We were talking about some aspects of our childhood with a client of mine today, in particular role models - which has been a bit of a topic of the week, as I have explored some of my own thoughts and assumptions on it with people. I am pretty lucky in some sense, as I have a broad network to speak with people about a range of topics to get a kind of cross-section view of how people feel about various areas. While far infallible, I am definitely not in a complete silo.
One of my clients brought up The Phantom Comic strip, which he said, "I have to admit, I still read it today", as if it is something he should be ashamed of. However, how cool is it that he has been reading the strip since he was a kid, and is now in his mid-sixties. And this brought to the fore another conversation.
When I was a kid, my parents didn't get the newspaper regularly, which meant that it was only on random occasions that I got to read the comics. Until today, I hadn't really thought much about this, but I didn't read The Phantom, because it never made any sense to me. Occasionally I would have a try, but it was just some random bit of a story that didn't connect up to anything else. But, I did enjoy reading Hagar the Horrible, The Wizard of Id, and later, Dilbert.
These were good for me to read, because while there were storylines that might have gone through the series, each strip was a standalone piece, so I could get something out of it without knowing what happened in the previous episode. They were a complete package.
But, were they?
No.
Because, while I was able to get some enjoyment, I missed the rest of the story arc. Just like reading a Tweet, I got a dopamine hit, but didn't actually get the full story. And, I think this is analogous with a lot of what is going on now in society, where people don't seem to have as strong friendships as they did in the past, spending less time with people who have known them for a long time. Especially in the younger generations, social circles seem to be "episodic" in the sense that it is for short periods of shared life, before moving on. And while this is important too, it is missing that shared experience of growing and changing together and apart, but still staying in proximity to each other.
I think that this can cause problems in a similar way it might for celebrities who become famous and wealthy, but don't keep the people from their past in their lives. Those people tend to ground us in many ways, because they knew us as we were, and as we are, and are more likely to call us out when we are behaving poorly. And yes, they can also hold us back too, but there are always pros and cons.
There is another interesting part to reading the comic strip over the space of fifty years, and that is how connected we can become when we feel we have invested ourselves into something, even if it is just a comic. And, if you think about it in terms of The Phantom, there is only a sliver of the story given at a time, which means there is space in time to mull it over, to let it ruminate a little, building expectation for the next, but also getting more connected with the story itself.
The journey, not the destination.
Right?
We now live in a binge culture, where everything is on demand, and there is a drive to be "the first" to see, hear, watch, buy whatever is popular. There is no longer the culture of building up the expectation and sipping, savoring the flavor of each mouthful. Content consumption today is, no story, all money shot.
Foreplay is dead.
And it is sad, because people who haven't experienced quality foreplay, don't really know what they are missing out on. And, while this is a metaphor for content consumption, it is also happening quite literally. From what some of my friends have told me, a lot of the younger generation don't seem to be that knowledgeable in bed, which might come down to the massively increased accessibility to porn. Rather than learning through trial and error and building their skills through conversation and shared experience, they jump to the end, without building a strong foundation first.
We are in such a rush to get somewhere, that we don't recognize that we aren't learning core skills that come from the journey. Patience is almost non-existent, investment mindset is shrinking, and curiosity in the unknown seems to be at all-time lows. Everything these days has to be complete, and it is being spoon-fed to us and we are eating it mindlessly.
There is an endless stream of content, and the speed at which it is flowing through our consciousness is increasing, meaning that we are getting "more" but spending far less time understanding it. We no longer connect with a topic long-term, it is all just a passing phase, no commitment, bite, spit out, take another bite - very little of nutritional value getting absorbed into our systems.
When we are in our mid-sixties looking back, we will probably realize that even though we had lots of happy endings, the journey didn't take us very far at all.
Will we find it comical?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Does he not have Phantom comic books? My dad has/had a lot (a LOT x_x) of them.
I don't know why some people get embarrassed about still enjoying things that they liked as kids.
I remember teasing some of my uni friends about being old and boring because they were shocked that as adults we were still into Magic the Gathering and roleplaying because "isn't that for kids?"
Nobody has time for foreplay (literally, there's so much going on that they need to just get in and out and keep moving or they'll miss the appointment or the next thing or that other thing that takes up way too much time that they desperately need to spend time on too).
While there's probably a lot more to it, it's one of the biggest things I blame school for, both from when I entered uni and had an inkling when things were hard, through to being an adult and just watching what's coming through.
This kind of reminds me of my job and how sometimes I need to reach out to other vendors when I need help for a problem. I think a lot of people these days are just happy when something gets fixed and they move on without really caring. Personally, I like to know why it wasn't working, what I might have done to break it, and what I could have done to fix it. It's not enough for me that something is fixed, I want the details. Like Jack Reacher, "details matter".
Exactly! Although a bit silly, I quite like the show.
I had a PC problem about a year ago and the people couldn't fix it. I ended up working it out for myself and called them to let them know what the issue was. They were happy to get the feedback for it, not because of their failure, but now they know what to look for next time.
I am a bit the same as you in I like to know, even if I am not going to fix it next time. It is part of the story, and something to put in the bank to recall later, if needed.
Yes, yes, and yes. When I am tired of gathering knowledge, you may as well just light the furnace.
The whole discussion about fast food versus slow food. I was reading few years ago about McD having to close shops in some country, as the people living in there were used to eating slow, in a family settings, so for them McDonalds was some kind of abomination.
But yeah, all these science advancement and internet made us unable to be patient. I am no better, I read some comics that I liked (Solo Leveling) and I only bought the Volume 1, so I looked online for the whole Manga (they are Korean) and I read it in few nights.
To make it worst, our average focus used to be 11-12 seconds, while the goldfish has only a focus of like 9 seconds, but now we are having like 8 sec. So we are worst than a goldfish.
https://time.com/3858309/attention-spans-goldfish/
I have been talking about the attention span decreasing for years, but didn't know it was less than a goldfish!
We are terrible at multitasking, because we can't actually do anything significant that way. However, factor in decreasing attention spans and how our eyes and minds flick from one topic or screen to the next, and it doesn't look good for us.
Binging manga. What would the purists think ;D
As I told in your previous posts, people have preferred to be alone in general after pandemic and I can say that self-intetest has affected their relationship.
For sure, but I think it has been going on much longer. A few decades at least, but it has sped up and is becoming more pronounced now.
Hmmm....
I guess people don't value process.
Everyone just wants the event.
Until they realize it doesn't satisfy them enough.
I guess one has to be careful so one doesn't learn the hard way.
One thing I have learnt from your post, is delayed gratification.
Really great post
If your client is a big fan, he should find a compilation book. It was late before I realized that there are compilations of comic book strips. My sister bought a Calvin and Hobbes one.
I have some friends who still act like kids and still do almost all the things kids do. They also read comic books too but I wonder why they are shy and I’m sure it’s because of what people would say.
My father was never a fan of newspaper because he prefers to watch his news at home on the television so I never got to read comic books when I was little too
I still don’t have interest in it though