Someone objected to my attack on sports and Bill Simmons. Another commenter agreed: "I don't understand why some people want to piss on other people's pleasures."
I get those complaints. I take them seriously.
But here's why I'm doing it anyway.
I want to stress I completely agree with the sentiments expressed. I myself hate what I term "pleasure-shaming" -- a sort of Puritan revulsion at everyone's pleasure-seeking, except, of course, one's own (which is not even pleasure seeking -- it's a Noble Pursuit of an Ancient and Wizened Art).
Three weeks ago someone snapped at me for playing Uncharted 4. First game I'd played in six months! Well, I snapped like hell at him.
So I get it. Pleasure-shaming is bad. And pleasure-shamers are fools …show more content…
Here's why: It's political, and it's psyops.
When I quit smoking, I did so by reading The Easy Way to Quit Smoking by Allen Carr.
He had an insight, which, at first, I thought was total and complete bullshit.
He said you can't quit smoking by willpower. Willpower doesn't work. Even the strongest willed among us still have a finite reserve of willpower, and those reserves will be depleted, eventually. It will just take longer for their willpower reserves to run out than it does for the weak-willed.
But run out it will, as it always does. It must.
His insight was then that there was no point attempting to get people to stop doing something they really liked doing -- in this case, smoking.
It wouldn't work. It was doomed to failure. Such "willpower" based programs were cruel jokes played on the target.
He had a better way, he said. And this is the crazy part where I went "What kind of bullshit snake-oil is this charlatan selling …show more content…
What's the problem with doing that?
Well, obviously: People don't want to stop watching their Media Shows and such, even if they agree with the idea that someone (else) should boycott the media to bring it to heel.
Why do they watch the shows? They're convinced, wrongly, that they need those shows in some way, that these shows make their lives better, provide a richer, more flavorful existence for them.
That these shows make them cooler, give them a connection to other Show Watchers.
There's a Fear of Missing Out, cultivated by carnival-bark commercials and Scenes from Next Week's Show. If you're not watching, you're missing out. You're missing out on one of Life's great joys.
That list of reasons people watch the shows, even though they fully understand the dangerous, hazardous effects of doing so (coarsening our culture, bringing our own political death nearer) looks a lot like a smoker's list of reasons why he should keep smoking.
So, why I am always bad-mouthing TV shows, FaceBook, Twitter, Sports, ESPN, the NFL, Disney, Marvel, etc.?
Well I'm attempting my own little Allen Carr solution: The only way that people will actually stop doing a thing is when they simply do not wish to do it any
I get those complaints. I take them seriously.
But here's why I'm doing it anyway.
I want to stress I completely agree with the sentiments expressed. I myself hate what I term "pleasure-shaming" -- a sort of Puritan revulsion at everyone's pleasure-seeking, except, of course, one's own (which is not even pleasure seeking -- it's a Noble Pursuit of an Ancient and Wizened Art).
Three weeks ago someone snapped at me for playing Uncharted 4. First game I'd played in six months! Well, I snapped like hell at him.
So I get it. Pleasure-shaming is bad. And pleasure-shamers are fools …show more content…
Here's why: It's political, and it's psyops.
When I quit smoking, I did so by reading The Easy Way to Quit Smoking by Allen Carr.
He had an insight, which, at first, I thought was total and complete bullshit.
He said you can't quit smoking by willpower. Willpower doesn't work. Even the strongest willed among us still have a finite reserve of willpower, and those reserves will be depleted, eventually. It will just take longer for their willpower reserves to run out than it does for the weak-willed.
But run out it will, as it always does. It must.
His insight was then that there was no point attempting to get people to stop doing something they really liked doing -- in this case, smoking.
It wouldn't work. It was doomed to failure. Such "willpower" based programs were cruel jokes played on the target.
He had a better way, he said. And this is the crazy part where I went "What kind of bullshit snake-oil is this charlatan selling …show more content…
What's the problem with doing that?
Well, obviously: People don't want to stop watching their Media Shows and such, even if they agree with the idea that someone (else) should boycott the media to bring it to heel.
Why do they watch the shows? They're convinced, wrongly, that they need those shows in some way, that these shows make their lives better, provide a richer, more flavorful existence for them.
That these shows make them cooler, give them a connection to other Show Watchers.
There's a Fear of Missing Out, cultivated by carnival-bark commercials and Scenes from Next Week's Show. If you're not watching, you're missing out. You're missing out on one of Life's great joys.
That list of reasons people watch the shows, even though they fully understand the dangerous, hazardous effects of doing so (coarsening our culture, bringing our own political death nearer) looks a lot like a smoker's list of reasons why he should keep smoking.
So, why I am always bad-mouthing TV shows, FaceBook, Twitter, Sports, ESPN, the NFL, Disney, Marvel, etc.?
Well I'm attempting my own little Allen Carr solution: The only way that people will actually stop doing a thing is when they simply do not wish to do it any