[CmdrShep2154 (OP)]

I remember the 2010-2015 as a more optimistic time but a more vapid and materialistic time.

Reality TV was all the rage.


Why did TV become so dumb during that time period?

Society seemed more conformist too. A lot of men were into excessive exercise and the women into extreme dieting. Expressing intellect seemed to be shunned.

It seemed like before 2014 that society thought that people who watched fantasy themed shows and "Battlestar Galactica" were seen as "People who lived in basements" but since "Game of Thrones" and the MCU blew up the stigma seemed to be erased virtually overnight.

It seemed like during that time period society largely stopped dreaming about space travel and the future.


Did materialism distract society from being inspired to work for a futuristic future?

Did conformity stop society from achieving it's intellectual potential?

Was it the 2008 financial crash that caused a lot of American society to struggle?

Or was it all of those factors?

[alancalverd]

Why did TV become so dumb during that time period?

Sadly, it was quite accurately predicted by Nigel Kneale in 1968 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Year_of_the_Sex_Olympics pretty closely describes how society, at least as depicted and reflected by television, evolved in the next 50 years.

From a UK perspective the financial scandal of the early 2000's followed the European Union's disastrous Common Agricultural and Common Fisheries policies and Thatcher's destruction of the strategic infrastructure of the country, and the tax-funded bailouts of banks on both sides of the Atlantic almost put the final seal on public recognition of the corruption  that had replaced public service at the heart of government. Astonishingly, things have simply got worse ever since. Result: complete cynicism in politics and utter public contempt for anything that looks like hard work, since your only function in society is to make the rich richer.   

Credit also to George Orwell. His timing and detail weren't as accurate but Newspeak has certainly taken over. Naked profiteering in the absence of a true market, is now called a "cost of living crisis",as if it were somehow an inevitable natural phenomenon. In response, His Majesty's Government gives you back a bit of your money to maintain the profits of the privatised utility companies, and expects your gratitude.

I could go on, but nothing short of a bloody revolution will fix it, so why bother when there's mindless crap on the telly?

[Bored chemist]

I remember the 2010-2015 as a more optimistic time but a more vapid and materialistic time.

Reality TV was all the rage.

Reality TV- Big Brother and Love Island etc is pretty vapid.

[paul cotter]

My diagnosis: excessive exposure to the gogglebox.

[alancalverd]

And the final disgrace is "Celebrity Gogglebox": a carefully compiled and edited series of clips of people who have no relevance to your life pretending to react spontaneously to images of other irrelevant people pretending to do something fictitious. Like "I'm a nobody, get me out of here" with even less justification for the licence fee.

Just as entropy always increases, so it seems that the application of technology always becomes more trivial. A computer millions of times more powerful than those that took Man to the Moon now tells me to depress the clutch before allowing the car to start. Which would be OK, if pointless, if it could sense the position of the clutch pedal on a cold day. At least I haven't ruined my life (or anyone else's) with an x-box.   

[Petrochemicals]

I do not remember culture being optimistic certainly and not any different to now. I remember there being panic over the economy, even though the economy is still knackered people seem to care less, perhaps its not as bad as people envisaged, the 1970s winter of discontent strikes inflation etc. Maybe the cultural aspect was just the fact that it took time adjusting to the new status quo.

Big brother started long before 2010, Channel 4 had already passed it over I think.

[Pseudoscience-is-malarkey]

This is the first i've heard of it.

[alancalverd]

Interesting to note that the Big Brother franchise is owned by Bazalgette. Why does the name seem familiar? Sir Joseph Bazalgette was the Victorian engineer charged with the task of rebuilding London's sewage system, taking sh1t out of people's houses . Same family (great grandson), same business, just reversing the flow and piping it into their living rooms.   

[paul cotter]

Just for you, Alancalverd, I recommend "i am the slime" by the late Frank Zappa. While I doubt it is in your repertoire, and not commonly heard, it is well worth the effort to access it. 

[evan_au]

complete cynicism in politics

Australia had this well before 2,000.

As a colony of convicts exiled on the other side of the world in 1788 (many for just being Irish), Australia has long had a cynicism of politics and politicians.
- Being ruled from the far side of the world until 1900 did not help, either
- Until the international undersea telegraph was deployed, instructions from the government in UK were always 6-12 months out of date...

Someone once contrasted Australian & US politics as follows:
- In the USA, the president is trusted until he proves that he can't be trusted.
- In Australia, the prime minister is not trusted until he proves that he can be trusted
- Note; "He" is an historical dominance, in both countries...

[alancalverd]

Just for you, Alancalverd, I recommend "i am the slime" by the late Frank Zappa. While I doubt it is in your repertoire, and not commonly heard, it is well worth the effort to access it. 

Not heard it before, but it now occupies my number one slot, displacing "Love Shack" at the apex of rock. And it's time my big band expanded its repertoire from Ellington and Basie. Thanks for a great suggestion!