Buster Benson makes a great point:
On the other hand, maybe this particular technology trend will result in all of us ceasing to lead double- triple- quadruple-lives. Just be the person that you are to all the people that you know. Including yourself. No shame. Wouldn’t that be awesome? Down with hiding parts of ourselves because we’re ashamed what people might think if they knew it about us.
*This* is the generational shift I’ve been anticipating.
No more judging people solely on taste. No more looking down on others for some fandom or harmless obsession. This melts away when we all discover that we all do it, in one form or another. We’re all geeks about something: cars, football, trains, snow globes, music genres, etc.
That doesn’t mean that taste won’t have an influence, but that purely having one or expressing it doesn’t mean the end of the world. See, this is all left-over 50s-grade prudery. That to be an important person means being all buttoned up, eschewing anything “fun” or frivolous. You waste time reading graphic novels? What kind of professional are you?
The people who do this the most, again, are often the ones hiding something because they’ve got an image of themselves that’s been *forced* onto them that they need to live up to. That’s not a life, that’s a neurosis.
This will all take more time, as Buster points out:
I know that that particular fight is going to be long, and bloody. No illusions there, but I bet the young people will lead the way (after a generation or two of serious youthful-timeline purging fests).
Maybe I’m biased because I’m an idealist in this space, and I work in a creative industry, but… I’ve met some stockbrokers before, they’re not afraid of expressing their tastes. I don’t see why anyone should have to. Ever.
