This kid has so much character and will have so many stories and connections as opposed to most average kids of the same age.
This world needs more unabashed individualism like this. It leads humanity to richer culture and more discovery.
Except that a 1938 car is a death trap.
We need to stop coddling and worrying about everything. (I guess we were all raised by helicopter parents and are doubling down?)
In my state practically any self-built car is able to become road-legal. Old cars, rebuilds, kit cars, etc. And it's fine. People are fine.
We're not imposing this choice top-down at a population level. We're not about to have (current accident rate) * (1938 car crash outcome). Someone doing this for fun is bound to be more careful than your average driver.
This article wouldn't be upvoted enough for you to see it if you were
There are also HNers. Count me in the "refuse to use a cellphone" camp.
I want to learn how the hardware and software stacks work, but I don't want to carry one ever.
I mean you mention anime characters, but there's a big greaser / rockabilly subculture in Japan - grown men dressing like they're from the 50's.
Then there's of course the survivalist / homesteader subculture, people who live off the grid. There's LARPers who - usually only at events - dress up as elves and co. There's medieval re-enactors who have full suits of armor. There's renaissance faire people. There's Dickensians. Furries. Peaky Blinders. K-Pop stans. The list goes on.
This is normal human behaviour. While I also think it's a little strange, it's harmless. Let people have things.
There isn't, though.
There are probably a dozen or so in Tokyo and about the same number in Osaka. Granted, I don't have an exact number but it is super niche. If you ask a random Japanese person the chances of them even being aware of that subculture is very low.
> This is normal human behaviour. While I also think it's a little strange, it's harmless. Let people have things.
No, it's not. Some of your examples are but going all in isn't normal even if we ignore the fact that being part of a subculture kind of isn't normal by definition. If it were normal we wouldn't get an article about it from the BBC, would we? But what I rather mean is, doing that as a dress up thing or LARPing is reasonable. Using some old items or wearing old fashion for their unique appeal is also reasonable. Putting anachronism above all else isn't normal, though. Those Japanese greasers use mobile phones.
Arguably, we don't know how much of what the article describes is tongue in cheek, and perhaps it's mostly a character the guy is playing. But if not, hating to or avoiding to use modern technology because it's not from the era you happen to like (because of your grandpa's POW diaries, another can of worms right there) is quite off.
I'm not saying he shouldn't enjoy what he's doing or "become like the rest if us" but no, really, it's not normal (and maybe that's okay).
People have hobbies, passions, etc.
What criteria are you using to be the judge of what is harmless or not? What Is reasonable and abnormal?
Aside from (maybe?) driving under the speed limit, no harm no foul. Not mentioned in the article, but I do hope he's OK with modern medicine, like the polio vaccine, and will be willing to eschew his aversion to cell phones if his grandmother has to get in touch with him in some sort of emergency...
People wore fedoras to identify them as part of a subculture (Reddit gentlemen).
Most people who weren't part of the subculture pretty quickly figured out that removing their fedora meant people didn't assume they were a part of it, so they took it off.
Same thing with hipster glasses, mullets, dreads, swastikas, list goes on...
Is that where that came from? It sounds right.
I used to wear nice hats regularly including a couple of fedoras, but I had to retire them because of this.
How many times have you met an actual douchebag wearing a fedora? How many times have you heard people saying that all douchebags wear fedoras? I bet the ratio is at least 1:50. It's like how people who insist all vegans are smug outnumber actual smug vegans by a huge margin.