Regards,
Duncan
What I don't understand is why all these egomaniacs pretend to know these bands. How hard is it to say "I haven't heard of them"?
I suppose they don't want to be considered ignorant.Originally Posted by PeterG
Just like some Dutch politician, who was asked about some non-existing terrorist, named Ali Blah Blah, or something likewise.
It's not just hipsters. I remember on Penn & Teller: Bullshit, one time they went to an environmentalist rally, they asked people to sign a petition, to ban dihydrogen monoxide. The person gathering signatures gives a list of the side effects of the chemical compound. People were most eager once they found out that DHMO caused, amongst other things, frequent urination.
So after each person signed the petition, they'd then be informed that they just signed a petition to ban water (dihydrogen monoxide being one of the actual scientific names for water). And apparently Penn & Teller weren't the only people who've done this. One high school student back in the 90's actually won a prize at a science fair for circulating a similar petition, as a means of demonstrating how it's possible to use facts to lead "a scientifically and mathematically ignorant public" to a false conclusion. You can read more about it here:
http://www.snopes.com/science/dhmo.asp
The point is, one of the basic elements of human culture is the tendency to bullshit your way through a conversation. It's not so much about what you actually know, but what the other person thinks you know.
Last edited by GuitarGeek; 01-13-2014 at 02:20 PM.
I think it'd be interesting to hand people an atlas and ask them to find the following locations:
Grand Duchy of Fenwick
San Marcos (the Latin American banana republic, not any of the cities of that name)
Freedonia
Genoa City, Wisconsin
Llanview, Pennsylvania
Port Charles, New York
Bay City, Illinois
and see how long it takes them to figure out those places don't exactly exist, at least not in this universe (the cities are all from soap operas, the Grand Duchy is from The Mouse That Roared, Freedonia is in Duck Soup, and San Marcos is the country that Fielding Melisch visits in Bananas).
Sadly, this is so true it's depressing. Those who can bullshit the best, will rise to the top. Christ, I'm sitting across from someone right now who is a living example of it. A Marketing Director who makes into the 6 figures, who is about as creative as a 10 pound rock. But, he can dance circles around me in his ability to blow his own horn and act like a big shot.
It's the indie-hipster way, in my experience. All about namechecks.
I didn't used to believe that, but I've seen too much evidence of it in recent times to deny it.
Those people are interns working for JK, right?
Last edited by davis; 01-13-2014 at 12:24 PM.
How about Frostbite Falls, Pottsylvania? I went to college there at Wotsamatta U.
Lou
Looking forward to my day in court.
One of my favorite books EVER!(even the movie was OK)
Phideaux works in Port Charles.
Well, actually The Phidificent One labors in The City Of Angels, but yes, he is part of the Emmy winning creative team that endeavors to generate the fictional universe in which Port Charles, Llanview and Pine Valley, Pennsylvania exist. (Jackal mode off)Phideaux works in Port Charles.
There was a really funny one done on "The Man Show" where they were asking women to sign a petition to end women's suffrage. Naturally a lot of them signed it.
Could be some creative editing going on here. You don't know how many people told the camera crew to "Getafuckoutahere, those aren't real bands."
How is anyone supposed to know that a given band isn't real? if someone says "Oh, there's this band from Iceland" or whatever, or if they say "Oh this is an obscure band from the early 70's", can you be certain they're bullshitting you? Unless you're from the region the band supposedly originates from or you've done your own independent research or are otherwise fairly knowledgeable about a given era or "scene" or whatever, you can't be certain a person is frelling with you.
And as said before, I think a lot of people aren't willing to look ignorant about whatever the topic is front of others. They want other people to think they know their dren, and in doing so, maybe end up saying stuff that proves that they don't. And when you stick a TV camera in front of a lot of people, they're more interested in saying something that they think will get them on TV, and saying "Oh, I've never heard of that band" or "You're bullshitting me, there's no such band" typically won't get that done.
And just because you think a band doesn't exist doesn't mean they don't exist. You ask the average American about Hawkwind or Ozric Tentacles or The Pink Fairies, they're likely to say, if they're honest, they've never heard of them, and they might even be inclined to suggest that nobody would be dumb to call their band Hawkwind or "Ostrich Testicles, or whatever you said that other band was called". I remember once mentioning Oingo Boingo to someone (this being before hit it big with Weird Science) and the person I was talking to laughed in my face and said there's no such band. (shrug)
They aren't.
But they also aren't supposed to pretend that they know the music of a band they've never heard of - which is actually the point of that video.
E.g. someone asks me (or presumably you) - what do you think of Iceland's newest band "The Spastic Glacial Icecaps"?
Me - "Don't know - but it might be interesting to learn something about them."
Hipster bullshitters - "Oh they're totally awesome. they just have a totally cool energy. You can hear the Sigur Ros influences, but they're coming from a totally different place"... etc.
Yah - totally...
Regards,
Duncan
Yeah, but like I said, it's not just "hipsters". It's all kinds of people who do that sort of thing. You think people who sign a petition to ban water (because they don't recognize the chemical name) because they're trying to be "hip"? No, it's because they're too dumb to say "Wait a minute, let me read up on this before I commit to anything".
Actually, Two Door Cinema Club is a real bandThey are now SO going to have to put out an album called "DJ Cornmeal"
"Arf." -- Frank Zappa, "Beauty Knows No Pain" (live version)
That's probably not going to work- they'd have to know where to start in order to look for the place on a map and they've have no choice but to admit they don't know where it is- unless they just plan to randomly search everywhere, which I suppose some might...
If you just say, "I don't know who that is", you're not going to get on TV, are you?
By the way, I'm from Wisconsin, and I always wondered where Genoa City and Point Place were
Next time you get a call from a private or unknown number just answer in a whisper: "It's done, but there is blood everywhere", then hang up.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS!
You're a sick puppy, Ed......stay that way!
Fun thing to do, but these days you might end up with a bunch of NSA agents at your door.
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