Mari Kondo: Eastern-Infused Bullshit Lapped Up By Credulous Westerners
I love this stripping of the cult of Mari Kondo by Amy Olberding at Aeon. An excerpt:
Inspired by an episode of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix, I cleaned my dresser drawers this weekend. It was a generally satisfying way to shirk work duties (the reason I watched Netflix in the first place). Yet, despite my neater bureau, I find the popularity of Kondo's 'tidying' unbearable. We are awash in stuff, and apparently so joyless that the promise of joy through house-cleaning appeals to us. The cultural fascination sparked by Kondo strikes me as deeply disordered.As a scholar of East Asian philosophies, one pattern in the Kondo mania is all too familiar: the susceptibility of Americans to plain good sense if it can but be infused with a quasi-mystical 'oriental' aura. Kondo is, in several ways, a Mr Miyagi for the anxious, late-capitalist, consumerist age. Unlike the Karate Kid, we are bedevilled by our own belongings rather than by bullies - but just as Mr Miyagi could make waxing cars a way to find one's strength and mettle, so too Marie Kondo can magically render folding T-shirts into a path toward personal contentment or even joy. The process by which mundane activities transmute into improved wellbeing is mysterious, but the mystery is much of the allure, part of what makes pedestrian wisdom palatable. Folding clothes as an organisational strategy is boring. But folding clothes as a mystically infused plan of life is alluring. It's not about the clothes. It's about everything, all at once.
And on a related note, let's take on meditation:
I would venture that if people invested 15 or 30 minutes in a day just thinking about issues in their life -- sans that appealing Eastern flavoring -- they'd advance in their thinking, their calm, etc. https://t.co/uBBAPvPQY3
— Amy Alkon (@amyalkon) March 7, 2019
Uhhhhh...... Real changes in brain function from meditation/guided imagery/hypnosis have been demonstrated in the lab. So have physiological impacts on things like hypertension.
You certainly don't need wind chimes, incense or other woowoo trappings. But the effects are real.
Ben david at March 10, 2019 3:15 AM
Uh...the "research" is a pile of crap...as I stated in Unfuckology. See Goyal et al in my bibliography and in the text.
Oh, and conveniently, Jerry Coyne has a recent blog post on what crap the research is.
https://mindthebrain.blog/2016/06/23/mindfulness-researchs-huge-problem-with-uninformative-control-groups/
Amy Alkon at March 10, 2019 6:44 AM
When I'm in the mood for eastern bullshit I turn to wuxia novels. And remember Ji Ning's advice, when you are preparing to rob and murder someone you must always have the moral high ground.
Ben at March 10, 2019 7:11 AM
Having seen a few of them, Japanese houses are generally even more cluttered than American ones. Their tiny kitchens are usually a horror show. They are almost uniformly short on storage of any kind.
While I can do without the mystical bullshit, it is quite possible to feel a lot better by having an organized space where you can find things.
I am getting way to old to spend 15 minutes searching for my car keys every time I want to go somewhere.
Marie Kondo is a strange choice for someone to get their back up about.
Isab at March 10, 2019 8:14 AM
What ever it takes to make drudge work fun is fine by me!
NicoleK at March 10, 2019 8:32 AM
Hi Nic! Here's a clean-time favorite in the Cridmo household!
Crid at March 10, 2019 8:48 AM
Also, I hate most everyone who ever lived, but this morning, most especially I hate cheek-squeezing Atlantic-chubbing blue-check dweeb-weasels who recklessly wound our proud language with words like inevitable.
Says who it's inevitable?
A sensible approach to consumerism and finance will profoundly diminish one's susceptibility to frogwash about voodoo serenity in the face of "disappointing modernity."
Crid at March 10, 2019 8:55 AM
Uh...the "research" is a pile of crap...as I stated in Unfuckology. See Goyal et al in my bibliography and in the text.
Oh, and conveniently, Jerry Coyne has a recent blog post on what crap the research is.
https://mindthebrain.blog/2016/06/23/mindfulness-researchs-huge-problem-with-uninformative-control-groups/
Amy Alkon at March 10, 2019 6:44 AM
As I have stated before, any research that relies on self reporting is a pile of crap. Doesn’t matter whether it is diet or psychology. You can throw them all out. No scientific method being applied here. All subjective bullshit. If you can’t measure it, it isn’t science.
Isab at March 10, 2019 9:06 AM
Of course there are disappointments in "modern life." There are disappointments in life, modern or otherwise. Do you think medieval people liked getting the plague? Do you think people in the '30s liked getting polio?
That I can pick up the phone and talk to someone thousands of miles away is a freakin' miracle. That a small device I can carry in my pocket can put me in touch with the world; can show me art in a museum on another continent is a freakin' miracle. That a shot given to me in my childhood can protect me from a crippling (or fatal) disease for the rest of my life is a freakin' miracle.
Any religious or secular philosophy can help me "manage the inevitable disappointments of modern life." That's what philosophy does. Pretending Buddhist "philosophy" possesses some special insight that Western philosophy lacks is pretentious.
Conan the Grammarian at March 10, 2019 9:08 AM
Any religious or secular philosophy can help me "manage the inevitable disappointments of modern life." That's what philosophy does. Pretending Buddhist "philosophy" possesses some special insight that Western philosophy lacks is pretentious.
Conan the Grammarian at March 10, 2019 9:08 AM
The grass is always greener. An immutable fact of human nature. I favor Marcus Aurelius myself.
