Ask A Genius 448 – The Future of Cultures (1)
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2018/11/19
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Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is the future of cultures or, in particular, sub-cultures?
Rick Rosner: Culture is two things. One is the structure of society. Another is the type of entertainment people like. Let’s talk about the future of societal structure, societal structure lines up with what is convenient and productive for that society.
I am thinking in terms of game shows because I worked on game shows. Who Wants to be a Millionaire began in 1999 and is still on the air 19 years later. Jeopardy was on the air in the 60s, went off for a few years, and has been on solid since the 70s, I think.
It is similar for Wheel of Fortune. It is a pretty straightforward show where the best competitors win. They are watchable but basic shows. You want to root for somebody. You want someone to do well. The competitor to do well.
It is a straightforward show. The show The Weakest Link is an unwatchable show because things did not line up in the same direction. They went through various rounds of questioning. In the various rounds, they would vote off the player they thought was the weakest link.
It was never the weakest link. It was always the player who was the strongest who the weaker ones teamed up on.
So, a couple dickheads would be competing at the end. Then the MC insulted the contestants. It was a hard show to watch. It was unwatchable, at cross purposes to itself, and things did not line up.
I wrote on it for a while. The questions were easy. It was easy to write insults. But it was hard to make a show that you would want to watch more than 2 or 3 times. It wasn’t pleasant and never delivered the desired outcome, which is that the best player won.
We can expand that general principle to societal structures. The most pleasing family structures and societal units are the ones that exist in agreement with the overall principles and objectives of the society.
For human society and to the extent that animals have culture, everything lines up with what has arisen through evolution. That the different sex couples pair up in the case of many, many species and, certainly, humans, and then they reproduce.
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