Are we really fighting Dataism?

[FREAK]

Not another “influencer” trolling thread for click bait .

I thought I’d post this interesting explanation of “datatism.” I think it summarizes my true dissatisfaction of the authenticity of society in general and I believe we’re seeing this mindset heavily infiltrate into the hunting industry.

An excerpt from the book Sapiens:

I’m only 5 beers in so go easy on me and my philosophical rant

Thoughts?

 

[woods89]

That's an interesting set of thoughts.

I detest the idea that experiences don't have value unless shared.

 

[Nameless Range]

Dropping a kid off at basketball camp, so not too deep a thought but, the sentence: “Dataists believe an experience is valueless if not shared and that we need not - indeed cannot - finding meaning within ourselves.”

This is an interesting sentence. It speaks in absolutes, and I think my own view is one of nuance, a sort of gradation holding both distinct experiences as well as a continuum of some for me, and some for thee - some based on category, some based on self interest, others organically out of understanding’s reach.

Oversimplified, I believe that sharing experiences absolutely can amplify meaning in life, but from that premise it does not then follow that we cannot also find meaning within ourselves.

The different meaningful experiences I have found in Hunting is a fine example of this nuance for me personally.

 

[FREAK]

I think people used to share experience for the actual experience. I think of going to pheasant shootings with my dad growing up. Duck hunts with guys from the church. Guys joining the country club to be part of a golf community. I’d categorize all that as sharing in experience and agree that being part of those community’s can amplify life.

I think what I’m seeing more and more of is people doing something not because of a genuine interest in the experience but rather for the reaction the experience will get when it is documented and sharred with their network of “friends”. Seems that that validation is what drives them and the reason I think it’s a relevant topic is product companies are preying on this shift in thinking. It’s becoming an artificial cycle of “document and share a more grande experience, get more reaction and following, get more sponsorship, repeat.”

 

[Hem]

I think it is ever revolving, a constant reinforcement in both directions.

It would be very to difficult to imagine being the only human alive, doing whatever, with no one to talk to.

 

[Nick87]

would be very to difficult to imagine being the only human alive, doing whatever,

A week or so don't sound all bad.

 

[FREAK]

I got on FB this morning and saw this post from a friend from HS. Kind of funny the timing of it.

 

[woods89]

As a thought experiment, I've wondered sometimes how much hunting there would be if we could somehow designate a fall season that you could not tell anyone, online or otherwise, what you experienced.

I'd still be out there, and I think there are quite a few hunters who'd join me. I think there'd certainly be some attrition, though. And I won't lie, the same inclinations exist in me as well.

 

[Akcabin]

As a thought experiment, I've wondered sometimes how much hunting there would be if we could somehow designate a fall season that you could not tell anyone, online or otherwise, what you experienced.

I'd still be out there, and I think there are quite a few hunters who'd join me. I think there'd certainly be some attrition, though. And I won't lie, the same inclinations exist in me as well.

As an older guy. I can say that I've had a lot of great experiences in the bush before the internet. And the need to harvest a moose every year so we could feed our family make me get out n create some great memories. Like being with friends that you can never share time with again.

 

[FairWeather]

I definitely think this has been the trend for the last decade or more.

Think about the phrase “doing it for the gram” (a phrase that is already all but obsolete/outdated). It openly admits that the only reason people are doing whatever activity is to document it and share it. Would they have done it at all if they weren’t expecting some sort of reward in the form of a dopamine release from the likes/follows/comments? Maybe, maybe not, but we’ll never know.

Same goes for the saying “pics or it didn’t happen”. This may be tossed around jokingly, but I think it’s more of a reality than we’d care to admit. For many it seems if they do something cool or interesting or worthwhile, but didn’t photograph/video and share it, it might as well not have happened. It turns what should have been an awesome memory and experience into disappointment of a missed opportunity.

 

[Dsnow9]

I think there is a large swath of people these days that fall into that. I personally took last year off of posting my hunts because I felt myself taking a picture or doing something for the write up. At that point I decided I needed to take a step back.

A friend told me a story the other day of 4 well dressed business women in their 20s. He said his family was sitting on the beach and watched them for about 30 minutes, assuming their lunch break. They took their suits off down to bathing suits and all took their turns with a volley ball, frisbee, in the water, on the pier, etc. they didn’t actually partake in any one activity for anything more than the photo and all cycled through the different setups. Then put their suits back on and went back to work.

Likely posted, “a great day at the beach today”

 

[Bigjay73]

I fish and hunt alone most of the time, don't have social media to post to, only post a few of my trips here on HT, and all of my experiences have tremendous meaning and value to me. Thoughts and memories are all I need to find satisfaction with the things I've experienced.

 

[SAJ-99]

I don't care much for the dataist principal even if it is hard to avoid these days. It is ubiquitous. I worry about youth who share but then start to define themselves by the reaction. A lot of the stuff that sticks with me is stuff I could never get a picture or video of anyway. The experience is the end result for me. I don't find the need to capture and share much.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

 

[Treeshark]

I am way more concerned with the ramifications of Dadaism, personally.

 

[Hem]

A week or so don't sound all bad.

Yep, I concur.

 

[noharleyyet]

I don't care much for the dataist principal even if it is hard to avoid these days. It is ubiquitous. I worry about youth who share but then start to define themselves by the reaction. A lot of the stuff that sticks with me is stuff I could never get a picture or video of anyway. The experience is the end result for me. I don't find the need to capture and share much.

“Where there’s data smoke, there’s business fire.”

 

[elkduds]

When you consider this along with the power of influencers to generate ire on HT, it explains a lot. Is an event or experience less real if it isn't on electronic media, the internet, TV? I have long understood that when an event or experience is captured and disseminated electronically, the totality of the event is lost and the essence of the experience is altered by the medium that conveys it. McLuhan wrote about this phenomenon in 1964's The Medium Is The Message. If you have ever been in an evolving situation when news reporters arrive, you've experienced the power of coverage to alter the arc of events.

Unplugging from electronics restores my sense of the reality of my own experience. Even when I'm stalking elk w my camera, the focus on getting a good photo often gets ahead of the magic of being close to undisturbed elk. The photo op supersedes the power of the moment, and I miss out on the most important part of being there. To my detriment.

 

[SAJ-99]

“Where there’s data smoke, there’s business fire.”

I figure by this time next year all these “shared” videos will just be generated by AI. There will be no reason to even experience it in person.

Now I go to try to convince my wife not to video record the opening of every gift, which she will not share but just store in the cloud for the next decade.

 

[noharleyyet]

I figure by this time next year all these “shared” videos will just be generated by AI. There will be no reason to even experience it in person.

Now I go to try to convince my wife not to video record the opening of every gift, which she will not share but just store in the cloud for the next decade.

I hope AI finishes Sheridan's 1923, Yellowstone, and 6666 without Tractor Supply pitches...