Isab at March 10, 2019 9:16 AM
Me too, but even Stoicism has an organized Web page and a Facebook page. If there's money to be made in it, someone will turn it into a thing.
Conan the Grammarian at March 10, 2019 9:43 AM
I favor Marcus Aurelius myself. ~ Isab at March 10, 2019 9:16 AM
Me too, but even Stoicism has an organized Web page and a Facebook page. If there's money to be made in it, someone will turn it into a thing.
Conan the Grammarian at March 10, 2019 9:43 AM
Spark Joy with Capitalism.
Isab at March 10, 2019 10:08 AM
Will have to try the wine thing, I don't have a blender but a handheld mixer should work...
NicoleK at March 10, 2019 12:37 PM
Probably has to do with aeration - the reason you uncork wine and let it "breathe" before serving it. Wold have to guess it works better for reds than whites. Reds have more tannins - which is the reason you aerate them in the first place.
Nonetheless, it sounds disgusting.
Conan the Grammarian at March 10, 2019 1:04 PM
...one pattern in the Kondo mania is all too familiar: the susceptibility of Americans to plain good sense if it can but be infused with a quasi-mystical 'oriental' aura.
If it takes a "quasi-mystical 'oriental' aura" for Americans to get rid of clutter, then I see "Kondo mania" as a positive thing.
And here's another Marie.
JD at March 10, 2019 1:19 PM
Watching a few episodes got my packrat hubby to clear out tons of crap that hadn't been touched in years, willingly and happily, so...whatever. I love her for that.
Momof4 at March 10, 2019 2:15 PM
"...most especially I hate cheek-squeezing Atlantic-chubbing blue-check dweeb-weasels who..."
Ahhh, refreshment. Why be tense when you can let others drain your tension away like this?
As often as I'm sure you're daft, you say things that simply resonate with glee!
Radwaste at March 10, 2019 2:19 PM
I have not read Marie Kondo. I have been cleaning up my place and clearing out stuff in case I need to move soon (My landlords have notified me they are divorcing and will most likely sell the rental). I have found the de-cluttering to be relaxing even though I hate moving and comparable places in the area are hard to find.
In my limited time in Asia I found things to be generally one extreme or the other - perfectly organized with nothing out of place or an absolute mess.
The Former Banker at March 10, 2019 3:14 PM
Marie Kondo isn't sparking any joy for thrift stores, stuck with the unenviable task of selling all that cast off "clutter."
[Sorry, the article's behind a pay wall and The Wall Street Journal has figured out how to beat the archive.is trick.]
Conan the Grammarian at March 10, 2019 5:10 PM
Shame about the WSJ. I dream of a world where if you're not a subscriber, they're not allowed to be mentioned in your feed.
Rupert Freaking Murdoch ought not be allowed to use the internet as his whimsical marketing plaything. If they don't want us to read the things they write, they shouldn't be allowed to pretend they're available in this realm of the free exchange of ideas.
It's bait and switch.
Crid at March 10, 2019 8:32 PM
When was the last time the wsj ever actually broke a story? Nothing comes immediately to mind
Crid at March 10, 2019 8:32 PM
When was the last time the wsj ever actually broke a story? Nothing comes immediately to mind
Crid at March 10, 2019 8:32 PM
I’m a subscriber. They covered the Carlos Ghosn imprisonment well. Not sure if they broke it. Also took down Theranos. That was big.
Isab at March 10, 2019 9:25 PM
Cleverly packaged common sense or not, Kondo is very likeable and her positivity is a welcome change to the usual shame-based anti-clutter TV shows.
I’ve liked her “spark joy” tag line for years and apply it not only to what I get rid of, but all clothing and home decor I buy. Her folding techniques are nice too. And I like that she focuses on making you touch everything you own before deciding what to keep. If the time it takes to touch all your t-shirts is daunting, it makes you realize how many you have.
sofar at March 10, 2019 9:50 PM
> Also took down Theranos.
> That was big.
Good point... Big and glorious… So tasty and filling that we wonder why no one else saw it coming, including the best tech minds in the best tech environment in human history.
> I’ve liked her “spark joy” tag
> line for years
I dunno. The person who said "do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life" was deluded. It's children who think good feelings will always lead the way. Adults know that much of achievement is a slog.
Consider these two tweets, because sarcasm.
Crid at March 11, 2019 12:45 AM
That bugs me, too. If you're gonna put the story in your feed, open it up so non-subscribers can read it. Too many old-school newspapers and magazines do that - they think it's a tease and will get people to subscribe. I'm not paying them $450 a year because I wanted to read Peggy Noonan or Maureen Dowd last week.
Most of the stuff for which you subscribe to newspapers or magazines can be found for free somewhere on the Internet, sometimes in a story about the story they hid behind a pay wall.
Conan the Grammarian at March 11, 2019 6:33 AM
Crid, the spark joy thing should probably not be applied to high-stakes things like Having A Job and Paying Bills. It’s probably fine (and, for many, effective) for deciding which non-job-required clothing, books, and Knick-knacks to keep.
sofar at March 11, 2019 8:46 AM
So long as people are getting rid of stuff they don't need, what does it matter WHY they're doing it?
Some people just need a different type of inspiration whenever the old type stops working. Sort of like sex fantasies.
At the least, it will help Americans - and people in other developed countries - to prevent themselves from becoming hoarders and leaving a dreadful mess for their loved ones to go through when they die. (Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how young you are; anyone can die in a traffic accident. So the time to start cleaning out was yesterday.)
lenona at March 11, 2019 10:48 AM
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