We all exist in the world, not apart from it, and no amount of exclusion or creation of “sterile spaces” will change that.
Before retiring, I trained new hires, the age gaps were sometimes very interesting. The younger they were, the more they wanted to know. (obviously their experience level was pretty low.) I used adages to bring a point home when explaining a difficult concept. It worked every time.
I guess you could call it "folk wisdom" but it seems more like a restating of the obvious to me.
But more importantly, we are creatures of habit before we are creatures of intellect. Stating things like "you are the sum of your experiences" isn't necessarily to reveal new and profound information, it is to emphasize a fact of existence that can easily become overlooked or underappreciated. Especially as we get on in the years and more and more of our behavior is on autopilot. There is value in reminding people to look for potential blindspots and providing some motivation a more careful consideration of the aspects of your life that have become unconscious even if the message comes in a trite or tautological package.
It's like people who have been stuck for the past 5 years spending 2+ hours every day scrolling a social media feeds littered with bad news, snapshots of arguments, and fake representations of the world but can't make a connection between this maladaptive behavior and the growing sense of cynicism and existential malaise that's impacting their happiness. Sometimes it is helpful to hear this kind of stuff (assuming it actually gets through) even though it should be obvious.
The surrounding reality in the world doesn't change but the gp was talking about deliberate curation of that reality.
Maybe another example using advertising to help highlight the difference:
- block ads during web surfing with PiHole and uBlock. <-- the curation perspective of gp y04nn's, "I am more meticulous when choosing what I do and don't do, there is no going back.
- no amount of blocking ads will change the fact that ads exist in the world <-- your perspective
Yes, you're correct that "ads still exist" but browsing the web without it is still a nicer experience.
As a general life strategy, I think it’s always better to “filter” rather than “block.”
I've been practising information hygiene for a while - if I can't change anything about problem X and it does not affect me or my family, should I be deeply informed about it? - and it has done wonders for my mental health.
(I'm not referring to intellectual videos, but instead just "some random person" that has amassed 10M followers because they .. well I don't know what they do, except market themselves well. Then start blathering on about literally the dumbest blather ever.
For example, taking medical advice from some guy living in a van, or taking scientific advice from some dude who doesn't even understand ... anything.
Populism to the extreme. Lookit me, I'm purdy, ergo my opinion on everything supersedes everyone.)
Filling the day with any video's seems to have downsides.
>moderation is key. Not too much, or too little
Watching videos all day, even 'good' videos isn't moderation. Your physical body, therefore your mind suffers from lack of exercise.