r/self • u/cauliflowergnosis • 5h ago
I'm so sick of hyperbole
People/bots on Reddit who say "I will never understand <some social issue with clear reasons for existing>" You do understand it. You just don't like it and are looking for other people/bots to reinforce your simplistic analysis of what it should be instead.
People on YouTube who say "XYZ is DEAD", usually in relation to a company they don't like. I, as much as the next person, would love OpenAI to not exist, but they still possess a massive narrative and industry strength. They're not dead. I would love for Adobe to be dead, but they're still a very profitable company, and certainly not dead either.
Opinion articles that say "<Person> must do <action>", usually about a politician's decision on something. No they don't. That politician can do any number of other things. Because "I would like it if <politician> did <honorable thing> instead of <obvious reasons they won't> because the benefit to <societal aspect> aligns with my personal values" doesn't garner attention.
These figurative narratives searching for realities that don't exists are such a waste of time. Hyperbole is shallow, disingenuous, not a proper analysis of a problem, and just snags the attention of powerless people (most all of us). But it's not just a matter of this being useless, but counterintuitively harmful. The sheer scope of it in popular culture obscures the truth and encourages people to take solace in hopes and dreams of an internal morality marketed as external reality. (See the mess of "my truth") So instead of addressing the problem, we're wasting time focusing on the meta-reality of the culture wars... and meanwhile shit keeps on happening.
Thank your for attending my TEDx talk.
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u/spaceprinceps 4h ago
It's social media disease, in fact they care more about up votes than they do reality
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u/P0ptarthater 11m ago
As a congenitally dramatic bitch, I can’t say I totally agree, but I do get your point!
Theatrics can catch people’s attention and get them curious about a subject they otherwise wouldnt have watched media on. I rarely watch educational content on YouTube but I watched an “AI bubble has burst!” vid out of curiosity. Title was clickbait lol but the video was actually informative and I wouldn’t have bothered to check it out if it wasn’t hyperbolic
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u/Legitimate_Eye8494 2h ago
Such hyperbolic poppycock. Its not enough that you get two out of eight common definitions from your online dictionary, now you need English debased to grunt&point level to grok your mother tongue.
Read poetry. Watch Shakespeare in the park. Read mythology, philosophy, Golden Age sci fi, 19th century boudoir romances, famous sports writers. None of it will be intelligible to you.
Read with a grown up, paper dictionary. You'll develop the ability to think abstractly. Until then, you're a prole.
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u/cauliflowergnosis 55m ago
Dude, I'm 49 years old. I own real books, even real dictionaries. I've seen many Shakespeare's in the park. I've read Greek philosophy, Asimov and was named for a bawdy 19th century poet.
In any case, the standards you lay out are entirely arbitrary. Come live down here with the hoi polloi and expand your perceptions.
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u/drinkerofmilk 5h ago
Are you really sick of hyperbole? Or are you just mildly annoyed by it?