Today I had a disturbing realization about myself: I am easily amused. I came to this conclusion while watching a video clip on the Internet about windmills. I enjoyed it a lot. This is what I learned:
1. Windmills are big.
2. Wind is free.
3. Dutch people had windmills a long time ago.
It would be fair to say that I already knew those things. But somehow I was still fascinated by the video because, well, I like windmills. I don’t know why I like windmills. I just do. Probably because they are large, and wind is free. And Dutch people had them a long time ago.
In general, I find enjoyment in watching or reading anything involving a topic I like. The specific thing that I read or watch need not provide any added value. It just needs to make me think about the topic I like, and that’s enough for me.
I like tennis balls. Again, I’m not sure why. I just do. If there were a documentary on tennis balls, I guarantee I would watch it. And I guarantee that all I would “learn” is…
1. Tennis balls are round and fuzzy.
2. There are different kinds.
3. Dogs like to fetch them.
I can also watch news reports on an interesting topic for hours without the need to learn anything new. If an asteroid kills a celebrity, for example, I can listen to that story a thousand different ways and never get bored. And I’ll be satisfied with anything that sounds vaguely like new information on the topic no matter how speculative.
Larry King: “Do we know where the asteroid came from?”
Expert: “Definitely from space. It wasn’t one of those museum ones.”
Larry King: “Could this happen to anyone, or just celebrities?”
Expert: “I talk about that in my new book, HIS CRITIC WAS AN ASTEROID.”
This gives me a good idea for a product. It would be a screen saver that does nothing but show images of things you like. You pick the images in advance from the list of topics and it just scrolls along all day making you happy by association.
This slide show wouldn’t just feature the obvious stuff, such as pets and vacations and sports. People have strange little preferences. It would need to capture them all. For example, I love flashlights, tubing of any sort, moss, and ball bearings. No reason. I just like those things. So those would be on my slide show, along with interesting “facts” such as “ball bearings are round.”
What would be on your slide show?