I’ve talked about this before.
During the last forty years, there’s been a shift from almost everyone watching the same TV shows to almost no one watching the same TV shows. This is not about TV shows. This is about the many bifurcations of our cultural touchpoints.
In the 1970s, there were three major TV networks. Today, there are hundreds! In the 1970s, there were a limited number of “classics” that everyone read. Today, there are so many more!
This is about having a common language to describe our values, beliefs, hopes, and dreams.
I was a kid in the 1970s. What did I know? I knew I liked Young Frankenstein, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and Star Wars.
In the 1980s, I didn’t feel like I fit in very well with “mainstream” culture. I was a “big city” kid living in “small town” America. I was interested in reading science articles in Discover and short stories in Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine. I liked playing Dungeons & Dragons and Star Frontiers.
Yet, I was entranced with some of the common touchpoints from that time. I loved watching Cheers, The Wonder Years, Quantum Leap, and Family Ties. I watched The Breakfast Club, Dead Poet’s Society, and When Harry Met Sally. Most of my friends did the same.
While I didn’t belong with the jocks or the popular kids, I did create my own niche with like-minded individuals. I began to get comfortable in my own skin. I knew that going away to college was going to be awesome!
Today, the reason I don’t belong is because there are too many different groups to fully belong to any of them!
I helped create a LEGO video game, even though I wasn’t a video game addict. I directed two full-length movies, even though my knowledge of movies is somewhat limited. I did a lot of software engineering work, even though my background is in physics.
I may not ever feel like I truly belong!
Today, there are too many things that interest me, but only to a certain degree. I like X, Y, and Z. But I’m not a hard-core fan of any of these things. While I love physics, I feel hopelessly out of the loop. My taste in movies is eclectic at best. Other examples abound.
I don’t need to belong. Not fully.
There is power and freedom in being a bit of an outsider.
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