{"id":3870,"date":"2017-01-21T18:57:09","date_gmt":"2017-01-21T18:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mapsofthemind.com\/?p=3870"},"modified":"2020-07-25T19:06:55","modified_gmt":"2020-07-25T17:06:55","slug":"fuck-mainstream-culture-escape-matrix-live-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mapsofthemind.com\/2017\/01\/21\/fuck-mainstream-culture-escape-matrix-live-your-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Fuck Mainstream Culture, Escape The Matrix: Live YOUR Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ai

Courtesy the artist \u00a9 2015 Ai Weiwei<\/p><\/div>\n

“What? You dont know about [insert x here]?! Have you been living under a rock?”<\/strong>
\n<\/em>
\nThis is a response I’m sure you’re\u00a0familiar with and has probably at one time or another\u00a0led to some blushing or embarrassment on your part. And that’s what it was intended to do, subconsciously or not; to belittle you, to make you feel beneath the now outraged person, and for you to realise that on some level they are a better person than you because they are more informed about the\u00a0matter at hand. In an attempt to avoid a repeat blushing in future interactions, you’ll then spend time getting up to date on whatever the trivial matter is. But\u00a0let’s be honest, most of the time, from where you’re standing – it is trivial, and it isn’t fundamental to your own path.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most powerful things you can do as a human being in our hyperconnected, 24\/7 media world is say: \u2018I don\u2019t know.\u2019 Or, more provocatively: \u2018I don\u2019t care.\u2019 Most of society seems to have taken it as a commandment that one must know about every single current event, watch every episode of every critically acclaimed television series, follow the news religiously, and present themselves to others as an informed and worldly individual.<\/p>\n

But where is the evidence that this is actually necessary? Is the obligation enforced by the police? Or is it that you\u2019re afraid of seeming silly at a dinner party? Yes, you owe it to your country and your family to know generally about events that may directly affect them, but that\u2019s about all.<\/p>\n

How much more time, energy, and pure brainpower would you have available if you drastically cut your media consumption? How much more rested and present would you feel if you were no longer excited and outraged by every scandal, breaking story, and potential crisis (many of which never come to pass anyway)?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Ryan Holiday\u00a0& Stephen Hanselman
\n<\/strong>from The Daily Stoic<\/a>\"\"<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n