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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   38681 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of February 24, 2025

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Social conversation in the UK sometimes feels like its 50% a competition about how cleverly you can insult the other person. This is really distracting if you ever want to talk about something substantive. Despite it being mostly in good humor, the constant negativity is really draining.

Hah, this is interesting. I've felt drained recently because specifically where I live, social conversation is about how little you give a fuck about anything, and how blatantly and non-cleverly you can be about insulting the other person, but still have them take it. And I remember in high school that to have any interests at all made you a loser. All of life is about seeming like you don't give a fuck, here. But this is very specific to my region.

Isn't that all of Western culture, to some extent? There's a reason why "cool" (as in cold, disinterested) was the ideal that everyone strived towards for decades, and has basically become our generic casual word for "good". I'm just glad that this ideal seems to finally have gone on the retreat since about 2010 or so (but then all of the political heating was probably part of the monkey's-paw price for that).

Eh, I think irony and detachment was the thing that took over around 2010, though that too may be passing.

That might be the case. That'd make me happy if my kids grew up in a high school where they didn't have to act like they don't care about anything.

But also, having lived in several different areas, even recently, I think the people in my particular area are more rude than in other places.

If so, then I think we should tread with some care. Stoicism is a worthwhile ability to keep around; I thoroughly despise the drama queens who will turn everything into an outburst worthy of being put on social media.

Obviously there are harmful extremes in both directions. But the happy medium is, IMO, a little towards the cool side. But of course I would say that.

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