#bc so many household didnt have convenient access to these things | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

biggest-gaudiest-patronuses · 4 years ago

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Sometimes people are reluctant to learn because they are already far behind. This is a very human insecurity that, in a more benign form, might manifest as an adult being self-conscious about learning to draw, play an instrument, etc, bc other people are at more advanced levels.

A more insidious form is boomers and conservative who refuse to learn new skills & social behaviors (or to unlearn negative ones they've been taught). While this is also very human, it is still a shitty shitty thing they get away with bc they have the privilege of being incredibly coddled.

To the first type of reluctant learner I'd like to say, please don't let that insecurity stifle you! No matter where you begin, or where you stop, the process of learning is a miraculous one. You are 100% guaranteed to grow as a person just by engaging; technical progress is just one detail.

To the second type of reluctant learner: get the fuck over it. You are actively making the world a worse place.

#also the mindset that is skill is only valuable if it can be used professionally is incredibly damaging and degrading #and a direct result of modern capitalism #sewing drawing music woodwork and a thousand other creative skills have been of immeasurable personal value all throughout human history #bc so many household didnt have convenient access to these things #no such thing as vinyl records so you either hired musicians or more likely got together with friends and family to make your own music #being able to embroider was a common valuable skill before decorative clothing became affordable w/ the advent of textile technology #modern technology means we can rely less on our own skills to improve the quality of our lives #which is good! but it also means that we are still sorting out our new cultural relationship with these arts #being able to learn things not bc we need to or bc they have practical applications is. GOOD #being able to pursue personal interests regardless of how useful it will be is a privilege but not we should feel guilty about!!!#please give yourself permission to try things you are bad at and will never use #nothing that gives you the opportunity to grow and learn is ever truly useless #experimentation has innate value and so do you!#and on to the 2nd topic:#unlearning prejudice and educating yourself when your upbringing failed to do so is difficult #it requires labor. it requires accepting some hard truths and accepting that you have been very very wrong about some things #i understand that. i sympathize.#that doesn't erase the fact that once you're an adult it's your fucking job to unlearn the prejudice and toxic views society taught you #and that is a lifelong process. it ends when you end #so fucking get started already #unlearning prejudice is also a beautiful journey and you'll be a better happier person from it yada yada #but mostly it's just your fucking responsibility as someone with the privilege to ignore inequalities that don't directly affect you #i say that as someone who is also still learning #YES I SAID FOX NEWS VIEWERS ARE INCREDIBLY CODDLED #THEY ARE SPECIAL SNOWFLAKES WHO YELL LIKE TODDLERS AT THE TINIEST SUGGESTION OF CRITICISM #STEREOTYPES ABOUT LIBERALS ARE BASED ON CONSERVATIVES BEING AWARE AND IN DENIAL ABOUT THEIR OWN VAST SHORTCOMINGS #if you look closely at a group spouting stereotypes you will often learn a terrible amount about that group #yes i said BOOMERS ARE CODDLED. CODDLED LIKE THE MOST DELICATE OF EGGS.#no one more emotionally sensitive than your republican uncle talking politics at thanksgiving dinner #not a shitpost

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