Popular Culture and Reality

[rousseau]

Without getting into too wordy of a post, I was watching some movies yesterday afternoon and suddenly realized how deep and prevalent an effect popular culture has on our experience of the world.

It's pretty crazy to think about how many people literally understand and model their world and their own behaviour based on things they see on TV or are told by others.

ETA: .... or maybe it's not crazy at all!

 

[rousseau]

One aspect in particular I noticed the other day was how *perfect* the dialogue was in the movie. I can see that this dynamic in media could give people an expectation that life should 'be like the movies', or at the very least people start believing that others are or should be perfect, intelligent and rational, and not the dumbasses we actually are.

 

[ontological_realist]

Without getting into too wordy of a post, I was watching some movies yesterday afternoon and suddenly realized how deep and prevalent an effect popular culture has on our experience of the world.

It's pretty crazy to think about how many people literally understand and model their world and their own behaviour based on things they see on TV or are told by others.

ETA: .... or maybe it's not crazy at all!

or are told by others.

It certainly is not crazy at all. Humans learn from each other. All the knowledge of sciences, history, languages and geography etc. which you posses, you have learned from others. You have not thought all that up all by yourself. There is not any thing wrong in learning from others. People learn not only from TV, they also learn from books(including philosophy books), universities,from parents and social interaction etc.

What is wrong is to accept what others say uncritically. Because what ever information other humans or human society gives you can be wrong and some times is wrong and it is not only that popular culture can be delusional but the same applies to unpopular culture.

It is wrong to let yourself be brain washed by what others tell you. That is why philosophy is extremely important because good philosophy can help you to think for yourself.

As long as you live you are constantly making choices and you have to make choices, there is no way out of it. So why not make your choices based upon reality rather than on illusions (illusions given to you by society or self generated by you).

 

[DBT]

Information input must necessarily alter perception and thought. It is the state of the brain, architecture, input and memory that is the sole agent and decision maker.

If the input is appealing to the individual (based on past experience and proclivity) the change in behavior develops in favour of the presentation, otherwise either a reaction against or a neutral stance develops...or of course any shade between.

 

[WAB]

I prefer to give people more credit. I doubt there are masses of people who have trouble discerning the difference between the make-believe world of TV and film and the real world.

 

[DBT]

I prefer to give people more credit. I doubt there are masses of people who have trouble discerning the difference between the make-believe world of TV and film and the real world.

Credit for what, though? Being intelligent? Being savvy? Understanding that input has an effect on perception and thought?

 

[rousseau]

I prefer to give people more credit. I doubt there are masses of people who have trouble discerning the difference between the make-believe world of TV and film and the real world.

There is a difference between recognizing the flamboyancy of advertising, and being prone to subtle messages that one may not even be aware that they're receiving.

Most media plays off of our own perceptions about what people *should* be like, rather than what they *are* like, and you see a positive feedback loop because of it.

Perceptions like:
- mothers are always care-takers
- men should never be emotional
- when we speak, we should always sound assertive and intelligent
- etc..

It's easy enough to look at media and realize it's not real, but at the same time sub-consciously believe that media depictions are accurate descriptors of reality. And then with that people are going to tend to mimic behaviours that they see, rather than behaviours they *want*.

 

[DBT]

It is quite amazing to what degree of manipulation there is by marketeers, political parties, etc, without the viewer/listener being aware of the underlying process. Many of our perceptions of self (identity, value, worth) and society being shaped by that activity.

 

[fromderinside]

It is quite amazing to what degree of manipulation there is by marketeers, political parties, etc, without the viewer/listener being aware of the underlying process. Many of our perceptions of self (identity, value, worth) and society being shaped by that activity.

Two root causes. We are social animals. We fear other humans most. Take those and couple them with the fact that we are reactive beings and one gets a scenario where the outside dominates construction of one's perception of it.

The rest is posted elsewhere.