Hi, I may be boring.

[Wishfarple]

"We have to stop consuming our culture.

We have to create culture.

Don't watch TV. Don't read magazines,Ķ create your own roadshow."

--Terrence McKenna

Sometimes, even kooks are right.  Everyone, I'm coming to believe, gets at least one or two truly profound ideas that really should be shared with the rest of the world at some point.  This particular idea is ringing true to me at the moment in a very concrete way, as I deal with an ever-increasing fear of becoming boring.  

Now, I've always been boring to hang out with, since I don't do much.  I don't like going out, I don't like crowds, and most of the things I'd want to do at home are solitary activities.  This type of boring I'm used to and can accept.  This isn't what I'm talking about.

The type of boring I fear is boring in the mind.  Boring in the soul.  Becoming the very essence of boring.  The type of boring that asks "Hey, Bob.  How was your weekend?" and fucking MEANS IT.  Thinking boring thoughts and believing they're not boring.  This is probably the only unpardonable sin, since once you head down that path there's little chance of wrenching yourself free from it.  

To mangle a quote from Dune, THIS is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

The reason I included that quote at the top there is because I think it speaks to the root cause of this boring.  Consuming is alright, sometimes, but if all a person does is consume and consume and never creates anything, what the hell good are they?  What have they done to make an impression on the world around them?  They might as well never have been born, and the universe wouldn't really care (not that it cares anyway, but that's a different sermon).

Think about it.  Have you ever talked to someone who did nothing but watch TV or read books or play video games?  All they have to discuss is what they think about the shows, or what character X from book Y had to say, or how they pulled off a super-rad 23-hit combo in Kickfighter 10.  All they can think about is whatever they're consuming, and when they'll find the next cool thing to consume.  

Yeah, it's like a drug.  It's fun to watch weird cartoon shows and spout off lines from them with your friends.  Pretty soon, though, those lines get stale and you can't wait for the next episode so you'll have more things to say.  More funny lines that will save you from having to be funny or interesting yourself.  It frees you from the burden of thinking, of paying attention to and processing the things you see to come up with ideas.  That's a lot of work, and most of the time it's for very little gain.  So, just whip open that latest Terry Pratchett book and believe the things he says, steal his lines, and become instantly entertaining again.  At least, for a little while.

Over time, the parts of the brain you used for critical thinking start to atrophy, and that just makes it even harder to come up with anything new, which is all the more reason to fire up that TV or hop on the internet for a new dose of interesting.  It's a horrible cycle, and one that feeds on itself until you become nothing but a mindless content-sink, a black hole that consumes and consumes, vapid and useless.  Every word out of your mouth is something from a book or a movie, or some funny thing you heard someone else say.  Every thought is bent towards where to get your next "fix" of content.  All your activities are in the pursuit of these, and anything that requires the exercise of that old gray matter is shunned and ignored.  

A person like this is not interesting to talk to and not fun to hang out with, unless you also happen to be a zombie of the same ilk.  Then it's alright, because it affirms what you've been doing and you actually might feel the spark of intellect calling from deep inside somewhere, echoing off the walls.  A small squeak of conscious thought, but it's quickly silenced as soon as you discover some new thing to consume, the excitement of the junkie rushing home with his fix.  

He's right, we DO need to stop consuming our culture.  In particular, I need to stop consuming my culture, but I'm sure I'm not the only one.  I've got to break out of this fog of pseudo-intellectualism and start coming up with shit on my own.  I need to stop spending upwards of 16 hours a day on the internet reading everything I can find in the desperate attempt to avoid thinking for myself.  It's ironic that I'm writing this all up for a crowd of people who are probably among the least like the ones I describe, but I suppose it does make sense.  The ones I'm talking about wouldn't try to understand what I'm saying, anyway.

[gnimbley]

That reminds me of something I read in a book somewhere.
Or maybe it was in a film. I forget. I'll have to look it up.

Should I quote PD now?

(Not wasted on us. Not wasted at all.)

[Not Nurbldoff]

Great rant, man. I've been worrying a bit about my own creativity too, lately. I rarely watch TV, but I do spend a lot of time on the stupid part of the 'net. I think I used to be much more creative than I am now. It's simply easier to consume information compared to synthesizing it.

I think I too possess the first kind of "boringness" you mention, in that I mostly prefer to be on my own, or just sitting around with friends doing nothing in particular. But I'm hardly ever actually bored, if there's nothing else going on I can always activate my brain and start thinking about any of the zillion things I usually have going on up there at any given moment. However, these days, most of my pet projects don't turn into anything solid in the end. Maybe that's just not important enough, but it still feels kind of sad. I should really do something about that.

[Bob the Mediocre]

I'll have to quote that.




:P

[Irreverend Hugh, KSC]

But what if your culture consists of consuming the 'consumers' in very creative ways?

[Ben]

I'm bored.  
::consummates the next poster::

[EraPassing]

None of that, now, Saint B.  I'm saving myself for Rog.

I get bored at the drop of a hat.  In fact, I almost got in trouble in class today, because boredom tends to exacerbate my... erm... creativity, at the worst possible moment.
First day of school, too.

[Zurtok Khan]

Mmmm...consuming.  I don't suppose your a Cthulu-ite, are you?

Do not give into the Asshattery of the consumer culture that so many people have fallen into.  Thats why I hate Christmas.  If everyone was nice and actually followed the example of the dude they supposedly believe in Christmas would be nice.  But instead they all just want their next quick fix on their destructive consumer cultre.  *sigh*

*consumes the thread* Yum!

[Irreverend Hugh, KSC]

Xmas is for alcoholics.

Just saying.

[Cain]

I'm bored.  
::consummates the next poster::

Thats Cthulhu's job Nice rant, kinda reminds me in part of Jerry Mander's book, 4 Arguments For the Elimination of Television.  The death of the mind, the boredom of life itself, thats so big you cant even see it from the inside so it doesnt even seem that boring.  You know, I havent actually watched a TV in over 4 months.  Or watched that many films.  If I wasnt so busy with the mountain of work Im often doing on my computer, I might actually have time to do something intereseting.  Damn work