Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
To speedrun classic literature, go to the library and check out all the Wishbone books. Then if you like a particular story, you can actually read the original. If you don’t like any of them, at least you’ll know the basic plot line and should pick up on most references. For poetry, find an anthology of famous poems (or snag a list from the Internet) and read one or two per day for three months. Odds are you’ll probably find at least some you like. Rudyard Kipling seems to be popular among many rationalist-adjacent folks, so you might start with him. If you find that you really can’t stand any poetry at all, try reading them aloud. A lot of poems are just better that way. You can also usually find good recordings on YouTube. Both James Earl Jones and Christopher Lee have pretty decent recordings of Poe’s The Raven, for example. If there’s a poem you like well enough to memorize, print it out and read it out loud every night before you go to bed. As long as the poem isn’t Paradise Lost or something ridiculously long like that, you should have it memorized in no time. The routine will also probably help you fall asleep easier, in case you happen to have any trouble with that.
For movies, I’d suggest you keep a list of movie references that people around you make, and then just watch those. You should catch up to speed relatively quickly. Don’t watch all the top 100 films of all time or anything like that. Very few people have actually seen all of them, so you’d be wasting a lot of time.
I would guess that music is probably the least referenced, partly because there’s a relatively small number of universally-known songs. Person A might have grown up on the Beatles, but Person B grew up on Frank Sinatra, Person C on ACDC, Person D on Beethoven, and Persons E through G on jazz, hip hop, and pop, respectively. That said, if you have the time and don’t mind the bother, it wouldn’t hurt to listen once or twice to the top ten songs of each decade from 1950 to the present. Songs are short, and you can do it on your commute. If your coworkers are people of fine breeding and good taste, and they listen to classical music, find a Music Appreciation CD set, and just listen to the songs from the Baroque and Romantic periods. A Music Appreciation CD will only play short excerpts from the longer pieces, which should save you some time. Or just find a “Classical music you know but don’t know the name of” video on YouTube. Watch a few of those, while paying attention to who the composers are, and you should be set.
One final piece of advice: visit an art museum or two, if nothing else to say that you’ve been. New York, D.C., Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and other major cities have good collections. Pick whichever one is closest to you, spend a day there, and memorize the names and artists’ names of two or three pieces that you particularly like. Then if the subject ever comes up, you can add your two cents and raise your cultural standing.
More options
Context Copy link