The problem I see with television is that the average person spends 4 hours a day watching it. ... My problem with that is not that they aren't exercising ... or that they aren't being productive ... but that they aren't living.
What does "living" mean, exactly ? I understand that you find your personal creative projects highly enjoyable, and that's great. But you aren't merely saying, "I enjoy X", you're saying, "enjoying Y instead of X is objectively wrong" (if I understand you correctly).
Why, then, do they use entertainment to learn instead of seeking out the most efficient method?
I address this point below, but I'd like to also point out that some people people's goals are different from yours. They consume entertainment because it is enjoyable, or because it facilitates social contact (which they in turn find enjoyable), not because they believe it will make them more efficient (though see below).
So, although entertainment is a way of transmitting ideas, I question how efficient it is, and whether it provides enough other learning benefits to outweigh the cost of wrapping all those ideas in so much text.
Many people -- yourself not among them, admittedly -- find that they are able to internalize new ideas much more thoroughly if these ideas are tied into a narrative. Similarly, other people find it easier to communicate their ideas in the form of narratives; this is why Eliezer writes things like Three Worlds Collide and HPMOR instead of simply writing out the equations. This is also why he employs several tropes from fiction even in his non-fiction writing.
I'm not saying that this is the "right" way to learn, or anything; I am merely describing the situation that, as I believe, exists.
The statement "entertainment is an inefficient way to get ideas compared with other methods" seems true to me.
I am just not convinced that this statement applies to anything like a majority of "person+idea" combinations.
What does "living" mean, exactly ?
"Living" the way I used it means "living to the fullest" or, a little more specifically "feeling really engaged in life" or "feeling fulfilled".
I understand that you find your personal creative projects highly enjoyable, and that's great. But you aren't merely saying, "I enjoy X", you're saying, "enjoying Y instead of X is objectively wrong" (if I understand you correctly).
I used "living" to refer to a subjective state. There's nothi...
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