It is Independence Day in Finland, which is generally a pretty sombre affair with events at gravesites and memorials to remember the fallen. And of course, as is the trend in the world today, an increasing number of nationalist and extreme-right protest marches in the streets, generally against immigration. Ah, it is a good time to be alive.
I found it interesting when I came here as I did experience a fair amount of racism and discrimination of various kinds, but it was the older people who were the most accepting. The people who didn't speak any (or severely limited) English, but were old enough to actually remember the second world war. The worst were their kids, those who never saw the conflict but felt they did, because their parent's did. I suspect that part of this came down to the differences in hardship experience, where there was a huge difference for a teen growing up in the nineteen forties, to one growing up in the nineteen sixties, who became an adult in the very affluent nineteen eighties.
Putting country independence aside, I think it is is quite entertaining how people talk about their individual independence today, yet they are increasingly reliant for their lifestyle on others, especially corporations. The assumption seems to be that money buys independence, but I am not sure how true that is, unless that money is buying the goods and the training to be able to provide for oneself. Money is increasingly being used to buy services though, which means that there is not the skill (or the will) to provide for oneself, and this is happening at so many levels.
Outside of the financial markets, I suspect that the entertainment industry is the largest sector, because so much business is tied to entertainment. For instance, the "technology sector" is likely the largest on paper, but the majority of that value is attributable to providing gateways to entertainment. Apple, Meta and Google are all entertainment companies, but they don't appear in the entertainment sector numbers. Similarly, industries like mining and energy are largely supported by people looking to be entertained, and of course retail is so large because most of its value is selling tools of entertainment.
How many people are able to entertain themselves?
What does that even look like? As a kid, if I was bored my dad would say "Go entertain yourself" and I would always find something to do, which was generally drawing, sports or some kind of activity. It was rarely watching TV, because there was nothing on to watch. No cable, just the few free-to-air channels that only had interesting programming for me occasionally, and at set times. This meant I spent many hours entertaining myself, with little equipment or intervention.
What is the hourly cost of entertainment?
I don't know if people have thought about this at all, but I have at least somewhat. If I sat down with some paper, pencil and eraser for an hour and drew a picture, what was the hourly cost? If I went out to the yard with my hockey stick and a ball and knocked it against the wall for an hour (common for me) what was the cost? It isn't the cost of the pencil and eraser and paper, because they could be used for many hours. Or the cost of the stick and ball, because again, I would use the same stick for hundreds of hours of play, practice and games. It was cents - if that.
But if you think about the hourly cost of entertainment today, it is far, far, far more expensive, and it is far, far, far more passive than it was in the past. Scroll Instagram for an hour is "free" on the platform, but requires a phone and an internet connection, and electricity costs. Not only that, the cost of advertising should also be included, as while everyone believes that they aren't influenced by what they see, the fact is that all of these platforms make a huge amount of money, and the user isn't paying the platform, the advertisers are. The advertisers do this because they are making money from the users. Users are spending, just independent of the platform. And then there are is gaming on the consoles and phones, with in-app purchases, costs of downloads, and again the equipment and electricity.
I was pretty good at hockey as a kid, because I spent my time hitting that ball against the wall over and over, in the same way someone spends their time on a console, or with a phone in their hand. My entertainment was skill producing, but does the majority of the entertainment people consume encourage skill development? And are those skills transferrable or beneficial to other aspects of life? I was a strong kid, not a fat kid, nor a skinny kid - because I was an active kid.
Is being health a skill?
Indirectly. As what we do develops our skillset and those skills we develop have consequences. The ways we behave will shape our health in the same way that it shapes our bodies. It will also shape our minds and emotional structure. So yes, the way we entertain ourselves does matter, as not all forms are created equal. The cost of entertainment is not only the monetary cost, but also the cost to our skills and wellbeing, which is partially why the pharmaceutical industry is also one of the largest.
We have shifted our entertainment activities a lot over the last half a century and it has impacted us as individuals and society globally in fundamental and profound ways. It is not just the social disconnection, the collapse of community, or the increase in disorder and disease. It is our skills, our thoughts, our feelings. Our independence has been undermined by the quest for mechanisms that will drive degradation of individuals in order to maximise profit. The cost of being entertained is so much higher today, because it is an easy target, because we are geared for enjoyment and desire fulfilment, even when it is not in our best interest. Nearly the entire marketplace is driven by making us more passive in our skill development, but more volatile in our emotional state, because that drives our desire to both be entertained, and avoid the way we are feeling.
Perhaps entertainment should be our main activity in life, but I do not think that it should be based on avoidance or passivity. Perhaps we should evaluate the hourly cost of our forms of entertainment in money and wellbeing, and then choose forms that make more than they cost. For the most part though, that is not how we approach entertainment costs, as we see them as sunk costs, with no need for a return. And that is how business likes it.
If we want to be more independent, we have to build our capabilities, not only our income, otherwise we expand our lifestyle, by becoming more reliant. One of the capabilities is being comfortable without all the goods and services to entertain us - instead, just a simple, always available, way to entertain ourselves. If we want to improve our conditions, we should choose our entertainment very carefully indeed, so that our time adds to the quality of our conditions.
Playing games is good.
But the games we play matter. We should fill our lives with play, but that doesn't mean what we play has to weaken us, take away from us, become a crutch or addiction, or keep us from improving ourselves. Play should make us stronger, whether we are playing as children learning to be adults, or adults building a better environment for children.
