> At 02:37 PM 8/15/01 -0700, Ian wrote:
> >Do you really expect people to do philosophy, science and other
'deep'
> >discourse all the time, or do you never make 'small talk'?
> >
> >Ian
>
> Small talk in all male company usually centers on two topics: sports
and
> degrading women. In a mixed company - it usually centers on tee-vee
shows.
> As much quality and variety as numbers 1 through 6 in a burger
joint.
>
> PS. Tee-vee and passive entertainment it offers has a really
poisonous
> effect on small talk and social skills. In the "good old days"
people had
> no choice but to enterntain themselves when they got together, and
that
> encouraged them to develop humor, with and social skills. Today
people
> passively watch tee-vee, even when they meet other people, or
regurgitate
> stuff spoon-fed to them by the entertainment industry - no thinking
or
> social skills are required.
>
> wojtek
==========
Maybe in your world. I know plenty of men who couldn't give pigeon
poop about sports or degrading women; this does not make them saints
of course. They would rather argue about whether the Clash were a
better band than Big Audio Dynamite. How is this less deep than
arguing over whether Mozart was better than Beethoven? Or deeper than
people who discuss the tv show Six Feet Under?
There's no such thing as passive entertainment, imo.
What were the good old days like? What evidence do you have that people were funnier and deeper in the 19th, 18th or 13th century than they are today?
Ian