psychology

The False Intimacy Of Media

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Earlier I posted on how there’s two different ways to connect to Media. I summed it up roughly as follows:

  • Known Connections: A fiction reaches us as it triggers existing associations, such as tropes.
  • Created Connections: A fiction makes us see things anew, creating new associations and ideas.

Today I’d like to focus on the Known Connections, those cases where a media gets us interested because it contains known content, common ideas, and so on. I believe these kinds of metal associations with the media we consume explains one reason people get so addicted and defensive about their comics, books, movies, etc.

Consider how it feels when something “pushes your buttons” (in a good way) when you consume media. It feels good, it feels right, it feels as if it’s “for you.” Connection to a piece of media is an intimate experience.

Now, consider how media can throw Known Connections at you. That kind of story you can’t put down. That kind of character you always like. That obvious twist you still crave. The right media can pile on things you’ve seen before – and still get you to consume it because it’s the right pile of things.

Or in short, we all know that we will read the biggest mass of repetitive, unoriginal, done-it-all-before stuff if it hits the right spots. We might not want to admit it, but we will.

That explains, in part, why some people get so defensive of certain media that are, bluntly, pandering. It’s all the stuff they like, in a mass, wrapped up in a bow. They might not even be aware of how they’re pandered to, as that piece of media feels so right.

(And no, you’re not immune to this. I know I’m not.)

But there’s something else going on here. I think this love of media that pushes our buttons also leads to a sense of intimacy with the creator(s) and the people involved.

When we discover a piece of media that hits all the right spots (even if those spots have been hit a lot before), we also feel a sense of connection. Someone got all our focuses and loves right. Someone gave us what we wanted, even if we sort of have had it all before.

When you have that feeling, it’s a feeling of intimacy, of connection. It’s too easy to assume that this intimate feeling is, well, real. You probably don’t know the author. The media you chose, bluntly, is not that original (or is just pandering). Still, that connection feels right.

Looking this over, I think I understand why some people get obsessively protective of some media, authors, and actors. It does everything they like in the way they like. It feels intimate, it may even feel like it’s just for you.

It’s not, of course. But perhaps this explanation can help us navigating having discussions with people so attached to a piece of media.

Steven Savage

Creative Friction

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(This is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

I’ve been watching myself and some friends get blocked on various creative projects, or find them hard going. This occurred at the same time I was working with some Agile teams. So Agile and Creative efforts? Yeah, you know I got thinking about why we were having creative trouble.

As often mentioned, I actually don’t believe in writer’s block as we normally think of it – it’s at best a descriptive term, at worst a way of thinking that makes the actual situation work. I’m always looking for new ways to look at Creative blockages that don’t invoke writer’s block.

Looking at things that were messing with my friends, I began comparing them to problems in software creation and productivity. I realized that many so-called “blockages” were cases of various things interfering with creative work – it wasn’t a “stop” so much as slowing down – it was a form of friction. Things were not exactly stopped, but slowed as the creative efforts were “grinding” against something else.

Friction: A Way TO Look At Creative Problems

So here’s a new way to think of your “creative blocks” – your creative efforts are experiencing friction. Something else in your head and in your life is disrupting the creative effort, grinding up against it, slowing it’s flow. I’m calling this “friction” as it doesn’t hint at blockages (and thus reviving the idea of Creative Blockage which as noted I dislike).

So don’t think of any impairment of creative effort as “here’s a wall.” Think of it as other things going on (probably) in your head, that keep grinding against your creative effort or banging into it disrupting it. The problem is not the creativity or some magic block – it’s a bunch of other things screwing it up.

Ever feel like your creativity should “flow” and doesn’t? You get the idea.

Resolving Friction

Using this metaphor of friction, I began thinking about ways to reduce creative friction. Let’s try out this metaphor – how can you overcome friction (or at least do better when facing it).

Forcing Through: Just keep writing/drawing no matter what – and no matter how painful it may be. The idea is to keep pushing through until the creative act wears away anything slowing it down. I personally find this can work, but sometimes it’s psychologically difficult.

Lubrication: Find something that “lubricates” the creative experience. Maybe music, a noise machine, music, etc. help you be more creative. Maybe you do things in a different way (writing on a notebook instead of on a computer). Find something that acts as “lubrication.”

Clearing Out: Try to find something that “blasts away” the elements causing friction. A good walk, a separate creative effort, etc. Might help clear out the elements causing friction.

Sanding: A combination of “Forcing Through” and “Clearing Out,” this is where you deliberately – and often slowly – work to “sand down” the elements in your mind and life causing friction. This could be addressing life stress issues, gradually upping your writing time, etc.

I’m sure you can use other metaphors to get other ideas.