There is no such thing as independence, as we are all reliant on others. But as individuals, we can learn to provide, or we can settle into a life of being provided for, a slave to the directions of others, who do not care about our outcomes, only their bottom line.
What is your style of entertainment costing you?
Taraz
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It is nice to see how our childhood experiences influenced our ability to have fun on our own, particularly when we look at the passive consumption we have today.
My eyes. I spend too much time in front pc or leaning over those paint by numbers sets.
My nerves. Watching basketball is fun...as long as your favorite team is playing well. But few days ago watching the game was a torture. They were basicly not able to hit threes at all. Even our best player missed all his threes. And we lost by 18. I am just glad that I did not go to watch this game. Watching it on tv was already bad enough...
It was yesterday only that few of the young lad in the neighborhood surprised to find me bowling to a batsman. it was a proper legal delivery as I grown up playing cricket since my childhood days. But the same group of boys surprised me too when noone able to bowl properly., they all were "chucking" in the fields while playing cricket. all of them were good 18 + age of boys but does not know proper bowling. i felt good that they know about the game and still playing outdoor but unsure how to play he game properly. .....they are the prime example of those youngsters who spoil themselves watching cricket on TV but never play properly...
It’s interesting how we talk about being “independent” today, yet so much of our daily comfort relies on systems we don’t control. The more convenient life gets, the less capable we become at doing things for ourselves. It makes me wonder if modern freedom is really just a different type of dependency dressed up nicely.
Entertainment today has reduced in quality compared to entertainment years ago. Entertainment today is more about the pleasure and almost nothing about learning.
That's the reason the entertainment industry is growing rapidly, because entertainment has become a need most people can't do without. The funny thing is that entertainment on the social media and internet entertains us but also negatively affected our mental health. While entertainment with physical people and things, helps out emotional well-being while entertaining us.
I suspect that as the craze for entertainment grows it might overtake the financial market in revenue generation. It's very possible.
Findland, a country who resist USSR's invasion and won. And now is an example in many ways.
I relate a lot to what you said about childhood. We didn’t think about the “cost” of entertainment because it barely had any. And at the same time, it made us better, stronger, more creative, more confident. Today, most entertainment gives pleasure but takes away skill. see.
It's interesting your view about the hourly cost of entertainment. in fact I had never thought about that topic in that way. Now I come to the conclusion that today, the more we invest in entertainment, the more deplorable our lives become.
I have always dreamed of having enough money to be able to pay for my basic needs and some not so basic needs. But exceeding that limit may or may not be bad, perhaps everything depends on the final amount you manage to amass. There is also less freedom when you have a lot of money to spare. You become a slave to the press, to friends and family who keep asking for money for superfluous things, and also to the fear of perhaps not knowing who really loves you and not for what you have in your pockets.
When I go to the library and read a fresh paper scientific journal, I get pleasure without paying a single dollar. On my way to the library, I enjoy a leisurely stroll and watch the falling snow, children playing snowballs, workers setting up the Christmas tree, and my absolute freedom of choice.
When I go to the mall with my family, watch a movie, or go to a restaurant, I enjoy spending time with loved ones. Sometimes, it's just watching a movie. :) For a day like that, I pay about $70.
Sometimes at night I like to go to the casino or slot machines, order a strong drink, drink free coffee and try my intuition or luck in a cloud of cigarette smoke. These moments also help me to relax because I play small bets, and this is important for me not so much because of the victory, but because of some romantic memories from the past.
No man indeed is an island of himself, there's no such thing as independence, it is just a word of expression not the reality because all big nations depends on one or two things from another nation also. Same way when we were kids, from the playing of games, entertainment factors and lot more all these wasn't done by just a kid but rather children because that's where the real fun and experience are.
Of lately I found out these generations have almost disconnected social interaction on like back in the days when there was less social media rather higher physical appearance and interaction. I won't say it is bad but there's a feeling that isn't just there anymore @tarazkp
I don't have the blonde thing going for me, but I do have the blue eyes and white skin. Would I still be shunned there or would they not really care? Is it more about how you look in Finland versus your actual provenance? Of course, I can't speak Finnish, so that would be a problem too!
I agree with this totally. Even so called independent nations still rely on others when the need arises, and some almost all the time.
While your interpretation of our current approach to entertainment is accurate, I think it's because human beings are wired to naturally want to make things easy for itself, while neglecting the fact that life for the early man started so crude for a reason.
Back then it was natural to be fit and healthy because the quest for survival drives you into working hard, but right now life is so easy for many, they just sit down and eat their way to fatness; enjoying temporary self gratification and tending towards long term emotional, physical and mental skill set annihilation.
Your point about play is powerful. Play is supposed to make us grow, not shrink. The more we pick activities that actually strengthen our body, mind, or character, even in small ways, the more “independent” we truly become. Maybe the real question isn’t “How do we entertain ourselves?” but “What kind of person does my entertainment turn me into?”
We can't compare our entertainment to the entertainment of our children, it is a different world now. We had no cell phones, no internet, no real computers. My first computer was ZX Spectrum and I built it myself from scratch and instead of the hard drive it had tape player... My first real computer was 286 and it was the year I started college...
So many modern pastimes feel like escape buttons rather than engaging on the real activities. You can scroll for hours and come out feeling more tired, more anxious, and less motivated. When entertainment becomes avoidance, it’s like paying twice: once with money, and again with our wellbeing. The saddest part is how normal it has become.
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