I've noticed that I read (watch YouTube videos, etc.) for two main reasons:
1) To learn something.
2) To savour an atmosphere.
I get annoyed at myself for the second motive. What do I ultimately get out of it? That's what I ask myself.
Recently I became very drawn to the whole idea of "campus horror". I read a horror novel set in a university and watched two horror films set in a university. I wanted to savour the atmosphere. But then I feel a bit guilty, thinking: what do I take away from it? What did I get from it? How am I enriched or improved?
Of course, you can both learn and savour an atmosphere at once. Sometimes I start reading a particular author or blogger (or just a book) to learn something, but then revisit it to savour the atmosphere. I can't seem to liberate myself from this preoccupation with atmosphere, and I'm not even sure I want to.
My opinion is that this being drawn to an atmosphere is a good thing, and leads to more good things - when it is underpinned by the right kind of responding feelings.
ReplyDeleteBut atmosphere can be a bad thing when there is a "wrong" reason for our attraction - and, if we our honest, we should know this.
or example, I sometimes find myself "hate watching" something on TV or YouTube - immersing in an atmosphere merely in order to criticise it, and without any positive enjoyment. I'm sure this is bad for me!
That sounds right. And certainly I have the same experience as you-- watching things just to work myself up.
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