"A long time ago I went on a cruise, only for a day, in Scandinavia. It was for work (really), and it was the most extraordinarily boring day I’ve spent anywhere, despite being tailor made to satisfy human desire."
Congrats, you had a similar epiphany as one of the greatest American writers of the late 20th century:
Fairs, like Cruises, are usually extremely banal and pointless. We go to them to spend time outside among other people, but there are definitely better activities to do with your time. Fair rides are usually pretty bad, you want to go to an amusement park for this. Those rides can definitely be worth it if you like getting an adrenaline jolt at all.
There is a real risk of cynicism here, that if we were to view everything a human values through the same lens, everything could be drained of meaning and value. Piano concerto? It's "just" an ape descendant hitting keys in pre-memorized patterns to evoke an emotional response. High level tennis match? Why do we pay grown men to hit a ball back and forth? Chess? A meaningless formal system with arbitrary rules to serve as an intellectual distraction.
Don't go down that road. BUT do acknowledge when something is pure mediocrity, or selling you the packaging of fun/engagement without the actual substance. (Children are allowed to enjoy fairs as the experience IS novel to them.)
"A long time ago I went on a cruise, only for a day, in Scandinavia. It was for work (really), and it was the most extraordinarily boring day I’ve spent anywhere, despite being tailor made to satisfy human desire."
Congrats, you had a similar epiphany as one of the greatest American writers of the late 20th century:
https://harpers.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/HarpersMagazine-1996-01-0007859.pdf
Fairs, like Cruises, are usually extremely banal and pointless. We go to them to spend time outside among other people, but there are definitely better activities to do with your time. Fair rides are usually pretty bad, you want to go to an amusement park for this. Those rides can definitely be worth it if you like getting an adrenaline jolt at all.
There is a real risk of cynicism here, that if we were to view everything a human values through the same lens, everything could be drained of meaning and value. Piano concerto? It's "just" an ape descendant hitting keys in pre-memorized patterns to evoke an emotional response. High level tennis match? Why do we pay grown men to hit a ball back and forth? Chess? A meaningless formal system with arbitrary rules to serve as an intellectual distraction.
Don't go down that road. BUT do acknowledge when something is pure mediocrity, or selling you the packaging of fun/engagement without the actual substance. (Children are allowed to enjoy fairs as the experience IS novel to them.)
I agree about watching out for cynicism, and to not let children not enjoy because of my issues.
Fair enough