much easier to be insensitive when everyone is anonymous. It now takes a conscious effort to always treat people as if they were standing right in front of you. There are communities on the web that get this -- and that's where I try to hang out.
embeddedradical 17y ago
well, inhabiting the mind of huxley wouldn't be very bad at all. also, i don't think this is what huxley was promoting to preserve with brave new world... i believe his promotion was that of a deeply rich and meaningful life. Things of this nature are more like the elements wrong within a brave new world; stupid mindless entertainment (after all, soma was described by him as "all the benefits of alcohol and christianity, with none of the defects"). "Dream in a pragmatic way." - Huxley ...after all, we need only look near the end of his life to see what conclusions he drew of all this as to what we ought to do: "In regard to man’s final end, all the higher religions are in complete agreement. The purpose of human life is the discovery of Truth, the unitive knowledge of the Godhead. The degree to which this unitive knowledge is achieved here on earth determines the degree to which it will be enjoyed in the posthumous state. Contemplation of truth is the end, action the means." (thoughts on the perennial philosophy, after he went mystic) huxley perhaps is not the name to invoke to defend human interests in triviality, or rejections of reason. invoking a reminder of huxley's ideas works well for rejection of trivial banter, rejection of living life as efficient strife for the accomplishment of the superficial (like finding this girl), and the rejection of making ourselves slaves to technological progress while making no progress in our deep understandings of life (like having successful startups and never taking the time to ponder the cosmic whole).

by blhack 17y ago

sho 17y ago

Interesting that you bring up Huxley. I thought he warned against people distracting themselves to the point of functional disempowerment with mass media trivialities, which is exactly what this kind of thing is. "I do, deeply." There must be a 50-year-old woman living somewhere within a few minutes' walk of your current location - go ask them, then.

onreact-com 17y ago
In case you refer to Huxley's most known work, Brave New World the people in that story where emotionless hedonistic creatures obsessing with sports, sex with many partners and hierarchy, being an a+ was all the rage. Being emotional was a trait considered as crazy.
- biohacker42 17y ago
  I think being in deep and true relationships was discouraged, but shallow stuff like sex/sports/etc was encouraged. The criticism that this is exactly the shallow type is valid, imho.
blhack 17y ago
I'm talking about Huxley's most famous work, Brave New World. I sounds like you haven't read it. I really suggest that you do, it is a fantastic, albeit frighteningly accurate (seriously drug companies, soma? you named your anti-anxiety medication SOMA!?!?), peak into the future.
- Alex3917 17y ago
  "seriously drug companies, soma? you named your anti-anxiety medication SOMA!?!?" You do realize the name doesn't come from Brave New World right?
  - blhack 17y ago
    The drug does almost exactly the same thing as the one in the book. I cannot imagine that this was done just out of pure, random chance.
- sho 17y ago
  I've read it, but I don't agree with your interpretation. The society in the book discourages love and attachment - this isn't love, it's just cheap entertainment. It's "Your Favourite Childhood Stars - Where Are They Now?" with a paper thin excuse. Admit it, if the girl wasn't a cute, white cherub no-one would care.
cesare 17y ago
I've read and upvoted the parent post first. But I think you're right. Truly caring and sensitive people are becoming rare these days and it's not easy to identify the main causes. But I think mass media are to blame, at least partly, for the commercialization of people private lives. It is so deeply hardwired in our psyche that even on the web this (commercializing our own self) has become almost a requirement for success.
- enomar 17y ago
  "Truly caring and sensitive people are becoming rare these days" I doubt people are essentially any different today. The way we communicate is different though. It's much easier to be insensitive when everyone is anonymous. It now takes a conscious effort to always treat people as if they were standing right in front of you. There are communities on the web that get this -- and that's where I try to hang out.

embeddedradical 17y ago

well, inhabiting the mind of huxley wouldn't be very bad at all. also, i don't think this is what huxley was promoting to preserve with brave new world... i believe his promotion was that of a deeply rich and meaningful life. Things of this nature are more like the elements wrong within a brave new world; stupid mindless entertainment (after all, soma was described by him as "all the benefits of alcohol and christianity, with none of the defects"). "Dream in a pragmatic way." - Huxley ...after all, we need only look near the end of his life to see what conclusions he drew of all this as to what we ought to do: "In regard to man’s final end, all the higher religions are in complete agreement. The purpose of human life is the discovery of Truth, the unitive knowledge of the Godhead. The degree to which this unitive knowledge is achieved here on earth determines the degree to which it will be enjoyed in the posthumous state. Contemplation of truth is the end, action the means." (thoughts on the perennial philosophy, after he went mystic) huxley perhaps is not the name to invoke to defend human interests in triviality, or rejections of reason. invoking a reminder of huxley's ideas works well for rejection of trivial banter, rejection of living life as efficient strife for the accomplishment of the superficial (like finding this girl), and the rejection of making ourselves slaves to technological progress while making no progress in our deep understandings of life (like having successful startups and never taking the time to ponder the cosmic whole).