General ideas

Over the last so many years I have witnessed my interests, hobbies, and passions go through multiple transformations with the dominant change being that of pruning. At several of those 'turns' I have tried to answer for myself as why did certain things become less important and certain other, by the same effect, relatively more important. One example would be sports, especially cricket, which I used to be quite fond of but which I have lost interest in, except for a very specialized form of it: one that is played over 5 days. Another example would be movies of the kind that Bollywood churns out with embarrassing efficiency but such examples abound in different areas. On the other end of the spectrum I have grown quite fond of the thoughts of those who appear to me to be significantly more intelligent than I am and this respect and this fondness exists beyond the confines of any specific field. It includes great writers, scientists, philosophers (in a limited sense), actors and comedians, individual sport performers, musicians to a certain extent among others. It does not include, which is to say that I feel no respect for, those who are in certain professions such as finance and politics among others. I have grown neutral towards religious leaders as I have towards those who profess to be the leading lights of atheism, which is to say that it appears to be a waste of time to consider their point of views. I say this because these people appear not to be very smart and as a consequence what one always gets from them are tired old arguments which have been made and heard zillions of times already. I have stopped being so opposed to social work and have accepted it as being necessary and beneficial although the smugness which is often involved still foments some old flames.

So is there a pattern here which emerges? There is a spectrum which colors the various aspects of the world. On this spectrum, right about in the center and with a broad spread lie the general ideas which get repeated ad-infinitum. The kind that one hears on the 24 hour news channels although it is certainly not confined to them. These general ideas are characterized by their simplicity and easy relatability. There's a very prominent us vs. them angle to them and there's an over-emphasis on those instincts which get easily excited in us. Instincts like fear, sexual urges, ideas of survival disguised in different ways. It is this broad spread that I have found myself increasingly getting tired of because of its sheer monotonicity. I don't think my dislike for such ideas ever started from elitism but I have found myself scratching my head and wondering how many others I know can seemingly appear to be continually entertained by something which is such a blatant copy of itself, done to death. I understand that not much is really new in today's world but the circularity of the spread that I am talking about has such a small radius that it is stunning that it can still hold such a sway. It's a bit like watching someone slip on a banana peel. It is arguable whether that is inherently funny but I can see myself laughing for the first very few times. Metaphorically speaking, the sight of a man falling over a banana peel has been on repeat since ages and it has kept a surprisingly large number of people very entertained.

Over the years then I have seen my interest naturally shift as a result of a search for new ideas, things that I haven't heard or seen yet. There is no guarantee whether there is any inherent merit to such a search or whether it is worth the effort but it most certainly is fun and filled with a constant sense of youthful wonderment. This has inevitably meant drifting away from general ideas but I have not had a problem with that for a long time. I find myself truly happier for doing so time and again.