The Pub Discussion Board

Four minutes? Seven minutes?

That's way longer than my attention span allows for an online video. Especially one with snooty British accents or a *musical* number.

Heck, I was bored with the second one before it finished showing its "studio" logos.

I need something more like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfmVRuE6L-A
Car! Star! Jump! Drive! Girl! Flip! Skirt! Wink! Buy!

...and I'm spent.

I find it strange that a person's attention span is dependent upon where content is located, rather than what it contains.

Net Wolf

Fucking Little Mermaid ripoff... now I need to purge myself of the earwig.  And I haven't even seen that damn movie in years, nor did I watch it more than once or twice.  I can't believe I was able to recognize it as a Disney song.  *curses the perfidy and horror that is Disney* 

*wanders off to find something less horrid to get stuck in her head*

Yes, you're right.  I fail to understand why people are intentionally causing ADHD in themselves.

Oh, what?  You don't think that ADHD can be caused by your actions?  Then why did ADHD suddenly become a massive problem when the Internet and high-channel-count cable came along?

Net Wolf

PS:  Not saying everyone caused it themselves.  I'm saying that actions have consequences.

Coincidence is not causality.

And it's possible that ADHD suddenly became a massive problem because it got a name, and that before ADHD nee ADD entered the pop culture lexicon, we just thought people didn't pay attention or were clowns or didn't take life seriously or were just plain stupid. (Sometimes I think the latter label is falling out of favor prematurely.)

I don't have ADHD anyway, and I gladly accept, nay, choose the consequences of wielding my personal input filters. It's like someone once said, you don't always have to step in it to know it stinks.

Operating on the theory that boredom is a powerful enabler of concentration, I like to dispatch the things that come at me as quickly as possible so that I can resume my boredom without delay. Plus there's the whole "ignorance is bliss" thing. (I think that whooshing sound might have been life passing me by.)

Of course, this is far afield from the intent of my original post, which was, "Dang, those are long; aren't most viral videos shorter?" and "A video less than five minutes long has thirty seconds in 'we who made this are cool' promotional tags, isn't that a bit much?" and "humor is subjective" and "I find this old Japanese car commercial to be both brief and scattershot-goofy."

Anybody else have awesome viral videos? Or stories about awful viral infections? Or vile victuals? Virtual vials? Vicky Vail? I'm Batman. No, kitty, that's my chocolate chicken pot pie! What kind of typewriter did the Unabomber use? I think I might have one of his recipe cards. Tony Randall!

Neitherspace wrote:

and Net i take offense at the implication that ADD/ADHD is induced

And

Net Wolf wrote:

Not saying everyone caused it themselves.

I'm saying that certain people who have been diagnosed with ADHD have brought the mental condition on through their behavior, because they choose not to learn to concentrate, and that society is encouraging them NOT to concentrate.  "Multi-tasking" has become a hip buzzword... but the human mind was not built to multi-task beyond keeping itself running.  We think at our very best when we think about one thing from beginning to end.  A lot of brain time is wasted purely in the effort of "switching tracks" constantly.  (Before someone says, "I don't think best that way!"  Yeah, you do.  You've just never thought at your very best before.  If you do great while multi-tasking all the time, just imagine what you could do if you actually could concentrate!)

And Imagineer?  "You can't judge a book by its cover."  Yeah, actually, you DO have to step in it before you know it stinks.  Otherwise, it is prejudice (which means, literally "to judge something ahead of time").  Now, if you choose to assume something is of poor quality because of where it is posted... well... then what are you doing posting to the same place?  You know, the Internet?

Net Wolf

No, I won't read it.  But it's not that I won't read it because of where it is posted, or where it comes from.  And for the record, I didn't watch those videos, either.  Why?  Because they didn't come at a time when I was interested in being entertained.  Whatever book it is you have posted won't get read because I read almost nothing these days: I don't have time.

My problem with your comment is that you have classified something's quality by its location, rather than its content (because you don't watch it, so you don't KNOW its content), implying that the location itself is somehow inferior.  Since my own publications share that location, I think I have a right to question your implication of its inferiority.

Net Wolf

1. I didn't say that it was inferior.
2. I didn't make a judgement as to its quality based on its location.

The only problem you have is with what you've incorrectly inferred.


Neitherspace: the dramatic rodent rocks. Your other link is a little bit broken.

Last edited by Imagineer (2007-08-16 01:18:32)

What does your question have to do with my statement?

Why not?

...Oh, I get it. You chose the most humorless and extreme interpretation possible of my original post. You didn't understand its meaning, despite the fact that I restated it in a later post -- did you miss that one or just choose to ignore it? No matter. I will now attempt to be clear at the expense of conversational lightheartedness:

(1) I did not expect a post of viral videos to link to a four-minute song parody or a seven-minute animated short;
(2) neither video stirred my interest at the time I viewed them, given the expectations I brought to them from the subject of the original post and what "virals" means to me;
(3) I then provided an example of one of the kinds of videos I associate with the subject (an example which I find entertaining), and I described it in a fashion that I thought reflected the example's energy, its contrast to the other examples, and my mood at the time.

I later pointed out that not everyone thinks the way you do. I also noted that I tend to have less context and background for most online videos that find their way in front of me as compared with other media, and that this affects the time I afford them. Put another way, I will stick with something longer if I have some prior interest in it, and I tend to have less prior knowledge of and interest in random Internet links than the movies, TV shows, articles, and books I begin.

Of course, reading a post like that is, in my experience, for most people, slightly less interesting than the evaporative progress of protective coatings. It is generally tedious and joyless for me to write in that fashion and, I think, inappropriate and counterproductive to a casual and lively conversation in a "pub" atmosphere -- at least the kind of pub I'd like to drop by after a hard day at work.

I'll try sitting at the other end of the bar. I don't think Bridget likes the way my eyes keep wandering below her smile anyway.

We who? You're the only one who's gone out of his way to exploit an opportunity to misconstrue for sport. If you truly couldn't get the spirit much less the gist of my initial posts, then... no, I really don't care anymore.

Expectations? They lead to confusion and disappointment. I hope you'll expect less of me next time. Vice versa certainly applies.

And pardon me for thinking you would deign to understand much less appreciate anything but pedantry.

Neitherspace, I know you're upset, but... it was just the one time. Well, okay, it wasn't, but it didn't mean anything. I promise it'll never happen again. Neitherspace? Where're you going? Don't... aw, Neitherspace, please. Really. I'll change. I've changed. I swear. It's not like that. You're right, you're right, I need help. I'll get help. We'll get help. I'll work on it. I'll try, really, not like last time. No, seriously. What are you doing tonight? Maybe we could, um... you know, that place you like, and you know, just, well, talk. Like we used to. Please? What? Show me what? Waiting period over yesterday, what waiting period? Wow, that's a big one. Forty-five? Yeah, they're cool. I had no idea you liked-- hey, careful where you point-- WOAH! Woah, woah, woah, let's just... put down the-- WAIT! Now, just wait a second, we can talk about thi-- OKAY! Okay, okay, YES you have my attention, whatever you want, whatever you want, just... just don't... I'm begging you... see, I'm on my knees, begging, because that's how much you--