I was surfing on TED, trying to find the perfect video for my review: to facilitate the writing, it should be concise and pragmatic, or maybe eccentric. To find it, a tedious journey of going trough innumerable TED video was inevitable. After half an hour, I was tempted at the word 'happiness'- I mean, it is banal, but provocative topic for everyone. The title read: "Less Stuff, More happiness."
The moment I saw it, a book named 'Non-possession' popped into my mind. The author Bubjung, who is a benign monk, carries on a ascetic life of possessing nothing, and he wrote about the happiness of it. It was extolled by many people, and I was one of them. the authentic truth and strong will inhered in the small white book. It was full of philanthropy, which became a consolation for the exhausted people. I expected similar contents with the video.
Frankly speaking, I was thoroughly disappointed. It was nothing like the book. It did not contain any prodigious meanings of life. In short, the main theme was "Say No to Squandering." Graham Hill, the speaker, provincially narrowed the meaning of 'Less Stuff' down to less consumption and less space. It did not contain any enlightenment I hoped for, so I was about to preclude the video from my sight. At that moment, it suddenly occurred to me that I don't necessarily have to like the video; it might be more fruitful to denounce something prudently. I decided to write a review on "Less Stuff, More happiness."
After I got out of the influence of 'Non-possession', I was able to keep an objective view, and I found the video articulate and quite pragmatic. He suggests three ways to conserve stuff- in his words, 'Life Editing'. He asserted, in a temperate way, that we should 'edit ruthlessly', 'think 'small', and 'make multifunctional.'Hill gave some precise examples: a moving wall that can be a guest bed, a wide desk, or even a movie theater. We could use some of the ideas.
The problem is, his actual assertion that less might equal more is not really lucid. After I watched the video for the first time, I couldn't make out what he was saying except for that novel moving wall. I think he should have more focused on why less stuff leads to more freedom or more time, not why more stuff leads to credit card debt or huge environmental footprints.
Overall, it was not flagrant. There were some obscure points in his talking, but he acutely pointed out today's fallacious dissipation and even gave some realistic solutions. With some self-reflection, I think the video has potential get much, much better.
The moment I saw it, a book named 'Non-possession' popped into my mind. The author Bubjung, who is a benign monk, carries on a ascetic life of possessing nothing, and he wrote about the happiness of it. It was extolled by many people, and I was one of them. the authentic truth and strong will inhered in the small white book. It was full of philanthropy, which became a consolation for the exhausted people. I expected similar contents with the video.
Frankly speaking, I was thoroughly disappointed. It was nothing like the book. It did not contain any prodigious meanings of life. In short, the main theme was "Say No to Squandering." Graham Hill, the speaker, provincially narrowed the meaning of 'Less Stuff' down to less consumption and less space. It did not contain any enlightenment I hoped for, so I was about to preclude the video from my sight. At that moment, it suddenly occurred to me that I don't necessarily have to like the video; it might be more fruitful to denounce something prudently. I decided to write a review on "Less Stuff, More happiness."
After I got out of the influence of 'Non-possession', I was able to keep an objective view, and I found the video articulate and quite pragmatic. He suggests three ways to conserve stuff- in his words, 'Life Editing'. He asserted, in a temperate way, that we should 'edit ruthlessly', 'think 'small', and 'make multifunctional.'Hill gave some precise examples: a moving wall that can be a guest bed, a wide desk, or even a movie theater. We could use some of the ideas.
The problem is, his actual assertion that less might equal more is not really lucid. After I watched the video for the first time, I couldn't make out what he was saying except for that novel moving wall. I think he should have more focused on why less stuff leads to more freedom or more time, not why more stuff leads to credit card debt or huge environmental footprints.
Overall, it was not flagrant. There were some obscure points in his talking, but he acutely pointed out today's fallacious dissipation and even gave some realistic solutions. With some self-reflection, I think the video has potential get much, much better.
28 words! They all work. Really exceptionally written. And I like your mixed review of the video. I think you might be being a bit hard on the guy though. Life Editing sounds like great terminology we could all benefit from. Here's a video that contrasts what he says to some extent, and I almost had you guys write an essay about it:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLBE5QAYXp8
All in all, really good work here.