Thursday 11 January 2018

"Mindless Pap"



My internet has been off which means I've had no access to TV, newspapers, The Archers or Facebook.  My house is cleaner than it's been for ages, I have painted more and read a real book and I slept better with no wi-fi in the house.  I feel a bit disappointed that Türk Telecom have connected me up again.  I mustn't slip back into my usual W.W.W. grazing that steals so much productive thought.
My favourite Stoic, Epictetus, was writing nearly 2,000 years ago but this scarily prescient quotation could have been written for the social media age

“Most of what passes for legitimate entertainment is inferior or foolish and only caters to or exploits people's weaknesses. Avoid being one of the mob who indulges in such pastimes. Your life is too short and you have important things to do. Be discriminating about what images and ideas you permit into your mind. If you yourself don't choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will, and their motives may not be the highest. It is the easiest thing in the world to slide imperceptibly into vulgarity. But there's no need for that to happen if you determine not to waste your time and attention on mindless pap.” 
― EpictetusThe Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness and Effectiveness

9 comments:

  1. Excellent comment and as you say, scarily prescient ... we don't seem to have learned much in 2000 years ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. reassuring that we are not the only mindless millennium

      Delete
  2. Annie, I love this guy, too! You should compile a book which gives tribute to these ancient Greeks who help us to live life today. Aferin sana. xoxo J and M

    ReplyDelete
  3. Of course, life was a lot shorter back then :-D

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've removed myself from the vast majority of local FB groups for that very reason. Ha ha, and yeah, our house is spotless should the internet choose to misbehave. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I baulk at total internet detox - how would I blog

      Delete