the "keeping up with the joneses" problem
Oct 2, 2018 2:45:40 GMT -5
Post by edmonddantes on Oct 2, 2018 2:45:40 GMT -5
So, there's a little thing that bugs me.
Thing is, I understand why it happens, but it feels like it... inherently lessens the level of discussion, particularly about geek matters.
The thing I'm describing is this tendency in geek circles and on Youtube to be seemingly ignorant of any media more than two years old (excepting only stuff that is still pop-culturally relevant).
This isn't normally a bad thing--it makes perfect sense to, say, talk about Thor after a new Thor movie has come out. That's not the kind of thing I'm on about though.
What I'm on about is when it seems to underpin the philosophy of a discussion. Particularly with regards to... well, one area I especially see it in is writing advice-type circles, though it also pops up in artistic critiques.
For example, one video I saw discussing "characters who are strong, just not physically" pulled out two Game of Thrones characters (this vid being when GOT was still relevant--I'm not sure if it still is because GOT has never been my thing). In another case, videos or discussions of writing characters constantly used My Little Pony (yes, seriously) as a barometer of quality.
Now again, I understand why this happens. I can see the argument that its easier to communicate with your audience if you discuss things they're familiar with (granted this logic depends on your audience being a hive-mind but... well... most of the internet kinda is).
The problem is... it tends to come off, to me, as these people aren't familiar with/don't remember anything older than the most recent. Which... kinda means they have nothing worth hearing, because if I can learn everything you know by watching some overrated cartoon, why do I need you?
Where it really gets me though is that people don't just do this.. they seem to militantly defend it.
For example, on one internet forum, someone was asking for advice on how to write battle scenes and asking for authors to read to see how it was done.
I gave him Robert E. Howard.
Everyone else freaking jumped on me and said I was being "vacuous" for naming somebody so "old."
A variant I've run across, is when you examine one medium or artistic choice and say "consider how this similar situation was handled in, say, Astro Boy..." when the subject you're comparing it to is American. I almost always immediately here "This is a cartoon, not an anime. Anime is not relevant here."
Cartoons don't work like that.
Art doesn't work like that.
Human THOUGHT ITSELF does not work like that.
As John A. Keel once wrote: "You can't see a full circle by looking at just one curve," and likewise you can't learn about a forest by looking at just one tree or learn about an entire planet just by examining one painting (no matter what Admiral Thrawn thinks). Thought is an everything-or-nothing process, and when you say "I refuse to acknowledge this," you become an anti-intellectual... basically no longer qualified to be human, since its thought that makes humans better than, say, dogs.
Now... one thing I get a lot (this being one reason I gave up on TV Tropes) is there seems to be this misconception that anyone who (say) reads older books or has ever so much as looked at an anime is somehow this zealot trying to push a "one true way" approach onto you. Which I'll admit, everyone who has ever been 13 has been a zealot like that at some point (thankfully this is one type of zealot who, not being married, doesn't claim their wife is a liar). It's a phase, they get over it, and nobody over the age of 20 (who isn't a political blogger) is ever trying to force a "one true way" on you... at least, never before you yourself over-reacted and assumed it and ironically wound up as much as telling them they have to accept your one true way. It's a classic case of creating the thing you hate.
Related to that, (and this admittedly is a me-thing) I've seen people that think that because there's a few humorous asides, that the whole post is meant to be a parody or satire... because nobody ever uses levity unless they use it all the damn time I guess.
I do wonder how people allow their thinking to become binary like that. These kind of things are scary, and honestly do kinda make me fear for our culture. To be honest when I hear about violent crimes I tend to think a similar sort of situation is involved (and sometimes, it is). But I'll stop there before I go from talking about "geek stuff" and veer into social/political issues. I like to keep things light.
Anyway, wondering how many other people have encountered something like this?
Thing is, I understand why it happens, but it feels like it... inherently lessens the level of discussion, particularly about geek matters.
The thing I'm describing is this tendency in geek circles and on Youtube to be seemingly ignorant of any media more than two years old (excepting only stuff that is still pop-culturally relevant).
This isn't normally a bad thing--it makes perfect sense to, say, talk about Thor after a new Thor movie has come out. That's not the kind of thing I'm on about though.
What I'm on about is when it seems to underpin the philosophy of a discussion. Particularly with regards to... well, one area I especially see it in is writing advice-type circles, though it also pops up in artistic critiques.
For example, one video I saw discussing "characters who are strong, just not physically" pulled out two Game of Thrones characters (this vid being when GOT was still relevant--I'm not sure if it still is because GOT has never been my thing). In another case, videos or discussions of writing characters constantly used My Little Pony (yes, seriously) as a barometer of quality.
Now again, I understand why this happens. I can see the argument that its easier to communicate with your audience if you discuss things they're familiar with (granted this logic depends on your audience being a hive-mind but... well... most of the internet kinda is).
The problem is... it tends to come off, to me, as these people aren't familiar with/don't remember anything older than the most recent. Which... kinda means they have nothing worth hearing, because if I can learn everything you know by watching some overrated cartoon, why do I need you?
Where it really gets me though is that people don't just do this.. they seem to militantly defend it.
For example, on one internet forum, someone was asking for advice on how to write battle scenes and asking for authors to read to see how it was done.
I gave him Robert E. Howard.
Everyone else freaking jumped on me and said I was being "vacuous" for naming somebody so "old."
A variant I've run across, is when you examine one medium or artistic choice and say "consider how this similar situation was handled in, say, Astro Boy..." when the subject you're comparing it to is American. I almost always immediately here "This is a cartoon, not an anime. Anime is not relevant here."
Cartoons don't work like that.
Art doesn't work like that.
Human THOUGHT ITSELF does not work like that.
As John A. Keel once wrote: "You can't see a full circle by looking at just one curve," and likewise you can't learn about a forest by looking at just one tree or learn about an entire planet just by examining one painting (no matter what Admiral Thrawn thinks). Thought is an everything-or-nothing process, and when you say "I refuse to acknowledge this," you become an anti-intellectual... basically no longer qualified to be human, since its thought that makes humans better than, say, dogs.
Now... one thing I get a lot (this being one reason I gave up on TV Tropes) is there seems to be this misconception that anyone who (say) reads older books or has ever so much as looked at an anime is somehow this zealot trying to push a "one true way" approach onto you. Which I'll admit, everyone who has ever been 13 has been a zealot like that at some point (thankfully this is one type of zealot who, not being married, doesn't claim their wife is a liar). It's a phase, they get over it, and nobody over the age of 20 (who isn't a political blogger) is ever trying to force a "one true way" on you... at least, never before you yourself over-reacted and assumed it and ironically wound up as much as telling them they have to accept your one true way. It's a classic case of creating the thing you hate.
Related to that, (and this admittedly is a me-thing) I've seen people that think that because there's a few humorous asides, that the whole post is meant to be a parody or satire... because nobody ever uses levity unless they use it all the damn time I guess.
I do wonder how people allow their thinking to become binary like that. These kind of things are scary, and honestly do kinda make me fear for our culture. To be honest when I hear about violent crimes I tend to think a similar sort of situation is involved (and sometimes, it is). But I'll stop there before I go from talking about "geek stuff" and veer into social/political issues. I like to keep things light.
Anyway, wondering how many other people have encountered something like this?