At this point, everyone knows I'm hugely into books.
It's just so depressing how even book people are about nothing more than intentionally creating this self-perpetuating "community" of anxiety.
You can't go to any freaking book-related online space without people asking for permission to not finish a book. "Is it okay to DNF?????"
Same with doing shit to your own books. Do not write into them, do not open them too much or the spine will crack. Get a panic attack because two fucking photons touched the book and how it will be DAMAGED.
"I am having a panic attack because maybe I didn't get all the references in this book."
The same with every hobby. Cooking? You are not environmentally friendly enough, you are not authentic enough, this is wrong, that is wrong.
Hell, I am kiiinda thinking about a Switch, I looked at Animal Crossing and people are freaking the fuck out at others for not playing the game "right". Others are having depression because their islands are not aesthetic enough.
How did the internet turn everyone so fucking neurotic over the things we were supposed to do as FUN? And I am not even just talking about SJW things, but every community is about "doing it the right way" even though it doesn't matter and there doesn't exist a right way?
I think the bigger problem is that everything is social now. Everything you listed as a hobby is a solo activity, but you've made it a social club instead.
People aren't supposed to be social 100% of the time. There needs to be a balance. Yet most people can't handle being in solitude for more than a few minutes.
Everyone needs a solo activity they enjoy. Something where you barely even know what the "greater community" is talking about. Books you'd think would be that, but apparently everything needs to be a book club instead.
Those people who can’t handle solitude either lack an internal monologue or are terrified of their own thoughts. I’ve thought about this a lot and this is the conclusion I’ve come to. Also they probably have a shit attention span and need constant stimulation to not go insane.
I think its even more than that. They lack the ability to make choices for themselves.
Nobody can just see a movie or read a book anymore. They need to confer with the masses to find out if its good or not first. Then, they need someone to acknowledge that they did in fact do that, so they post about it somewhere or engage in some discussion about it. And they can't game without some discussion on the meta level, whether its about min/maxxing or just "what's best build" to copy paste.
There can be no fun had unless someone else has participated in it. Nothing is ever done just for your own personal enrichment and pleasure. Fun itself is a group activity.
That’s very true. It’s why the mass media has such a hold on people, they can’t form their own opinions, they need to be told what opinion to have. I can’t even get mad at them, I used to be the same way. I used to rely on NPR to tell me what to think. I believed at the time I was just getting informed on whatever news was happening but looking back I can see that I was not forming my own opinions without checking on NPR first.
I also used to do exactly as you describe with vidya - I couldn’t just play a character and experiment and figure out the best build on my own. I always scoured the message boards for a given game to see what the current meta was for the class and pretty much just copy what someone else already figured out. There is certainly a fear that so many seem to have for just blazing a trail. In gaming, for me, it was aversion to being seen as some noob retard who didn’t know how to play a given class.
I need to remember this thread the next time I feel compelled to just copy what someone else has done. It’s really just lazy-brained to do that.
The thing is, there is a balance to be had. We are social creatures by instinct and we are at our best when we share notes and learn from one another. Its the requirement to always be doing that wherein it becomes a problem.
As such, its beneficial to sometimes look up what people have found about the game to give yourself a new perspective on how to better optimize. Sometimes you just won't see synergies and options that others do, and you can adapt that in to vastly enhance your enjoyment. However, it becomes an issue where you just can't play a game without a walkthrough open, or knowing the absolute best build before you start. Your fun is predicated on living up to some nonexistent standard of being judged for subpar performance.