Liking everything.

This was written a month ago. But only now, thanks to this article do I have the courage to post it. There is something incredibly frightening and worrying about this internet trend of liking everything. I was actually afraid to post this before. Mobs scare me. Especially when they smile with thumbs up.

Maybe there is wisdom in what I perceive as the excessive appreciation of just about everything that many people seem to practice on the internet. Maybe people who suffer from this condition don’t really like everything (which is the same as liking nothing, or hating everything). Maybe they only talk about the things they like. And ignore the things they don’t. They just happen to like a lot of things that I don’t. But at the same time they don’t talk about a lot of things that I do. I presume because they don’t like them.

I think this attitude is partially fueled by fear. Fear of being wrong. Fear of the repercussions of hurting people. If you say you like something and the person who hears it doesn’t like the same thing, they will just shrug and walk away. If you express dislike, you risk being attacked.

But it’s also self-protection. The internet offers us access to many things. Most of those things are horrible. Obsessing over over the ugliness would drive one mad. So we cling to the things we like. As rafts. To prevent drowning.

I’m not used to this. I am used to living in a beautiful world, where most things are beautiful. Where there is room for silence and contemplation. Where there is art and beauty. And solid ground. Where one can feel strong. Where there is no need to judge (Like/Follow/Plus) all the time. Where things simply exist.

Or at least a world small enough to pretend that it is beautiful.

The internet is not beautiful. Because it is too big. But it is not bigger than the world. I should spend more time on the ground.

It does seem a bit pathological, this love for everything that some people seem to cultivate. You know the theory: smiling makes you happy. Even Marquis de Sade encouraged us to try to enjoy the taste of excrements. Bobbing your head to the rhythm of music you hate, to prevent it from hurting too much. It feels so desperate. I don’t live in a world so ugly that I need to like each and every thing in order to survive. I can just pick and choose and enjoy what I find. There’s plenty of beauty to be found here.