Is Society Superficial?

Boddy

Boddy

Was once Boddy903
Member
You're superficial.
I'm superficial.
We're all superficial.

It's something we have to come to terms with. Everyone around us is infused with a desire and envy of material possessions and wealth, outward beauty is now something we yearn for. Why? Why are we so obsessed with obtaining the next piece of clothing or video game. It's cotton. It's virtual nothingness. So, why do we obsess?

We idolize those who have luxuries, and it is unnecessary. I stumbled onto a show recently, called Bridalplasty. This show on the E! Network bases around a reality competition between to-be brides who compete against each other for plastic surgery, and a perfect wedding. You heard me. Plastic surgery is now a reward. I for one, find this disgusting. How do we live in a world where we go under the knife, just for a better nose. What has led us to believe that tranquility can not be achieved until our cosmetic lust has been achieved? Well, in our world, nothing is placed out of blame.

Why do we idolize celebrities? We view their lives more closely than our own. I for one, care little for the lives of celebrities. Sure, they're in the movies we love, but why do we care? Is it that important that we need to know who is married and who is divorcing? Another fuel of our superficiality is the desire to be just like those above us. We like to feel strong and dominant. But dominance comes with a heavy price.

I want to hear your opinion. I know you are all smart and able minds. Do you believe that society is superficial nowadays? This topic has been itching at me for days...
 
To answer your question yes,we as human beings are naturally curious.This can all be traced to the media.

The media is where all problems begin.If it were not for the media, Lady Gaga's Contact epidemic would not have begun.Instead of putting forth effort and following the example of those before us.In this age its all about creating new ways to insult another.(Ginger,Weaboo,and other trends)Instead of setting a new path for those that are to proceed us,we set it aside and create an astray society.People care about technology more then they would with those that care about them and it's pathetic.You hear of scandal's and other nefarious acts and this is what the new generation is subjected to?

To be honest,some need a higher level perspective of maturity and that is not present.
 
Wut'd you say about Lady Gaga?

This whole world is superficial. Everybody is just so sneaky, greedy, and selfish nowadays. You can't do anything without hearing about something new or exciting. If it wasn't for the media, there would be no Justin Bieber (I could've lived with that) and it would take a long time to get the news if you were in the middle of nowhere.

Don't get me started on Bridalplasty. It's SOOOOOOOO stupid. If the husbands really loved them, then they would love the way they look before getting plastic surgery. :L
 
@Luigibuster: It doesnt' just end at media. Their is a whole long line of blame, but it doesn't end. Everything around us contributes to our superficiality, but we as weak and feeble humans have nothing but to do but to submit. For you see, the punishments are just too great. Try to not care about how you look, and left and right you will be bombarded with hatred and threats. If you try to be on the high end of the pyramid, you will be envied and loved so much, that you eventually become lonesome and regretful. It's hard to find a silver lining in our life nowadays.
 
May I add that this bridalplasty thing only occurs in the US? Don't blame other people for being superficial. Though, yes, I have to admit that the Netherlands, the country which I live in, tends to copy things from the US, after all it is the land of opportunity, right? Yeah sure. 100 years ago perhaps, but not anymore. To give an example; they start these Christian sects claiming they can cure any disease here too, there have been a few of those 'meetings'. So in short terms, we will get bridalplasty soon too, woohoo!
 
Of course our society is superficial. If you want an explanation of why beauty is so desired, it can be traced back to cavemen. The more appealing you are, the more likely you are to get a mate. The more likely you are to get a mate, the more likely you will be able to pass on your genetics to the next generation, etc. Valuing beauty is part of life, it won't change.
I don't understand how anybody can give a damn about celebrities.
 
Myself said:
Humans are such...fragile creatures...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think this pretty much sums up my feelings for the subject of whether or not society is superficial... And, if you don't get the reference, roughly put the whole point of me writing the story was to make an indirect social commentary about how superficial people can be as the main character is pretty arrogant as far as his lifestyle goes (hence, rivaling my view of society in general).
 
