11 FEB 2021

Dark academia seemed to be on the rise. 

There is nothing wrong with being in love with the atmosphere of a classic academic environment, indulge in knowledge, enjoy learning and such.

When one thing becomes popular, there are always people there for the glamorous Instagram posts. They may like the aesthetic, but lack interest in deeper meanings that the aesthetic had its roots in. I don't see any harm in that. As long as someone thinks a style is working for them, it is brings fulfillment in self expression.

Elites despise 'posers' who only dress like it and was not interested in digging deeper. This is especially true with subcultures like heavy metal and gothic subculture. It is true that we bond over interests, but it is quite pathetic to force yourself to like something for the sake of blending in. If you must behave in a certain manner to be accepted into the group with incredibly elitist mindset, you may like to think twice before trying to join-- or just enjoy whatever you like in your own bubble.

Some problems may occur when people only dress for it. For example a 'babybat' may wear a shirt with the sigil of Satan on it without knowing what it means. A newly gradated student may wear a suit with white socks for their interview with future employers. Lack of knowledge is to blame and it can be easily avoided by reading surfing the internet. My advise it, got to start from somewhere before getting anywhere. Some cringe today brings less cringe in the future.

Another problem may also occur due to the social aspect of appearance. When your appearance speaks a subculture, expect some small chats over the subject. People like to engage in conversations over topics they like. A lack of knowledge in said field would eventually result in rejection from said social group.

If the dark academia aesthetic sparks your interest in any academic field, good for you. You may have found a pass time for years to come. 

There are so much to explore in academic studies, you may found something unexpected that you love. Higher education was meant to have more specific and in-depth knowledge within the field, and you may dive deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole over time.

Studying things like Latin that are stereo-typically associated with the aesthetics for the sake of it is pointless. There are only so many books that you can read. So much for wasting time on something that you don't even like.

Sometimes people over romanticize academia. Deadlines, writing papers that you hate, plagiarism, stuck with a professor who does not know how to teach (despite being incredibly informed on the subject they teach), the text that you are forced to study were outdated long ago... shit happens, this is how the world works.

Anyway. I am quite fond of the idea of dark academia. Necromancy, astrology, demonology, all the good stuff. Just that I prefer the education system to suck less.

Watching a documentary whilst eating a bowl of biscuits would be more fun compared with lectures that are basically live performance audio-book version of your textbook. Learning is only enjoyable when it was initiated by interest. Nobody likes to be told to write assignments.

4 FEB 2021

The more I think about the world the more I want to live away from it. Yet I rely on a number of modern day conveniences. It would not sound so great if there is no electricity and WiFi.

As much a I would love to, I can never live a sustainable life in a cabin in the woods. Think about how much effort it would take to build a toilet, how many bugs would there be, and god forsaken that I would need to grow my own food from the ground. I am that kind of person who had a dead cactus under my care.

Most important of all, dealing with people is not what I like. 

To the people I care about, they are closer to me than anybody else. I am an introvert, that makes me prefer a small group of close friends over a large group of acquiescence.

 

We seemed to have no free will in the modern day society. Not that we were less bound by stereotypes and religion in the old days, but we are controlled by cooperate more than ever.

People in general, are simple. They are being lead by what they are told. 

When a product, for example, a Marvel movie, is heavily advertised, we are being told it is good and grow to like it. At  least it would look familiar and thus increase the likelihood of us purchasing products related to it. Despite it was actually a 2 hour long advertisement for their superhero.

The plot and progress are all the same. They broadcast the same message, that we can be special as long as we work towards what we believed top be true.

The formula works, it is something that people are familiar with and is likely to be successful, as long as it contain comedy and a bit of romance here and there.

Pop music are all so very similar and simplistic because what we are familiar with are being played over and over again. The majority of pop music on the charts are written by the same two guys.

When advertisement is forced upon us, we seemed to lose the ability to decide on what to favor and love.

It used to be the love from the general public that bring success to stars, now it was heavily advertised to us until we grow a liking to it.

 Advertisements work, and they are very effective. They plant ideas into our heads and teach us what to love, what to purchase, what to think is right, and it is all controlled by cooperation.

We like it when things are brought to us in a plate. We like to click on whatever was retweeted by our friends and family (or worse, advertised) instead of looking up news on medias' websites.

We like to scroll through homepages when its content is tailored to our searches instead of thinking about what we are interested in and search for it ourselves.

 

There is no way to escape advertisements as long as we live in the modern world. It is everywhere.

Our decisions on what to purchase and support, is heavily manipulated. 

My strategy to combat this, is to not go on social media and mindlessly browse the web.

I have deleted apps on my phone, and avoid scrolling through it to pass time.

Unfortunately, YouTube is a must for me. I have a habit of watching videos on it. With adblock, of course.

Sometimes I got tempted to get audible or something like that. That is the moment that I remind myself we are in the middle of a pandemic and I, as a student, do not have that kind of money.

I have decided to save up and my goal is to have passive income high enough to support me doing nothing.

The 'no buy' has been going on. My only puirchase this month apart from that bottle of de Sade (which I do not regret), was a keyboard.

The keyboard that was the cover of my surface pro had broke. It was the third one in 2 years. The lifespan of said item was too short to justify its price. 

Considering the fact that I am not taking it anywhere in the foreseeable future, I have brought a mechanical keyboard instead. It looked like a typewriter. It fits into the aesthetic of my desk, despite it being rather loud, I am content with the purchase.