Fun Stuff > BAND
End of the CD coming...
pwhodges:
And because those of us in work are being made to do more in a given time (and for a given salary), there is less work for others - hence increased unemployment, which is primarily a way of making business more profitable by reducing salary bills.
doombilly:
And fewer benefits. If you have 2 employees doing the work of 3, the employer covered part of the benefits (retirement, healthcare etc...) is reduced by 1/3. They say we are more "productive" now. What they mean is the employers are getting more for less. Or at least it seems so to me. I know that when I'm on vacation I cannot leave my work phone behind and that people call me and expect shit to get done.
pinkpiche:
--- Quote from: lepetitfromage on 01 Mar 2012, 07:41 ---I think I have to politely disagree. I think the very latest generation is just that- entirely comfortable with the information overload. So yes, you are right- they probably have no idea what overstimulated is because they are so used to it. Maybe I am the minority here, but I definitely know what overstimulated is- and it sucks.
We may be projecting our need for relaxation, but just because we talk about the fact that we want to relax doesn't mean we get to do so without repercussions. Everything needs to be done as soon as possible. Just think about vacations: when someone actually has the luxury to take one, the time leading up to and following the return of said vacation are both chock full of things to do to make sure that you don't fall behind and lose your job. (It's sad, but it's reality). Not to mention those who have vacations that have to be cut short because of a work "emergency". I see it all too often. Maybe it's simply the nature of the industry I work in, but I'm sure it varies depending on such things anyway. Although, in a number of fields now more people have a phone for work and have to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Work has become more important than living your life outside of work and actually enjoying what little money you make. With all that stress and the fact that you have to be available all the time, there is very little room for simple pleasures without interruption. Sure, they exist- but it's getting harder and harder to fit them in. Combine this with the growing trend in "kids" constantly being plugged into something and then you are breeding a generation that lives for everything the information age stands for- increased productivity, instant gratification....higher value in tasks being performed as fast and efficiently as humanly possible.
Is there some merit in this? Absolutely! The faster we get things done, the more time we have to do more productive things. But the fact is, the more we accomplish, the more that will be demanded of us. Things will get done quicker but that doesn't mean we get to take more time for ourselves- there will just be more work to do in a shorter period of time. The amount of work done in 40 hours 20 years ago is a LOT different than the amount of work done in the same 40 hour time span.
--- End quote ---
I'm 21 years old, and I'm completely terrified of the information overload, it's basically what I think about when I'm most anxious (and what my art practice revolves around) so I wouldn't say we're comfortable - we're more trapped than that. We have no other way to communicate, I'm entirely addicted to the gratification I get from Facebook and other social media and I'm happy that way almost 80% of the time but that's mostly because things are going so fast that I'm not going to notice it more. That doesn't mean that it's frowned upon to take a vacation or even relax when your work day is over - it just means that most people are convinced that that is how a stable, healthy work environment looks like. I can see that you're coming from somewhere else, and I think that's good because I wouldn't be able to see it from that perspective - but that's exactly the point I'm trying to make. It's not the same for everybody, it's different for everybody. Some kids I know are hooked up everywhere they go and accept it as a natural part of the way they live - and who's to say it isn't?
Then there's the aspect of some people having been culturally conditioned to seek self-realization (like me, but of course in more extreme cases in Asia) and how they feel that their entire ego is built on the premise that they may soon obtain widespread recognition and gratification. Some are more lucky than others and realize soon enough that no matter how hard you try there's going to be some ups and downs. But people like my friend's chinese cousin (who lives and studies in China) are so conditioned to believe that the only important thing in their lives is their education and later their work, that when presented with the prospect of going somewhere where there's every possibility to socialize and meet new friends, they're confused because they've never had any.
What I'm trying to say is that it's not necessarily sad that it's like this now, it's just different and that's not relativism - it's knowing that every generation has lived differently and the elder generation will always be somewhat skeptical of "the new ways".
With that being said I'm completely in love with physical media and insist on buying new music on vinyl when I have the money and use Spotify or other streaming sites for when I don't. I seek the old ways too, and I enjoy having to flip the LP but I know that this isn't true for everyone.
lepetitfromage:
You make a lot of really good points. I have so much I want to respond to specifically...please forgive the novel. :-P
--- Quote from: pinkpiche on 01 Mar 2012, 12:31 ---I'm 21 years old, and I'm completely terrified of the information overload, it's basically what I think about when I'm most anxious (and what my art practice revolves around) so I wouldn't say we're comfortable - we're more trapped than that.
--- End quote ---
1- I'd like to see this art practice of yours. I'm intrigued. What medium do you use? Do you have a web portfolio?
2- I think 'trapped' is an interesting word choice. IMO a lot of the time, we consider ourselves trapped when we're simply just accustomed to the way in which we're doing things. I hate texting, but sometimes it's more convenient than picking up the phone and most of my friends are texters. I feel stuck in it and know that it's better if I just respond that way but deep down I just want to call.
