Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Fun is Not a Scarce Resource

Ok, so I am still alive, but not like anyone actually comes here to see if that is the case... you come here for entertainment and wisdom blended boldly into a delicious life smoothie so you can walk away a better person.

Today's special:
Creative Liberty - Made with a healthy dose of imagination on a creamy base of established franchise. We mix in some shared experience and laughter and voila! enriched friendship and lots of fun!

Some people don't like this flavor for some reason. I don't really know why.

I am confused why sometimes something that one person thinks is cool is off limits for other people to like. If I had something really fun or cool, I would want other people to enjoy it too and then we all have fun and that is more fun than just doing it all by myself. Think about it. What do you like to do that is fun? Eat food, play board games, play video games, play jokes on people (nice ones that aren't destructive) watch movies or TV shows, go to the mall, go to Disneyland, go to parties, go bowling, dress up for Halloween, have a photo scavenger hunt, go on a date, chill, and anything else you like. These are all more fun when you have someone to do it with. Who wants to go to Disneyland by themselves? Or a date...by yourself... yeah, it's better with someone.

Let's say one person knows a lot about something and has enjoyed it for a long time, then someone else who thinks it is cool but hasn't really put a lot of time into it comes along. Then they have a shared experience with that cool thing, and then an opportunity to get more involved with a group comes forward for the first person especially (since they are better equipped) but that is open for the second person to participate with and it sparks the second person's interest to get more involved. While together, the two are having a blast and laughing and joking, and eventually the experience is at an end and both go their ways feeling excited and satisfied. Now, the second person starts getting more into it and wants to talk to the first person about it, but the first person seems to be avoiding contact and starts talking everything down like it isn't really that interesting. What is the motive behind this? Does the first person not want the other to share this interest? Why would the second person's interest have any impact on the first person's ability to enjoy it? Making matters more confusing, the first person now complains to others that the second person is wanting to be involved. Why are they frustrated? It would seem that they are looking at things with some sort of scarcity mentality, like that there is only so much water available in this pitcher and if you take some there won't be enough for me. But this is FUN and ENJOYMENT and SHARED EXPERIENCE, it is not a finite measurement of water but a boundless ever expanding state of being. If one person enjoys a nice tuna sandwich, and someone else says, "I love tuna sandwiches, they are so good!" does this remove the ability of the first to taste the sandwich? Does this physically alter the sandwich the first is enjoying to another substance? NO! You simply have two people that enjoy the same thing. Perhaps the original individual will worry that this newcomer will want to steal his sandwich, but you know what? I bet if they thought about it, they would realize that a rational person would not try to steal someone's partially eaten sandwich, but would go make their own. And if they were to eat them side by side how could that hurt either of them? would the one sandwich rob the other of it's flavor? I don't think so.

Physical objects are easier to understand. They follow set rules, but people are irrational. Emotions are incalculable, and unpredictable, which is lame sometimes. The reasons behind these emotions are equally unpredictable and varied so understanding someone's motives or fears is next to impossible. Perhaps there is a desire to feel unique or special, or maybe it's less endearing and it's a need to be better than others, to assert one's superiority and dominance without fear of being eclipsed by some other person. I hope that isn't it. That is short sighted.

I guess I just wish it was easier to connect without complications. Why are we such fickle creatures?

Next episode:
Lightsabers are awesome.

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