Post B2RecCZ7veGfl4rFz6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) More posts by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) Post #B2RbNsVTPXbBd7cxxg by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-19T13:33:16Z
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"The Fall of Modern Literature"I encountered this phrase in the context of someone complaining about fan fiction. But, you can find this sort of notion about many of the arts: it could be "the decline of hip hop" or maybe "the decline of TV series" or just "the terrible state of the modern teen"Or if you find those absurd what about "the decline in manufacturing quality" ? Ah. Maybe that one has a point?These pro-nostalgia arguments may vary in validity but they face common hurdles.
(DIR) Post #B2RbeYguL18760vhL6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-19T13:36:17Z
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1. When comparing works of the past with what is made today nearly always there has been an increase in both volume and diversity. Today we have MORE music, more books, more art, most of it isn't very good. 2. We tend to compare what survived from the past, the most enduring and best work with the average work of today. (Architecture and furniture do this often.)3. Related to #2 what is popular now, may not be what ends up defining the era when we look back. 4. Leave them kids alone.
(DIR) Post #B2RecCZ7veGfl4rFz6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-19T14:09:29Z
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There is some interaction between these common place and comforting falsies:* More history keeps happening the closer you get to the present* The Decline of
(DIR) Post #B2RfJkmyYxdeLu6RQO by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-19T14:17:19Z
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@ben But that brings us back to it being a sampling error.
(DIR) Post #B2RfcayjGJ2rQaaJu4 by willyyam@mastodon.social
2026-01-19T14:20:44Z
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@futurebird "kids these days don't have the survivorship bias that we do" is not the flex they think it is ;-)I shake my head at the name "the greatest generation", because they defeated the Nazis and the imperial hegemony, without noticing the absolute fuckton of Nazis and imperialists in that selfsame generation.
(DIR) Post #B2RfuDXZ8vl5wrHYoK by riff@toot.aquilenet.fr
2026-01-19T14:23:49Z
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@futurebird Oh, i know that one, it's the "Rock is dead, kid today don't listen or make good music like we had twenty years ago". I usually take it as "I stopped listening to new music twenty years ago and have no idea what incredible things and bands happened in rock since then" ^^
(DIR) Post #B2RhpRDH53iyoWdjRw by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-19T14:45:29Z
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@dalias @ben What has become of the Radio Play!!
(DIR) Post #B2RiDgtmPhmUPb5Os4 by RuchiraSDatta@mathstodon.xyz
2026-01-19T14:49:50Z
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@futurebird I said something like this when Ray Kurzweil came to give an author talk at Google about _The Singularity Is Near_. He was silent for about a minute. It was pretty clear this possibility had never occurred to him before. Then he said something that didn't address my question, and moved on.
(DIR) Post #B2RiyShf0fDRznifbM by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-19T14:58:21Z
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@RuchiraSDatta **modem connection sounds****spinning beach ball over face**
(DIR) Post #B2RncGO8cCBzCZp2XY by babelcarp@social.tchncs.de
2026-01-19T15:50:16Z
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@futurebird > Leave them kids alone.As long as they get off my lawn!
(DIR) Post #B2SVDm3U8ZM29tILYm by ShadSterling@mastodon.social
2026-01-19T23:58:54Z
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@futurebird wait, hip hop just got started, how can it be in decline already?
(DIR) Post #B2SXsQFUJkN2JBQ4Ui by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-20T00:28:42Z
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@ShadSterling People have been saying "hip hop is dead" for 25 years!
(DIR) Post #B2SY9KyPBX0GryUk0O by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-20T00:31:45Z
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@ShadSterling But then I think "the fall of literature" is like at least 400 years in? or maybe 1000?I wonder if people of the stone age shook their head at the "decline in cave drawing" and "the fall of the story by the fire"
(DIR) Post #B2SZZgqKb1TcBGqdxQ by driusan@doomscroller.social
2026-01-20T00:44:57.138Z
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@futurebird@sauropods.win @ShadSterling@mastodon.social I'll give you the fire thing but when's the last time you saw a good cave drawing?
(DIR) Post #B2SZZhjzG5zoxst5hw by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-20T00:47:39Z
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@driusan @ShadSterling Do murals at the underpass count?