Modern Maturity: Create More, Consume Less

artofmanliness.com

34 points·paulbaumgart··5 comments

I'm not sure why they had to take the rather sound message of "make useful stuff and you'll be happier" and dress it up with all of that "Be A Real Man" wankery.

Agreed. This for example, why should it apply to men any more than to women? :

"[Consumerism] might work with your toothpaste, but the most important things in life can’t be replaced on a whim. They require the discipline necessary to build something strong and valuable and special, the ability to stick with something through thick and thin. The shopping around mentality is devastating to true manhood."

It could be slanted towards men since the website is called the "Art of Manliness".

You clearly appreciate the central theme of the post but have less use for the manliness trappings that surround it.

It's illustrative for the author to share the personal experiences and thought process that led him to this conclusion. It's equally interesting to see other people reaching the same conclusion after approaching the problem from a completely different perspective.

It looks like there's another level of analysis left to be done here. If "making" is a marker of true manliness but not specific to men, then what is it that we're really saying? Making is adulthood? Making is being in touch with oneself? Making is not buying into corporate consumerism?

I'm still digging for the simple truth at the heart of both this post and the ensuing discussion.

"Where men used to play baseball and football, they now control avatars who play for them. Where men used to play an instrument, they now press buttons on a plastic toy."

How is pressing buttons on a plastic toy inherently worse than pressing buttons on a wood and ivory toy? Given time, some of today's toys will gain prestige, too.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com