The Hidden Cost of Being Good
Another good blog article
I read this theory of fun that basically said that something is fun when you are surprised and find a new way to solve a problem (whether or not you knew another way to solve it before). Or a different way to see something that you had seen before. That's maybe why fun fades away if you do the same thing too much, or see the same thing too often, unless you find better and better ways to do or see it. Once you've optimized to the point that you aren't finding new patterns or new tricks, it gets boring. Like tic-tac-toe. I like games (it talks mostly about games but I think it applies everywhere) where you have an opponent, since hopefully they will provide a long tunnel of new problems with new solutions or whatever.
Then Josh said something about a theory of intelligence that sort of seemed related. Intelligence is basically the ability to make predictions. People who predict better are smarter. Robots that can make predictions are smart. With some games predictions are easier than others: chess, tic-tac-toe, etc.
Art is most fun when it defies explanation. Moral stories aren't fun... ambiguity is. I think I believe this. It is fun to interpret, interpret, interpret, over and over, all the while getting closer to a “final” interpretation. Which of course is the reward which then renders the thing no fun (on the other hand, you can apply that interpretation to new fun games). Stories or movies or pictures that have one interpretation fail to entertain very long. That's why artists never tell you their interpretation, they never tell you what happens a page after the book ends because they instinctively know that it will make them mortal again.
People are also more fun when they continue to defy interpretation... once you find a stereotype or explanation that can easily predict future behavior, they aren't as fun. Not that it's a person's responsibility to remain fun all the time. In any case, I don't think it's about being entertaining, or the source of all activity, in order to remain fun. It's about avoiding easy explanation... having many sides. Being neither good nor bad is one way to defy explanation.
I think this might be the hidden cost of being good. You become predictable. People aren't as rewarded when they are around you. It's also one of my main problems with being around Christians too much... at least a certain kind... they are too good. Nothing surprises. I make it sound as if it were everyone's duty to keep me entertained, which isn't the case because I'm certainly not the most surprising person out there either, but I'm just trying to find out why I act as if I thought certain things without knowing why I was thinking them.
I read this theory of fun that basically said that something is fun when you are surprised and find a new way to solve a problem (whether or not you knew another way to solve it before). Or a different way to see something that you had seen before. That's maybe why fun fades away if you do the same thing too much, or see the same thing too often, unless you find better and better ways to do or see it. Once you've optimized to the point that you aren't finding new patterns or new tricks, it gets boring. Like tic-tac-toe. I like games (it talks mostly about games but I think it applies everywhere) where you have an opponent, since hopefully they will provide a long tunnel of new problems with new solutions or whatever.
Then Josh said something about a theory of intelligence that sort of seemed related. Intelligence is basically the ability to make predictions. People who predict better are smarter. Robots that can make predictions are smart. With some games predictions are easier than others: chess, tic-tac-toe, etc.
Art is most fun when it defies explanation. Moral stories aren't fun... ambiguity is. I think I believe this. It is fun to interpret, interpret, interpret, over and over, all the while getting closer to a “final” interpretation. Which of course is the reward which then renders the thing no fun (on the other hand, you can apply that interpretation to new fun games). Stories or movies or pictures that have one interpretation fail to entertain very long. That's why artists never tell you their interpretation, they never tell you what happens a page after the book ends because they instinctively know that it will make them mortal again.
People are also more fun when they continue to defy interpretation... once you find a stereotype or explanation that can easily predict future behavior, they aren't as fun. Not that it's a person's responsibility to remain fun all the time. In any case, I don't think it's about being entertaining, or the source of all activity, in order to remain fun. It's about avoiding easy explanation... having many sides. Being neither good nor bad is one way to defy explanation.
I think this might be the hidden cost of being good. You become predictable. People aren't as rewarded when they are around you. It's also one of my main problems with being around Christians too much... at least a certain kind... they are too good. Nothing surprises. I make it sound as if it were everyone's duty to keep me entertained, which isn't the case because I'm certainly not the most surprising person out there either, but I'm just trying to find out why I act as if I thought certain things without knowing why I was thinking them.
posted by Puck at 1:05 PM
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