--- Quote from: pinkpiche on 01 Mar 2012, 12:31 ---That doesn't mean that it's frowned upon to take a vacation or even relax when your work day is over - it just means that most people are convinced that that is how a stable, healthy work environment looks like.
--- End quote ---
I think that's the issue though- that relaxation is changing. Productivity is infiltrating our entire lives because it can- so why shouldn't we let it? It is less about pure joy and peace of mind and more about "I will clean every speck of my house and reorganize my freezer and I will feel joy and have peace of mind because I am productive". Plus, if you are home from work doing laundry and you're interrupted by an emergency call from the office, at least they didn't interrupt something you actually enjoy. Even when some activities are purely recreational (like hiking or going for a walk) they are rationalized by the fact that they are killing 2 birds with one stone: relaxation and calorie burning.
--- Quote from: pinkpiche on 01 Mar 2012, 12:31 ---I can see that you're coming from somewhere else, and I think that's good because I wouldn't be able to see it from that perspective - but that's exactly the point I'm trying to make. It's not the same for everybody, it's different for everybody. Some kids I know are hooked up everywhere they go and accept it as a natural part of the way they live - and who's to say it isn't?
Then there's the aspect of some people having been culturally conditioned to seek self-realization (like me, but of course in more extreme cases in Asia) and how they feel that their entire ego is built on the premise that they may soon obtain widespread recognition and gratification. Some are more lucky than others and realize soon enough that no matter how hard you try there's going to be some ups and downs. But people like my friend's chinese cousin (who lives and studies in China) are so conditioned to believe that the only important thing in their lives is their education and later their work, that when presented with the prospect of going somewhere where there's every possibility to socialize and meet new friends, they're confused because they've never had any.
--- End quote ---
I like that you pointed out what you did in that first section. It may work for some people even if it doesn't for others. I try to hold tight to that notion in most situations but I tend to get carried away when it comes to things that I consider fundamental needs (like relaxation). I'm a very anxious person and without my downtime I think my brain would explode.
The only thing that I question a bit is where you mention self-realization. At first it sounded as though you were talking about self-realization in the way that it is described by humanist psychologists- after an enormous list of tangible accomplishments, one has fully 'realized' their potential. But the Buddhist interpretation (which is what I though of when you mentioned "extreme cases in Asia") of self-realization is quite different. The way I understand it is that it is only achieved through awareness and internal reflection...without the influence of external forces or occurrences. Maybe I misinterpreted what you were getting at?
--- Quote from: pinkpiche on 01 Mar 2012, 12:31 ---What I'm trying to say is that it's not necessarily sad that it's like this now, it's just different and that's not relativism - it's knowing that every generation has lived differently and the elder generation will always be somewhat skeptical of "the new ways".
With that being said I'm completely in love with physical media and insist on buying new music on vinyl when I have the money and use Spotify or other streaming sites for when I don't. I seek the old ways too, and I enjoy having to flip the LP but I know that this isn't true for everyone.
--- End quote ---
This makes me feel old. I'm only 26, and I'm definitely not entirely skeptical of "the new ways"- I have a Kindle, an enormous iTunes library and I'm a last.fm addict. Don't get me wrong, I love technology and all the fantastic advances that have been made in the field- my dad built me a computer when I was 7 and I've watched all the changes come and go since then. And I'm a Google fiend- I'm fascinated by the accessibility of information and sometimes I question what I would do without it. But I think my attachment to the past is the artistic/romantic aspect of it all. There's something that seems more meaningful about it that I can't quite put my finger on. Something more enjoyable about the less technologically oriented ways of doing things. I don't think by any means that we should all throw out our gadgets and go live in the wilderness....but I think every once in a while, shutting off your cell phone can be the most liberating feeling in the world.
Also, to pwhodges and doombilly- exactly! In most cases, our salaries are not increasing with our responsibilities. Unless you're an hourly employee, it doesn't matter how many phone calls outside of work you get- if you take 3 one week and 30 the next, you're still getting the same paycheck.
Redball:
I hadn't looked at the band thread until today. The discussion of the possible demise of CDs brings to mind a memory of their beginning.
In the mid-1980s, my wife and I had a pleasant friendship with a man who 20 years before had been the mayor of a small suburban Detroit community when I was reporting it for the local daily newspaper. He had started a record store in that city just after World War II.
Several times in the 80s, Clara and I and our daughter hiked in northern New Hampshire, then headed to my friend's summer home on the Maine coast for a 2-3-day visit. By then he'd opened branches in the Detroit area, and set up his own warehousing operation to supply them.
On one of the visits to Maine, he told me about a demonstration he had witnessed at a record dealer convention, probably in Nashville. The person doing the demo on stage took this shiny little disc, put in a machine and music came out. The demonstrator removed the shiny little disk, tossed it to the floor, stomped on it, and put it back in the machine. Music came out.
My friend was blown away by the demo and the small size of the disk.
He didn't live many years after that, and his record store empire didn't last long very long after he died.
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