Not everything matters
Firstly, I apologize for being less than punctual in posting. I’ve been busy with my day job and between having to do actual productive work rather than aimlessly musing and with all of that in my brain rather than the usual dreck, I haven’t had much free thoughts going about for what exactly to write this week.
When that happens I suppose it’s time to pull out a soapbox and start to ramble about pet peeves. I’d like to not convert myself into some version of Stadler and Waldorf —The old-man muppets that always had commentary from their box seats in The Muppet Show — but what’s the use of this space if not to vent about annoyances from time to time without having to resort to deep contemplation.
So onto my real take that was spurred by endless conversation of the slap heard round the world from the Oscars ceremony. I’m not going to go any more into it than that because, frankly… I don’t care.
What I’m on about is that there is no need for everyone to care about everything. While I understand the value of shared cultural moments— which are fewer and fewer even as our world grows more connected- it’s possible to appreciate it and think “Well, that was really something” without having to go into deeper meaning. Never mind having it be a news story for weeks because two rich guys had a spat in front of a camera.
But as I am wont to do, I like to generalize things way beyond the specific instance1. And that as there is ever more communication, and information, there’s often pressure to have an opinion on everything. That’s just an unhealthy impulse. Sometimes it’s worth it to take a step back and just say “meh”.
My post on emergent order really is one of the bedrocks of how I view the world and part of that is the information problem in that nobody can have all the information necessary with any particular problem or issue. That’s not to say we shouldn’t try all the time. But maybe, sometimes, we really shouldn’t. Obviously it’s particularly easy to say with things in the entertainment industry because the stakes are so low, but think about just sitting out in some other issues and just relax your mind and read a book or watch a TV series that doesn’t have to make you think too deeply.
Personal Updates
Canine news is that winter had a brief, but intense, last gasp that led to few walks but now that spring is in the air he is quite enjoying all his extra time outdoors walking the neighborhood.
As for me, as hinted at in the past few weeks, my regular job is really picking up steam. I have a few pieces that will be a bit longer but in general over the next few months, it’s probably best to expect shorter pieces like this week’s
Yes, I am fully cognizant of the irony of maligning people taking this too seriously because of overgeneralization while I attempt to do the same.