The refusal to try something just because itās popular.
I played pickleball in secondary school for gym. Iāve had enough of it for you.
For me, itās kinda the other way around. Iām often the sort of person that does exactly that, refuse to try something exactly because itās popular.
Why? Well, when everyone around you is doing a certain popular thing (letās think like video games or sports, but could be anything really), I sit on the sidelines and realize itās becoming an addiction for them, and Iāll literally count the years my friends and others waste away partaking in that addiction.
Donāt ask me how many years I watched friends waste playing Call Of Duty. For me, I like to mix it up, a different hobby or project or whatever almost every day.
You do have a point there, Iāll give you that š
My skills, projects and hobbies just tend to be a bit more diverse than people that seem to get stuck in ruts.
Sure, sometimes I like playing games. Sometimes I like fixing stuff. Sometimes I like modding and inventing stuff. Sometimes I like programming. Sometimes I study mathematical theories. Sometimes I like riding BMX flatland.
ā¦
Iām the same except I donāt have productive hobbies like you. I refuse to do things which are popular. Not all but most things. I donāt refuse them because theyāre popular but when I feel theyāre popular for no reason.
I refuse to use Instagram, tiktok because they have no reason for me. I donāt posts pics or videos of mine on the internet and content there is largely trash. But I use YouTube.
I refuse to watch mainstream movies and series because for some reason I donāt like watching humans act. But I watch anime.
Itās social signalling, and itās supposed make the curmudgeon seems better than the common rabble and therefore high-status.
That is a reasonable explanation of people who announce their refusal to participate in a fad.
What of the people who just ignore the fad, without publicly declaring their refusal?
This is something I do, so Iāll take a crack at itāthough, bear in mind, it might be total bullshit.
Itās a defense mechanism. Many popular things areāin my estimationāobjectively terrible. Every time something utterly devoid of merit (and often actively detrimental to the public good) is generally agreed to be a popular sensation, the connection I feel to my fellow human beings takes a hit.
I want to believe in peopleāin society. But Iām clearly a judgmental sob. So maybe by avoiding the popular things, Iām trying not to further my own alienation.