Moving Forward

So with this new metaphor, I hope it helps you – and me – out a bit more in our creative efforts. Besides, it’s a way to get over the idea of some kind insurmountable writing block. For myself, I can see how a lot of my work is best served by Forcing Through and Sanding. What can I say, I’m not a subtle person.

So let me know what other insights you have . . .

Steven Savage

In Praise Of Fun

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

I’ve been writing (a lot) about fun and how we ruin fun, as well as how we ruin it for others.  So let me take a moment to praise fun in glorious detail.

Yes, it may seem strange to list out the value of fun, as if this is some psychic spreadsheet.  But this an act that not jut acts as a reminder to myself and others, but also lets us “short circuit” those times we or others try to be “practical.”  Let’s show the practical value of supposed “impracticality”

FUN IS PURE EXPRESSION

Fun is about us.  It’s pure expression of who we are.  When we have fun, we’re being true to ourselves – indeed we’re being ourselves.

When we have fun, we’re acting in life without friction, and we’re being who we are.  These moments are valuable, irreplaceable.

These moments may turn out to be less pleasant than expected – we may find out a lot about ourselves.  What we enjoy may be a pathological escape, or it may show some deep seated need.  At least then we know.

Fun can be tricky.

FUN OPENS OUR MINDS AND EXPANDS OUR HORIZON

I’ve seen multiple ways of saying “when we have fun we’re really creative and open” so I just said it without embellishment.  When we have fun, we open our minds because we’re enjoying life, and we’re open to new things (or things we forgot).  When we’re happy, we can see further because the walls are down and our thoughts are going.

Fun also makes it so we’re receptive.  In a more relaxed state, an open state we can think new thoughts and take in new ideas.

Ask yourself how many times you had a great idea or dream or vision in a moment of entertainment or idle relaxation.

FUN NARROWS OUR MINDS AS WELL

As much as fun opens our minds, it can also narrow them as well.  Hyperfocused on something, lost in the book or a game, our minds zoom in, becoming “open” in an intense way.  Like a laser, our minds become a point on what we’re interested in, powerful and direct.

This can be a great way to close out distractions, to silence troubled thoughts, or to go deep into something we like.  There we may find ourselves, find solace, or find new ideas that the noise of life kept us from seeing.

Fun can be narrowing and broadening.  Again, it’s tricky.

FUN PUMPS US UP

Fun can get us energized, and sometimes we need that.  We may need to get out of a funk, or just get reminded of what we like, or rally ourselves.  A game, a walk, a good book can all do those things.

Fun goes right for those visceral thoughts and feelings, charges us up, and reminds us who we are.  Ever have a cheesy movie or mindless but fun joke get you going?  That’s the power of fun, even supposed “trash” that’s sincere energizes us.

FUN RELAXES US

Just as fun can open and narrow our minds, fun can energize us but also calm us down.

When we’re having fun we can be open and relaxed, being ourselves, defenses down.  Even if our idea of fun is focusing intensely on a screen as our teammates in a video game do dumb things, that focus tunes out other stimuli.  We may be intensely into something, but that intensely has little room for disruptive emotions and thoughts, so we may be relaxed in our own way.

Fun, that trickster, can pump us up and calm us down at the same time.

FUN SHORT-CIRCUITS BAD HABITS

When we have fun, we often shut down assorted parts of our personality and various habits.  With our anxieties and obsessions out of the way, with us in a state of joy, fun gives us a chance to be us without some of the baggage.  This experience is incredibly valuable.

We often view our problems and pathologies as set – if we even notice them.  To have moments when our issues and fears and so on stop is important as we can step outside of them, getting not just relief but a new perspective.  We also may see bad habits we didn’t know about until they were silenced – and we see life without them.

Silence is golden, and often helps us realize how much noise there was

FUN OPENS US TO NEW IDEAS

Fun opens us up to new ideas.  There, outside of our usual concerns and thoughts, we can imagine more.  Able to make new associations in our joys, we can dream new concepts.  We can see things from other sides, say, in the form of an intriguing game or movie.

Admittedly the things that we enjoy might create new bad habits.  We can get obsessed about a game.  A novel may entertain us but introduce us to the author’s personal problems disguised as deep thoughts.  But life is risky . . .

FUN IS JUST BEING ALIVE

Fun is also just, well, great.  Fun is being alive.  Fun is joyful.  Fun is happy.  Fun is part of being human.

So look, let’s have fun and support others in the same.  Let’s make it a support for real fun as well, finding what we like even if its not the next big thing.  Let’s encourage and share our joys.

FUN MAKES THE WORLD BETTER

Look, if we all had more happiness, we’d probably not mess up the world as we do.

YES, I ANALYZED FUN

So, yes, I analyzed fun and it’s value.  But it was worth it so we can think about why fun matters in, ironically, a practical way.  After all, fun is a hall of mirrors, so why can’t we see it from the other side.

Or maybe, the sides aren’t so separate . .

Steven Savage