Yes, we're superficial. It's in our nature to want to be perfect, have everything we want. And when we can't get something, we just want it more. Yes, society is very superficial.
 
LucarioXFroslass, please elaborate more. Just stating yes solves or proves nothing.


Thanks for your replies. The truth is, I'm writing a research paper on this, and I thought a good source would be to ask some regular people on the site.

There are many contributing factors to why media has demoralized us, but, sometimes it's in us as well. In high school, this is true because we yearn to be like the "popular kids." But what I don't get is why? Why do we think it's so cool to cast others down below us? Why do we think it's awesome to order people around, and not even care about family?
 
Instinct. The more you have and the less others have, the greater your chance of survival is. In the wild this is true for wild animals and their food, the more they have and the less other animals have, the greater their chance of survival (though food is, at least in the western countries, in such great proportions that we don't have to care about that). And so it's the same with us, we apply this to almost anything.
 
I like following celebrities and reading celeb magazines because... I think of them as almost like characters themselves, but they're REAL. It's like Ash being real or something. I love reading about them and what they do.
 
"It's something we have to come to terms with. Everyone around us is infused with a desire and envy of material possessions and wealth, outward beauty is now something we yearn for. Why? Why are we so obsessed with obtaining the next piece of clothing or video game. It's cotton. It's virtual nothingness. So, why do we obsess?"

That's a very negative opinion, I know a truckload of people who aren't nearly as materialistic as this impression you've painted. There's a careful distinction you need to make between society and media (the latter of which I agree is about as shallow as a puddle), and although there's a fair percentage of people who almost worship these celebrity figures, it's not even close to "everyone".

I imagine your opinion is somewhat skewed because most of the people you hang out with lie within the ages of 12-18? Try and expand your experiences of people, you'll find that as age goes up, this sort of thing becomes less common.
 
bacon took the word right out of my mouth. Although that is kinda disgusting bacon >:O.

Anyway, people will always want better things, to be noticed more, to be complimented, and all that stuff. The one thing I don't get are beauty stuff. Like plastic surgury or make up. I don't believe in looking good for the public. It's fine to just clean up and look good. But putting on so much makeup you look like a dress up doll is stupid. If I were famous i'd come out with messy hair and some t-shirt. Not a tuxedo. If people don't like me then who cares. They just want superficial idiots who waist time and money on stuff like plastic surgury.

Anyway society is superficial and always will be. I'm superficial alot too, and pretty much everyone is at some point. Like Pokequaza said, it's instinct. The more you have the less the other person has. You survive longer so to speak. Like if we put this animal wise if one Bunny had a deeper hole than the other, then that one would have a less chance of being dug out by Coyotes or Hawks.

Nothing you can really do about it. It's not really that bad either, as long as you don't get carried away.
 
It's mainly because we often do not take a moment to look at the better picture.

Stars die. When they die, stardust is created. Stardust creates planets and other stars. It also creates a bunch of other stuff. Some stars also explode when they die, often destroying everything in it's path.

Now, what if someone buys a video game. He will take it home, and start playing it. Many people do this everyday. He plays the game until he's satisfied, or until something stops him from playing anymore. Most of the time, he will play for a few hours.

Now, let's say he plays the game after work for a week. He plays two hours each day. That means he spent 14 hours on that game. He loved the virtual adventure, sure, but what could have happened differently?

Could he have shot some hoops? Visited relatives? Do some research? Of he could. But, even greater things could be acheived in the video game, were the he is the master of the universe, saving lives.

That man plays several games after work for a year. He plays more hours on the weekends. That means approximately 913 hours of his life were spent on video games. What could have done with that? Taken a college course? Discovered a new math formula? It's crazy to think of what he could have done. Heck, he could made some kind of discovery of how to avoid the death of stars!

But, he didn't. Why spend 913 hours trying to do that if you could do that in an hour of a game?

We have to realize that what we do doesn't affect the universe. If I decide to buy a game, a star isn't going to explode because of that. If Earth dies, the whole universe will still be intact. We don't really...matter.

Intense stuff.
 
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