Comment by Gormo
4 days ago
> I want a world where humans want to create, where the creative process itself is rewarding, and where our common culture is filled with most of the best works.
Well, that's definitely a moral proposition. And it's also a good description of the world as it already is.
> When humans rework something, they impart a piece of themselves into the final product.
Personally, I've never encountered any human residue while watching a movie or reading a book. Only memes that propagate independently of their point of origin.
I've also never encountered any "soul", though I have often encountered enjoyable, enlightening, and relatable works irrespective of whether the creators intended to maximize their revenue.
> I don't want to emulate those. But there were miraculous decades in both music and film that I want to use as a benchmark, since we know what's possible at least.
If you use the absolute best of everything as the benchmark against which to measure everything else, and you oppose the very existence of anything that doesn't measure up, then you are fostering an environment that is exactly the opposite of the world you claim to want.
> Personally, I've never encountered any human residue while watching a movie or reading a book.
In that case, I think we're simply debating if we like vanilla or chocolate.
I find modern culture to be crap. Whatever arguments you have against this, the fact still remains that I not longer can find what I want, something I once had.
I don't care if it hurts the economy or makes the lives of some people worse, I want movies that I enjoy watching.
> I find modern culture to be crap.
So did Socrates. Ironically, being jaded about contemporary culture is older than the hills.
My own personal feelings aren't that far off from yours -- a lot of aspects of life seem to have been much better in the past, especially in the '90s -- than today. But I'm only in my mid-40s and understand that my particular perceptions are likely informed by the bulk of my life experience taking place during a particular time slice of what very well may be a recurring cultural cycle.
Looking at how the overall cultural mood of American society has developed over time, I think I would have liked living between the 1920s and 1970s far less than today, but agree that things seem to have been getting particularly bad over the past ten years or so.
> So did Socrates. Ironically, being jaded about contemporary culture is older than the hills.
Well, Socrates did have some good points. Even in the Golden Age of Pericles, there was some breakdown of trust between citizens, and professional litigators started making money by simply bringing random people to court.
Even when there's growth, you can still have decline in many areas.
My point is that even though decline is inevitable, the rate and magnitude of that decline can be somewhat controlled, but the discussion has to start from acknowledging the situation and what can be done.