Re: various popular posts saying things like "who are you outside of media consumption"
I wonder what those posts would read like, how many views they'd be getting, if they instead used a phrase like "art appreciation"
Consuming media brings to mind the idea of the consumer, and thus that the media is an item made for sale by executives designing for marketability. And to varying extents, that's what media is.
But at least as much, "media" is art, created with care and intent, by people who are trying to communicate something to you. It's part of a tradition stretching back to before written history. Hearing the same words as someone miles away has connected humanity since time immemorial. And the stories that resonate with you say something about who you are, and the more I think about it, the more absurd it sounds to try to divorce identity from that resonance
The idea I initially took from these posts, and I believe the one that the authors generally intend, was that the media you enjoy doesn't say anything real about your personality, doesn't contribute to your identity. But I think a better takeaway might be, in this grand exchange of ideas, what's your contribution? What you choose to listen to is important, but we don't often think enough about what we're *saying,* what we ourselves create.
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk

https://soundcloud.com/noahgiesler/rick-astley-boss-theme
(audio warning: gets surprisingly loud at 2 minute mark)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axzRkt0xtTc
I am fukciung upset by this