"Time travel is awesome and useful. That sentence had a typo when I published it...the first time." - Craig Benzine
"You don't have to be gay to be a supporter -- you just have to be human." - Daniel Radcliffe
I know there's probably a few of you who have read this already, but for those of you who haven't, here's a wonderful blog post about the simply gargantuan amounts of pop culture we'll be facing in the future: http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/04/18/135508305/the-sad-beautiful-fact-that-were-all-going-to-miss-almost-everything?ft=1&f=93568166
I occasionally have mini panic attacks regarding this issue. There's so much good stuff out there, and there will be more and more great creators of such stuff, and those creators will be creating longer and longer as average life expectancy increases.
As the article (which you should read, since it's much better than what I'm writing here)) says, it isn't possible to get to all of the good things that are worth our time. We just have to make sure to spend our time on some of them, put a little effort into finding the best of the best, and lament the fact that we can't get to all of it.
(P.S. I'm writing this Monday night-- at the beach! The next two days shall be filled with sunshine and ice cream and lying on the sand using my Chemistry binder for a pillow. Awesome.)
I appreciate the link, I'm glad I took the time to read it. Are you a Dr. Who fan? I kind of think you are, but am not sure; you should be if you aren't and have time! Anyway, in an episode of the most recent series Dr. Who says that our lives are made up of good stuff and bad stuff, and all the bad stuff doesn't detract at all from the good stuff that happens to us. In a similar way, the vast libraries of worthwhile media I never will see in no way detract from the amazing stuff that I will and already have.
ReplyDeleteI was also surprised by the argument she made at the end. I agree, it would be sad if the sum of worthwhile human history were so small as to be possible to experience in one lifetime. However, I think it would be even more sad to be the person who had absorbed all of that history. Isn't one of the great things in life knowing that there are still amazing new things to experience? If you had already absorbed the sum of human history, all that would be left would be re-reads.
On a less sublime note, I do not appreciate how Blogger feels the logical choice for an automatic time stamp is when you start writing a post, not when you post it. I also disapprove of needing to rewrite this comment because Blogger doesn't store them before it dies as I try to comment.
Great article... thanks for passing along the link. I definitely do quite a bit of culling and should probably be more open-minded to not cull out quite so much. I also certainly "waste" time on reading chick lit or watching "Keeping up with the Kardashians" at times, but the brain-dead entertainment is just sometimes a nice escape from the pressures of real life. I know there are better books I could be reading, better shows I could be watching, but I make my choice based on what I need at that time... sometimes I just need a break from reality.
ReplyDelete@Kenny I am indeed a Doctor Who fan (new episode Saturday! YAY!), and although I don't remember him saying that, it's an awesome quote.
ReplyDeleteThere's one I was thinking about using at the beginning of a post that says "happiness is the absence of the quest for happiness." I chose not to use it because I think oftentimes it's the "trying to get there" that's better than the "hey, we're here." Grass is greener on the other side and all that.
Don't think I'll be able to watch the premiere when it airs, due to a birthday party, but I'm still excited. He said it in the episode Vincent, in regard to them being unable to ultimately change his fate.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a fairly popular notion within the eastern religions that the act of seeking something inherently implies discontent. But, if you take the perspective that "the journey is more important than the destination," then you aren't primarily seeking something, because you are already where you feel you should be. On the other hand, not looking for happiness can also resemble depression, so I also can't unequivocally endorse that quote, though I like it.
Yeah, that's one of the reasons I didn't use it in a post. I think it also ties into the Abundance of Katherines thing where the anticipation of a kiss is always better than the kiss itself.
ReplyDeleteso funny, elfarmy! I read that same article and identified with it 1000%.
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