Was watching an academic lecture on Caravaggio on YouTube (premium is so worth it) and found myself irrationally angry when people in the audience started asking questions. "I'm not here to listen to the comments section!!!" 🤣 Also why I no longer argue with people online. They hijack your time. - ThreadSky

kameronhurley.com • 60 days ago

Was watching an academic lecture on Caravaggio on YouTube (premium is so worth it) and found myself irrationally angry when people in the audience started asking questions. "I'm not here to listen to the comments section!!!" 🤣

Also why I no longer argue with people online. They hijack your time.

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towardstengen.bsky.social•60 days ago

I feel this so strongly. My pet conviction is that our instincts and emotions evolved to handle the opinions of a few dozen people we know well and now we're being firehosed with way, way, way beyond that capacity.

We are exposed to too many people's thoughts and opinions and can't handle it.

aspenjunge.bsky.social•60 days ago

My zero tolerance policy on assholes in my life saves me so much time and fury.

kameronhurley.com•60 days ago

I remember when I first noticed that my opinion of some piece of media was poisoned before I even watched it - by online commentary. And that I was forming opinions of "news" stories I hadn't even read yet - based on how people I knew were responding. And all THOSE opinions were knee jerk reactions

kameronhurley.com•60 days ago

I explicitly didn't engaged with anything related to the UHC shooter until I figured out what **I** thought. This should be what we all do, of course: take the time to think deeply about a story or event instead of of reacting immediately based of a headline or skim. But we are human. And we don't.

kameronhurley.com•60 days ago

I noticed it first with the shows and books, tho. And I'm not talking about "this show is great, watch it" but "this show is a shallow piece of garbage for subhuman people only idiots would watch it." Like, ok, Chad. Or, conversely, "everyone should love this or they're a fucking idiot."

kameronhurley.com•60 days ago

When that comes from people you disagree with, it makes you laugh and do opposite of what they say, but when it's from "your people" it's harder for me to buck wave. I am in marketing because I know how gullible I am to marketing. The social danger of not "fitting in" is one I feel keenly, still

kameronhurley.com•60 days ago

I think I first noticed this with RH fiasco. But it really came to head for me with Helicopter Story. I read that one before the sides got entrenched and while it's good for me to have read it three times to make sure I stuck by my opinion, watching communities eat themselves over it was wild.

squirrelninja.bsky.social•60 days ago

I had the same thing, and on a very simple level it stopped me from enjoying both the show/book/film the fandom was about and fandom itself. (Or in case of something like Helicopter Story, The Discourse I guess?) I stopped engaging after a while, bc it completely sapped away any enjoyment. >

kameronhurley.com•60 days ago

And this happens with shows all the time too. If you enjoyed this problematic show, you're a monster. If you watched this movie you're part of the problem. And it leaves no room for people to actually engage critically with a piece of art. Which is how we are meant to engage with art! Critically!

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