Culture: How Do You Keep Up?

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You know, I consider myself to be a reasonably intelligent person. But after a few days back on IL*, I feel swamped. I feel under-educated, inarticulate and ill-informed. So many books I should have read, so much art I should have seen, so many films I should have watched, so much music I should be familiar with, and I'm wasting the precious hours of my life obsessing about trivial complaints instead of curiously sucking up all the knowledge in the world.

There's no way to process all the information in the world, there's no way to humanly do it. So how do you keep up with knowing which culture to process? Who are your media gatekeepers? Where do you find your information? How do you make your choices about what to read, what to look at, what culture to absorb?

Or do you? Are you one of those people who has a pile of books they mean to read, a pile of CDs you mean to listen to and a list of things you mean to investigate but never did?

― Ugly Wife, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

you have to accept that you're going to be incredibly prejudiced or you'll never know where to start. culture filters = interweb b.boards, friends etc.

― Alan Trewartha, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I quite like ammocity.com, that's quite good. I'm hopeless on indie music, politics and economics, but I'm quite knowledgable about books and films. I suppose I had the luxury of being able to spend a whole year in a library with not much else to do, so I guzzled. I also get to watch a lot of films through my freelance work - distributors send me details of press screenings etc.
ILE does give me that that 'god, am I dumb' feeling too, though...

― Will, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I go along at mine own pizzace.

― Kodanshi, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Will, ammocity has just gone pfffft.

There is no easy answer to this; I can't get to all the exhibits and films I want to and I'm sent gilt-edged invites! Also if you have a lot of friends you hear about MORE good things, so harder to filter.

― suzy, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Really, Suzy? I must say, I was wondering how they had survived this long without any detectable source of revenue...

― Will, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I don't.

― Nick, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

bluff

― mark s, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yes, but with bluffing, how do you learn what to bluff *on*? With namedropping, how do you know which names to drop? I want a mainline of information straight to my head!

― Ugly Wife, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I thought that was what ILE was for. Incidentally, I just tried ammocity.com and it crashed my browser. No wonder it went bust.

― Nick, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I want a mainline of information straight to my head!

Chances are you're looking right at it, Kate. I've probably learned more from IL* in the past year than I have from any other source. There's still a massive amount of filtering required, but I'd say I pick up one essential tip/snippet/recommendation/fact/new word every day, and that's just from glancing furtively at work. I quote you all extensively too, but don't let on to my pals, they think I'm the fount of all knowledge...

― Andrew Williams, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

For old skool high culture round up, there's always Arts & Letters Daily

― Nick, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Prioritise: decide which bits you like most and sod the rest

For example - realising there are too many things in the world to fit into my head, I have given up having any political opinions. This now frees up space for POP MUSIC

― jamesmichaelward, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Have a specialist subject. Mine is soaps. The rest can swivel.

― Emma, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

re how to bluff: er, a lifetime's practice?

on a not-unrelated topic, i haf a faction of my so-called RL fwends clamouring that i go on who wants to be millionaire? what think ye? (i am tempted, having resisted for ages). And who will be my phone-a-friends, on what topiXoR? (million pound q = which of these novelists did not go to school with suzy?)

― mark s, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Listen to the people whose opinions you respect. THEY MAY BE WRONG but it still might be an interesting ride.

I'm a contrary little madam and I don't like feeling like I should know about xXx respected canon of stuff so I've got a bit of a gap of knowledge where I haf purposely ignored stuff that others rave about on principle that I don't need it and can find something else ect ect. I think this is just me being a twat. And it doesn't stop me from having too much stuff which I ignore in favour of procrastination.

I haven't actually bought new cds for quite a while, most of it is on recommendations - it's rare a media outlet inspires me to pick something up, especially with lack of mp3 "tester" outlet. As for books, I tend to do huge 2nd bookshop crawls where I can take risks on things I may have heard of and things that MAY be good because they're cheap enough. I hate the way this is suddenly coming down to MONEY. I never see films as I'm often broke too. And I can't afford a VCR. Suzy, I'll have some of those "gilt edged invitations". Unless they're to ART things, which I do not understand as proved by maths.

― Sarah, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

SinX0R on WWRBAM = U+K!

― RickyT, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

This reminds me of a discussion my adviser had with me and a couple of other folks when I went into grad school, when he said "You'll never have time to read everything, so don't worry about it." I've kept this to heart, and I get to what I can. :-)

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

In my personal experience you have to be middle class, have lots of money, and possess a mind that's capable of retaining endless reams of useless information.

Ah well, one out of three isn't bad....

― Trevor, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

A) ILE knows something about everything coz there are so many ppl. Individuals don't have that knowledge in sum total. B) Google is a bluffers best friend.

― Sterling Clover, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Three things:
1. Research things mentioned on threads the minute they appear - you're on the internet anyway, you might as well use Google.
2. Lurk in the shadows as not to EXPOSE YOUR IGNORANCE!
3 Ignore troublesome threads completely and have email arguments with indie kids that you can win easily. I do.

― DG, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You're ALL missing the point. I don't want to just be able to bluff and play along. I want to know where to get the information from in the FIRST PLACE. You can't google something until you know what it is.

― Ugly Wife, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The best tip I've ever got from here is beard trimmers

― Peter Miller, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Does 'VERITAS ODIT MORAS' really mean 'MAKE US YOUR HOMEPAGE'?

― Peter Miller, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I have quite a few half read books. I read ceefax instead of the papers. I never read much about music, except for a quick flick through NME.

― james, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Information is all around us...everything is potentially information. The design of a shopping bag, bill board posters, the clothes people wear etc. Observation = Information.

― james, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"The Daily Mail - for busy thinkers"

― Nick, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You have to remember that a lot of people here work in the information industry in some capacity. I, personally, am bombarded with information all day. Those folks have an advantage over people whose days are filled with something else.

― Kerry, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Newsround is an invaluable source of information.

― james, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

it becomes a web, sometimes you read things because of recommendations , but sometimes you find things on the remainder tables . with art its x artist reminds me of y artist. Go to galleries , pick up the magazines . Listen to folks, with music its all about the mix tape !

― anthony, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

scan the major metro dailies - read everything they tell you not to; and just read the reviews of the stuff they like. listen to a different radio station everyday. go itno a library and pcik a book at random.

also these are quite useful at dinner parties : http://www.theory.org.uk/cards/

― Geoff, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Marketing! ;)

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I am *so* that second type of person.

― Kim, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Mark S don't bother with million tarrant is all fix all people you've seen before on 15-1 counting down only people who win £M are royal family shagger cousins or people already millionaires or (allegedly) crooks or people who've already won mastermind boring pointless JUST 'COS THEY'VE NEVER PHONED U BACK yeah alright but I would be banned from TV as personal appearance contravenes 1974 Health & Safety At Work Act Roy Jenkins oh yeah.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 15 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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