'alternative' = antisocial (?)

~~John Wilkes Booth~~ · 05-11-2015, 08:49 PM

this is inspired by some of the banter in dali's tattoo thread. it got me to thinking... are alternative trends inherently antisocial? when i say antisocial i am referring to this:

an·ti·so·cial
?an(t)e'soSH?l,?an(t)i'soSH?l/
adjective
1.
contrary to the laws and customs of society; devoid of or antagonistic to sociable instincts or practices.
"a dangerous, unprincipled, antisocial type of man"
synonyms: sociopathic, distasteful, disruptive, rebellious, misanthropic, asocial
"worrisome antisocial behavior"
2.
not sociable; not wanting the company of others.
synonyms: unsociable, unfriendly, uncommunicative, reclusive, withdrawn, avoidant; informalstandoffish
"I'm feeling a bit antisocial"

so don't come at me with a bunch of stuff about antisocial personality disorder cause i'm not diagnosing anybody here.

but it seems to me that alternative trends are inherently antisocial in that they seek to undermine or invert mainstream values and trends. mainstream values and trends are basically just the propagation of cultural memes throughout a population. ideas which appeal to the greatest number of people rise to the mainstream through this statistical advantage. sort of like natural selection/evolution.

alternative trends seek to undermine these trends by providing its own set of cultural memes that are meant to replace the mainstream ones for its adherents. you can say this isn't antisocial because alternative trends develop their own community of adherents and so they're actually pro-social trends for the people that adopt them. but since they challenge mainstream values they seem inherently bound to alienate the vast majority of the population, which is why i think they are antisocial.

then you can go a step further into antisocial behavior and find 4chanish trolls who lash out against the current counter culture, creating a sort of counter-counter culture. this is even more antisocial and alternative than the original set of alternative trends, because it appeals to an even smaller group of cultural dissidents. i have a friend like this who literally can't enjoy most forms of music or movies or even comedy because he resents the counter cultural memes that they perpetuate.

i suppose you could indefinitely keep generating new counter-cultures to undermine the last one.

what do you guys think?

05-11-2015, 08:49 PM	#1 (permalink)
~~John Wilkes Booth~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Jul 2013 Posts: 2,235	'alternative' = antisocial (?) this is inspired by some of the banter in dali's tattoo thread. it got me to thinking... are alternative trends inherently antisocial? when i say antisocial i am referring to this: an·ti·so·cial ?an(t)e'soSH?l,?an(t)i'soSH?l/ adjective 1. contrary to the laws and customs of society; devoid of or antagonistic to sociable instincts or practices. "a dangerous, unprincipled, antisocial type of man" synonyms: sociopathic, distasteful, disruptive, rebellious, misanthropic, asocial "worrisome antisocial behavior" 2. not sociable; not wanting the company of others. synonyms: unsociable, unfriendly, uncommunicative, reclusive, withdrawn, avoidant; informalstandoffish "I'm feeling a bit antisocial" so don't come at me with a bunch of stuff about antisocial personality disorder cause i'm not diagnosing anybody here. but it seems to me that alternative trends are inherently antisocial in that they seek to undermine or invert mainstream values and trends. mainstream values and trends are basically just the propagation of cultural memes throughout a population. ideas which appeal to the greatest number of people rise to the mainstream through this statistical advantage. sort of like natural selection/evolution. alternative trends seek to undermine these trends by providing its own set of cultural memes that are meant to replace the mainstream ones for its adherents. you can say this isn't antisocial because alternative trends develop their own community of adherents and so they're actually pro-social trends for the people that adopt them. but since they challenge mainstream values they seem inherently bound to alienate the vast majority of the population, which is why i think they are antisocial. then you can go a step further into antisocial behavior and find 4chanish trolls who lash out against the current counter culture, creating a sort of counter-counter culture. this is even more antisocial and alternative than the original set of alternative trends, because it appeals to an even smaller group of cultural dissidents. i have a friend like this who literally can't enjoy most forms of music or movies or even comedy because he resents the counter cultural memes that they perpetuate. i suppose you could indefinitely keep generating new counter-cultures to undermine the last one. what do you guys think?