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SubstantialFrivolity  I'm not even supposed to be here today  1yr ago (text post)   2180 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for October 14, 2022

Be advised; this thread is not for serious in depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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I really do not like the commercialization of holiday songs and symbols.

The greatness of a holiday song is that the song is a unique cue for the spirit of the holiday. By only playing the song during the holiday, the song transfers onto itself the memories of the holiday. This transference also applies to holiday symbols.

When commercials and shops and other things begin to incorporate those songs and symbols, they no longer act as a unique cue, making it harder to access the unique memories of the holiday that were previously stored in the song (via memory interference). This doesn’t happen immediately, consciously, or fully, but it happens to a degree. The result is a chipping away of all the greatness and joy.

Like, if you begin to play your favorite song as a wake up alarm, over time the song begins to encode for the stress of waking up. With some mental effort you can remember why you liked the song originally and what it meant, but it’s not the same! There’s a small rewiring when we remember. Remembering is re-memory-ing.

I’ve been thinking of incorporating into my life “clear unique cues”, for lack of better terminology. A small little enclave of only joy, or serenity, with cues only for that space which I do not use in other contexts. The result should be a maximization of the potential of the space for its intended purpose.

I suppose this should make me happy that one of .y favorite Christmas songs was a total commercial failure, but I'd still prefer to hear it a little more often.

Basshunter's Jingle Bells?

Dido's Christmas Day it's not really a Christmas song but does mention the holiday, but that's the first time I've heard that Jingle bells, I like it.

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