[bobf]

Days seem over before they even begin, and I have nothing to show for myself other than the anxious feeling that I now know just enough to engage in conversations I don’t care about.

To me, this was the most striking sentence in the article. It seems to be something that has increased from the time pop culture began to the present. Each of us probably hears more about Justin Bieber than we would ever truly care to, for example.

[Semiapies]

This is entirely voluntary.

For instance, I know that Bieber exists, and I can probably count on my fingers how many times I've seen pictures of him. I found the one or two songs of his I've heard innocuous and utterly forgettable - I probably couldn't identify him if I heard those very same songs again. I'm not even aware precisely why he's the go-to example of annoying celebrity, lately.

I'm not utterly isolated from the world or media, though. I just actually choose what media I consume.

[lionhearted]

> This is entirely voluntary.

Indeed, and I've pretty much done it. But it takes effort. You need credible replacements for the mindless time, and then you need to actively push yourself towards the new stuff as opposed to the old stuff.

The credible replacements is everything. If you commute by car, you need either:

-Some audiotapes/audiobooks/podcasts

-Someone to carpool with

-Some way of not driving any more (car service if you're wealthy enough, taking the train or bus otherwise)

...otherwise you're going to listen to the radio. What else is there to do while driving?

So it takes some effort. Totally doable though. I just calculated out how much time I spent on pop culture this year - Only one movie (Robin Hood, meh - I would've seen Inception except I was in the back provinces of China when it was released, and then it was gone from theaters when I was back in civilization), less than ten hours of TV (mostly tennis), no pop music except what was on when I was wandering through stores playing music or at a bar, no newspapers, and a few hours of trashy magazines while sitting in an aeronautical engineer friend's bathroom (why he reads them is beyond me, but it wasn't a terrible use of time while in his bathroom).

But this is only possible because I've got a list of stuff to do - a Kindle loaded with good books, an mp3 player loaded with audiobooks/podcasts, Hacker News/LessWrong/Google Reader loaded with good blogs, Lichess.org for when I want to play a game of Chess, and a list of temples/mosques/ruins/parks/beaches to go to.

It's not enough to just "opt out" - you need to "opt in" to some comparable activity to fill your time.

[duck]

What else is there to do while driving?

How about just drive? I hardly turn on the radio when I am driving by myself and find it a great time to think about things I am working on.

[Psyonic]

You're also in a different country, where you don't understand the pop culture around you, and you're far removed from yours. When I spent a month in Thailand I didn't even have to try, but back in the states it's not quite so easy.

[loewenskind]

I spend a fair amount on ITunes every month and I only recently found out that Bieber is a singer (I thought he was some internet guy). I don't know if I've heard a song of his or not.

[bobf]

And how many times would you care to have seen pictures of him, or heard anything about him? Probably zero. So it isn't exactly entirely voluntary, right?

[jerf]

I can't know that I wouldn't care if I haven't heard anything. I do not desire that level of disconnection from culture, merely the ability to control my participation. Which is actually rather easy, I'm finding. Perhaps when my kids get to be teenagers I'll find it a bit more of a challenge, but then, I doubt that's exactly what you mean. (I certainly don't desire that level of disconnection from my family!)

[Semiapies]

I chose to learn what I did about the guy because I encountered an friend's histrionic dislike of the singer and was curious.

So yes, entirely voluntary.

Now, if you'd like to argue that I was "forced" to encounter information by talking to someone I know, then you're going beyond even trying to make victimization out of exposure to media and just showing yourself to long for a hermitage. :)

[bobf]

Of course. It is important and useful to be a part of society, be conversant with the issues of the day, etc. The author's point seemed to simply be that constantly being conversant with popular culture is capable of becoming a timesink.

[roel_v]

How many times would I care to read about yet another 'Facebook is evil!' 'Down with The Man!' 'We're sheep who are being lived by Big Corp' idiotic 'privacy' drivel? None, and yet they show up quite regularly here. I just accept that that's the price to pay to, you know, participating in a broader community where not everybodies ideas and interests are going to 100% overlap with mine, and I skip those articles. Or are you suggesting that any time you run across something that you do not want or are not interested in is somehow a symptom of a general decline in control of our lives, caused by technology?

