Fun is Dead

[tempodox]

> “I feel like I should be having more fun than I’m actually having,” says Alyssa Alvarez, a social media marketing manager and DJ in Detroit, expressing a sentiment that many share. “There are expectations of what I want people to believe that my life is like rather than what my life is actually like.”

There is a deep irony in having a social media marketing manager say these things.

[drewcoo]

That's entirely appropriate.

Did the definition of irony change, too?

[TriangleEdge]

I have a strange dichotomy in my mind. The world is much too safe, and the world is much too insane.

Safety: As a kid, I would go to a gymnastics gym, and do what ever I wanted. They had Olympic style trampolines and all. It was so much fun. As I grew older, the place got new management, and safety became paramount, and I find it lost it's glow because of this. Kids were being "proper".

Insanity: As I go to work in downtown Vancouver, I watch people smoke meth, and OD on opiods _everyday_. I find the mean(insanityInYear2000) < mean(insanityNow). Does anyone else have this experience?

[jtbayly]

I propose a theory by which insanity increases to the same degree that the nanny state introduces new safety laws, driving down gun and minor insanity. The only outlet is extreme insanity, and only those willing to break the rules will do it. But more people are willing to break the rules because more people are just plain sick of all the rules.

[profsummergig]

I find other people tedious. Too much keeping up with the Joneses. Too many, what Taleb calls, "village-intrigues".

The descriptions of intentional friend-making in this article sound like hell to me.

Give me some stand-up comedy, and an HN-sourced long-form article on some ancient discovery, and I'm good.

[Dem_Boys]

Folks seem terrified to really "let loose" and have fun. Fear of judgment seems to be the basis of their fear. I don't think this fear is completely irrational. Social media (or something) seems to have made people jump to unjustified conclusions fast about people they don't even know. People assume the worst now.

Before: "Oh random person X just asked if I want to dance. How fun!"

Now: "Can you believe a random person came ask me to dance? What a creeper!"

Before: "Look at the kids having fun playing in the ditch and making mud pies!"

Now: "Who leaves their kids unsupervised in the rain? Should we call the police?"

Before: "I think I'll try an improv class. It looks like fun. Why not!"

Now: "I want to learn piano but I'm scared to be bad in front of everyone while learning."

[dwaltrip]

People are usually a lot more understanding and less judgmental than we imagine.

Especially if we act in a way where we don’t need them to understand. Where we remain true to ourselves and find our inner security.

If someone does judge you for doing what you want or what feels right for you, that’s their problem :)

Easier said than done to internalize this, I know.

[jimberlage]

The article mentions two separate “fun coaches” (one whose course is $555) and interviews several graduates of their classes.

It uses those vignettes to make claims about the state of fun for all Americans.

At best, this seems like an article on how fun is for a certain niche subset of wealthy Americans. I’m not sure they’re justified in broadening their conclusions here.

[BSDobelix]

I've enjoyed reading this article, as if it were the exploratory notes of a deeply depressed alien culture. I am going to go for a walk with my dog. Later I will play a bit of Elden Ring, then meet my family and have an excellent meal.

[ramrunner0xff]

https://archive.is/xmTWb

[timrobinson333]

My no 1 rule is simply not to let others tell you what you should enjoy.

If you know what you like, the opportunities for finding that enjoyment are much expanded!

[firtoz]

You don't need to go all out in things you do, and maximize or optimize everything you do. You don't really need to compete to be the best. I guess in the USA this mindset is common, but I'm sure even there should be plenty of people who don't play those silly games.

[charles_f]

I feel like this is looking for a cultural explanation to a feeling, which might actually be systemic.

It's much harder to have fun when you struggle paying for food and lodging, and that's what results from decades of inflation greater than salary progression, and concentration of property.

I also doubt if people really had more fun in the past¹. Listening to my parents it feels like there was much less questioning of the systemic BS, but also they're nostalgic for something that I doubt existed, or they remember correctly.

1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosy_retrospection

[tayo42]

Is this really relatable for alot of people? It reads like something written by a type a person for type a anxious people. I feel like alot of these analyze culture articles are like this.

Maybe the bit about the holidays being stressful.

I have noticed that people really over do it at the beach. Showing with multiple tents, tables, grills. But I always assumed that was tourists being clueless about beach culture.

[ganzuul]

Life makes sense when you come from a place of joy. It's such a fundamental thing. One needs to take risks and make sacrifices to keep one's dreams alive. Ultimately you demonstrate to yourself that you are faithful to something immaterial and that is worth more than anything you can buy.

[justanotherjoe]

sacrifice for sacrifice sake is such a destructive goal. I think its quit the opposite. Fun is never supposed to be something larger than life. It's about caring for trivial things cause yoir basic needs are already met.

[prirun]

I quit reading after "fusillade of Coachellic micro social aggressions" in the 3rd paragraph.

[EPWN3D]

Right? This is a screed written by someone who lives their entire life on social media. Yes, Instagram addicts can't have fun without posting incessantly about it. But that's not everybody, believe it or not.

[politelemon]

> Price takes fun seriously, designing a fun framework called SPARK, which stands for space, pursue passions, attract fun, rebel, and keep at it.

I think this bit towards the end is at complete odds with the rest of the article's sentiments. It's like a corporate training program with an acronym to memorize and follow, and completely misses the point of having fun.

Surely the author would have realized this, so I'm actually wondering if this is an advertorial for that book.

[matrix87]

The irony is part of what makes this article so fun to read. It's like she understands the underlying problem, but the way that she goes about trying to solve it shows why it's a problem in the first place

It reminds me of this Carlin bit: youtube.com/watch?v=9kM2dDrndQk

[ccpp]

True, but I feel a certain pushback recently. Several of my peers decided to not party ("have fun") on new years eve and just recharge, without posting about it online

[zingababba]

I have fun all the time, this person is just miserable

[oglop]

And paywalls killed it. I kid I kids. Just having some fun here is all. I wonder what the article said though. Maybe it was to do with some new technology or a political problem. Those aren’t fun. But smoking weed and watching movies and having conversations with friends and all that crap sure is. And I can do that.

Couldn’t have done that in Nazi Germany though. No sir. That was a most unfun place. So maybe it’s a hypothetical about that?

Again I kid, just having some fun.

[theodric]

Just put the URL into archive.is so depaywall it.

Here: https://archive.is/xmTWb