consume less, create more

[hitchhiker]

https://tjcx.me/posts/consumption-distraction/


I have mixed feelings about this - on one hand, there is a misguidedly moralistic overtone that the author hasn't quite managed to shed, that passive consumption is "evil" and that creation is "self-improving".

On the other hand, I do feel that creating stuff makes me happier and more satisfied, and it was interesting to read his journey towards that same realisation.

As an aside he also misses an important point about consumption - it can be a great thing as long as you consciously notice whether it is making you happier or more satisfied when you do it. The infinite stream of content is not dangerous because it encourages passive consumption so much as it is dangerous because it can lull you into consuming past the point of diminishing returns.

Comments

My thoughts, jumbled

[cjsmith]

I agree that there’s a moralistic overtone, though I would guess the author was not trying to shed it.

He equates all forms of consumption, despite the fact some are far more passive than others. (I think some of the earliest studies on this were books versus movies.) Consumption might be useful in the form of research on one’s essay topic. ;)

That said, creation - well, here I fall into the same trap, equating all types of creation, but let’s say creating things that take at least a little bit of effort - is something I too find quite satisfying, and I am glad he is getting some enjoyment out of it.

[leiacat]

I am unambiguously annoyed.

I wonder if the author has ever given the least thought to where reddit memes come from. As I 'consume' those, what always strikes me is the relentless creativity that makes memescape so diverse and clever and in the moment. I'll grant that most people's mode of interacting with memes is not to make more memes, but I resent that author's assumption that everyone phone-staring around him is passive.

(At least he realizes that it's not a factor of technology, that is another particular pet peeve of mine. I have the feeling that in the pre-phone era he would likely be content in that same smug superiority, but perhaps over reading a treatise on trade wars in China instead of a trashy genre book, or a more high-brow newspaper.)

I also resent creativity fetishism. I appreciate that as a theater person I'm lumped into the 'creatives' bucket, but producing original content (beyond an occasional piece of doggerel) was never a passion for me. I'm an editor more than a writer, a tweaker more than a maker, and I refuse to see so-called 'creatives' as superior to me by no virtue other than they start from a blank page. (Just as I refuse to see a 'bona fide book' superior to a tablet or a kindle, and find the snobbishness inherent in that particular judgement quite telling.)

From where I sit, over the course of the month of refinement perhaps the author achieved a slight improvement on his turn of phrase, but his thought is still judgemental drivel on the level of a kindergardner crossed with an old fogey. His life may be improved by him exerting himself, but I dare say the world on the whole would have remained a happier place if he kept his stereotypical blather out of it. For his next project in creativity perhaps he should take a year and reach an original thought. Perhaps, if he doesn't sprain something, he might manage to be half as creative as a random reddit meme.

[minoanmiss]

*applauds in agreement*

I create because I find it personally rewarding but it certainly doens't make me morally superior in any way (and a lot of my creativity "doesn't count" with many people, since it's fanworks.)

[hitchhiker]

the bit i liked about it was not the "creativity" aspect (which i agree gets unnecessarily fetishised), but the psychological satisfaction of putting effort into "doing" rather than consuming stuff. i think editing and tweaking is a fine way to do that, as for that matter would be contributing to something like wikipedia or distributed proofreaders. it's all about how you feel at the end of it.

[leiacat]

I have indeed spent some time DP-ing back in the day. Good to see it's still around.

I submit that there are infinite ways to derive said psychological satisfaction, including not just the aforementioned, but also engaging in athletic activities, some aspects of child-raising, and so forth.

[hitchhiker]

sure, but he has discovered one of them and it was nice to see him encouraging people to give it a try even if it looked like work.

[leiacat]

I would not have described it as "encouraging" or "nice".

[hitchhiker]

okay, that's a good point. that could have been a way better article if he fixed his tone.

[leiacat]

I rather got the feeling that he considered his tone his greatest achievement about it.

[leiacat]

p.s. I have a friend who posts random quotes du jour, and this happens to be the offering for the day, which I will happily subscribe to by way of refuting that reading is passive and mindless consumption:

"A capacity, and taste, for reading, gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others. It is the key, or one of the keys, to the already solved problems. And not only so. It gives a relish, and facility, for successfully pursuing the [yet] unsolved ones." -- Abraham Lincoln, address given before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, in Milwaukee, 1859-09-30