[gjm11]

I have, to the best of my knowledge, never either seen or heard Justin Bieber. I have not made a conscious effort to avoid his face or his music; I just don't consume a lot of mass media.

So it seems voluntary enough.

[arethuza]

The only reason I know Bieber exists is the South Park episode where Cartman gets Cthulhu to kill him.

[rcavezza]

Definitely true (referring to the quote). My girlfriend is in graduate school. Whens she comes home, she tells me about everything that happened to her during the day. I code and write blogposts. When she asks what I did, I say "went to the coffee shop and worked. That was about it."

[jdminhbg]

I think this is just that people are wired differently. My gf and I are the same way, but it's just a matter of her feeling the need to recap her day to keep me apprised vs my desire to not waste time talking about things that just happened a couple hours ago. I don't see anything deeper to it.

[jacquesm]

Justin who ?

[roel_v]

I like (or rather, dislike, but find strange enjoyment in spotting yet another instance) how ignorance of popular culture is a status symbol in some circles, to be flashed as often as possible. It's exactly what is so greatly parodied in http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mention..., down to the picture with the goatee of the typical person exhibiting this behavior.

Justin Bieber, just so you know, is a Canadian teenage singer who has over the last few year build a large mass of rather devoted fans. He makes very 'poppy' music ('mierzoet' as we'd say in Dutch, I'm not aware of an English term capturing the essence of that word) and is therefore widely reviled by those who consider their own musical interests more refined or otherwise better.

It's all described on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Bieber, and no it's not just a US thing (although he has been popular there for longer, but he's also well known here in Europe, including here in the Netherlands; see http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Bieber ).

[jacquesm]

I think you're reading a bit too much into two words.

[roel_v]

Maybe I do; it would be folly for me to claim to know you, based on a few HN posts. Maybe you did mean these two words in the same way that others here inquire about a linked list or the Riemann hypothesis; with a genuine desire to be explained and to know; topics that in these circles would be considered 'Worthy' of knowing, I feel. Wanting to know about things, all sorts of things, is the quintessential trait of the Hacker, after all.

That said, the tone (as far as there can reasonably be understood a 'tone' from two words) and the upvote the post had when I posted my comment did not, prima facie, lead me to believe that the purpose of the post was to be informed about who actually Justin Bieber is. A 5 second google search would've shown more than enough to be able to understand what the GP (and following posts) are complaining about. So, all these circumstances combined, lead me to believe that there is at least a core of truth to my post, even if it's not as dramatic as spelling it out like I did makes it seem.

Then again, me making these ridiculous multi-paragraph posts on a topic that is wholly devoid of any intellectual value would probably rationally be considered indicative of me taking pride in some sort of meta-pseudo-intellectual snobbery; so am I sticking up for pop culture because for the right reasons or for vain self-gratification? Does it matter? I don't know. And I think it doesn't matter that I don't know, either ;)

[astine]

"Maybe you did mean these two words in the same way that others here inquire about a linked list or the Riemann hypothesis; with a genuine desire to be explained and to know; topics that in these circles would be considered 'Worthy' of knowing, I feel."

More likely he was pointing out to bobf, the user whose post to which he was replying, that participation in pop-culture is entirely voluntary. I think to assume that he was passing judgment on Justin Bieber fans out of some 'pseudo-intellectual snobbery' is just a little bit presumptuous.

[roel_v]

Maybe, although I find that hard to read into it. From here on it's just a 'he said she said' or interpretation thing, I guess.

Anyway I'm just posting to point out that that last paragraph with the 'pseudo-intellectual snobbery' was a sneer at myself, and not at Jacques; to point out that these things are relative and that I'm not above it. Just sayin' to make it clear - like I said before, I can't presume to be able to pass judgment on Jacques as a person from a few HN posts.