There's too many... Way too many...

Anyone else here feel overwhelmed. There seem to be too many movies, cartoons, books, animes, games, web comics, etc. these days and too many of them sound like they'd be worth um... experiencing (as in reading, watching, playing, whatever is appropriate). There's also too much stuff worth learning. Heck, even new (or at least ones I haven't seen before) tropes seem to be appearing more often nowadays and the indices(or indexes if you prefer) are getting bigger. It's hard to describe what I'm feeling right now. In a way I'm glad that there'll always be something or other for me to watch, read, play, learn, etc., but there's also a sort of dread that I might never get to experience and/or learn a lot of truly amazing stuff.

I'm sure all of you felt something like this at some point or other. How did you deal with it? Please share your thoughts.

That is, without question, one of the greatest problems of modern society - too much information. You cannot help but feel overwhelmed. Sometimes I envy people who lived in the past - there was a lot of time to relax and recharge.

Gone are the days in which you could have read all of the world's books in a single lifetime.

Lightweights.

There are 10,000 channels and still nothing good on.

Seriously it's one of the biggest 'little problems' that bug me. One life is enough, but it is also too much. If we wanted to pick all the good stuff we know we'd like, it will take a few lifetimes. If we wanted to cut all the insignificant moments from our lives, we'd reduce them to the blink of an eye. I understand OP as I'm getting overwhelmed the same way

It's one of the main reasons why I think immortality would be a pretty sweet deal at first.

It's an even bigger problem if you're even interested in stuff that's So Bad, It's Good.

To blueharp: Either use and/or get DVR or turn it off. You're better off with hulu, DV Ds, netflix or something. And you're sure to find something worth watching in tvtropes. It's a gateway drug after all.

To Kayeka: Hell yeah. Immortality would definitely alleviate this as you'd have more time for stuff. As long as your memory is good enough.

Pick and choose. Most of the shows out there I don't care for anyway and information is easy enough to sponge up if you care about what you're learning. The goal is to do what you want, not do everything.

This bothers me because I want to do everyone and be everyone. So sadly I must pick and choose. SADLY. EVEN THEN MY LIST OF SHIT IS HUGE. So much shit...

And then I get distracted anyway so it takes forever to get through anything...

I guess you failed to get the Futurama Reference?

Depending on how you define book or fiction in general, it's been 400-4000 years since that was last possible.

To nzm 1536: Whoa... That was very well put. I guess it's something we've all just got to accept somehow.

To Usht: I already have. But I've picked too many. Maybe we all need to raise our standards. But even a bad ([[YMMV according to a specific person anyway]]) show is usually fun to read about in tvtropes and much more so if you've actually watched it. There's also sometimes an Abridged Series to watch afterwards. And then there's fanfics, fanvids, game mods, etc.

To blueharp: Damn you! You've just reminded me of another show I haven't watched in a while. And yeah... that's another problem. Someday there might be so many shows and stuff that many references might fly over our heads. But my bad for not getting it.

Well... it's gotten way too late for me to still be thinking about this but I think I'll try to make some sort of list (it's going to be pretty big but it should still help) and just pick whatever I feel like doing from it whenever I get some free time instead of actively trying to do everything. Then I'll just focus on that one thing till I get bored and then I'll pick something else from the list.

To everyone: Thanks for sharing. How do you guys respond so quickly anyway? I'll check this thread out again later but I need to get to bed now.

Someday? It's already a problem today, even aside from cultural references that aren't shared.

I don't have this problem, to the extent of where I feel like I need MOAR.

MOARRR

Now excuse me as I create a punch in the face over the internet program in order to get revenge against whoever thought having Kingdom Hearts Cloud Strife in Dissidia Final Fantasy as preorder only was a good idea.

Also see the big letters in my signature.

I think it's a good thing. Only gives a person even more reason to live longer. Not that I can understand suicide and not wanting to live by any reason, as there are millions upon millions of good reasons to be alive. But hey, just one more reason to not want to die anytime soon is also good.

The only depressing thing about it, is that Transhumanism may not come in time to save us all.;_; Better hurry up and Archive Binge while we can.

I find it irritating because in some ways, I have very specific tastes. I can look through an entire shelf full of books and only find one or two that seem interesting enough to pay money for. Libraries ameliate this to some extent (and have exposed me to works I would never have bought due to Contemptible Covers), but there's still the matter of Sturgeon's Law.

"Gone are the days in which you could have read all of the world's books in a single lifetime."

Hasn't that been the case for at least a few centuries now, if not a millennium?

There has not been a time in history where you could access EVERY content in existence during a lifetime. Hell, a few hundred years since humans started having culture, even if you fucking teleported, there's no way you'd be able to hear all of every little tribe's oral tradition before croaking of old age.

In short? There's no way around it: We must cope with it.

I don't think I'll ever get another chance to use this clip in a more relevant discussion.

EDIT: Linking it because TV Tropes won't embed for some reason.

edited 27th May '11 3:56:39 AM by ninjaclown

Thinking about this overwhelms my mind, not because there's too many things I know I want to see, but just so many things for society itself to keep track of...surely some interesting little pieces of creativity end up utterly forgotten without a trace every so often.

If there's anything nice about this topic, it makes apparent how pointless trying to be "varied" is, instead of going on being "obsessed" with whatever you like. You'll never read it all or watch it all or play it all, unless Transhumanism succeeds. And even in that case, it might also be impossible, as there may even be more material released every year than can consumed in a decade.

And saying things like "you should like more things" is often a covert way of saying "stop liking what I don't like". Life is all about preferences. I can't stand how much of my family thinks I am an obsessed fool who needs to diversify my hobbies, just because they happen to be different from theirs. My supposedly "narrow interests" hasn't stopped me from making friends whom I have a great deal in common with.

In any event, might I restate, how is it even possible to become bored with life, if there's more awesome things to do released every year just in terms of media than one can consume in a decade? I'm also told how I wouldn't want to live much longer than 100 because I'd surely get "bored of life". Really? REALLY?

Only if you believe in the afterlife.

edited 27th May '11 8:47:43 AM by Ukonkivi

Trying to be varied is a great idea actually. You have things to choose from and being obsessed about one thing in particular ounds kind of... ignorant. Although maybe it's just my point of view as I always tried to be some kind of a Renaissance Man

edited 28th May '11 3:14:41 AM by nzm1536

bahahahahaha