Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Lazo-pallooza

Laziness can inspire great inventions they say.  Shortcuts around mundane tasks, routes previously unimaginable and what not.  Great inventions that benefit everyone in the long run.  But not everyone has a Eureka! moment.  Some people just jump out in the privacy of their own bathroom, keeping their lightbulb idea to themselves.  The 'selfish' inspiration.  The kind that has given rise to a new kind of economy.

This kind of laziness hinges on the laziness of others.  It capitalizes on the herd mentality that brings people into the same cattle ranch, like good cattle (good behavior good, not beef good obviously!) who will stay there as long as they get something even absolutely bland, banal, mundane and milquetoast to munch on.

And so this trend of mediocre "entertainment" via lazy videos, memes, reviews, even reactions.  Yes, reactions to products, services and even other videos.  Their unsolicited inexpert stamp of approval.  And the only criteria to success is view count and eyeballs.  Like lazy toads we are fed one mediocre video, short enough to hold our attention, after the other.  They thrive because we are too lazy to navigate away to another attempt at potential mediocrity.  Or at best, average and mediocre stuff sandwiched between passable stuff stretched too far apart like some record setting sandwich with breads like estranged cousins.  Or like the subprime debts sandwiched between a few good ones to form a hideous imitation of a Collateralized Debt Obligation (smartypant reference, FTW!)

This entertainment constantly keeps setting the entry barrier lower and lower, and keeps our expectations grounded (always a good lesson for the real world).  No wonder then, we all turn into cynics.  This is a service industry based on entertainment and not joy.  Contrary to what we may have thought, joy and entertainment are not synonymous.  Delivering joy is a parameter and benchmark for the highest echelons of service providing industry.  Entertainment, well you could put Akshay Kumar and a dog together for 2.5 hours and call it that.  Literally.

That's what happens when you turn something to a 24 hour cycle.  Be it work, news, food or entertainment.  If it has to be non stop, the quality will suffer.  So in our vulnerable state after an extended work day, we have our guard down and laziness up for sub quality entertainment and sub quality food, occasionally flipping through "news" while completely unaware of and unaffected by important EVENTS.

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