I’ve heard some people say that assorted forms of entertainment are, as a whole, horrible. They are wrong; they aren’t looking hard enough. The majority of humans just make assumptions based off of whatever’s popular, paying no attention to the entertainment with actual substance. They focus all of their attention on the trash material that usually happens to be the scourge of their respective mediums. Nothing can be done to prevent this, but paying no attention to them can help.

I personally prevent any experience with televised abominations such as “Family Guy” and “Two and a Half Men” by staying away from television altogether. I ignore the generic, uninteresting and idiotic gameplay of the “Call of Duty” franchise by pretending that such a thing does not exist. Music is the hardest to ignore, simply because you’ll always have some idiot blasting their manufactured auto-tuned pop garbage in any sort of populated place.

However, these assumptions may just be considered oversight, even though I have spent time trying to understand why these are so popular. Eventually my research would lead me to a very simple conclusion – these are so popular because they require absolutely no use of the brain.

Unlike the majority, I look for my entertainment rather than being told what to view. The search for entertainment is a form of entertainment within itself. You eliminate things that you find undesirable, and then you eliminate the items that are similar to what you want to stay away from. The same can be applied to thing that can be found desirable, but the undesirable items are more important, because without them, you would have no taste to develop. Eventually, you develop a “tree” containing your personal tastes, branching all the way back to the one item that you were either referred to, or a fortunate victim of stumbling upon it.

Sure, developing a taste is one thing, but there is a minor social aspect that is nearly impossible to replicate in text or any sort of verbal explanation. This aspect, while it is simple, can only be understood in practice. The social communication of your taste, as well as the respect of another’s taste, is the key to getting the greatness of your tastes spread about to others. This is where respect comes in. Be open minded about what you witness, giving it a chance to survive in your eyes. You don’t have to enjoy what you are doing, but instead of immediate dismissal, you can make an educated choice about what you do or don’t like. Respect what your friends like. If you have an opposition to something that your peer enjoys, be vocal about it. Tell them why you dislike it, but give legitimate reasons.

Your taste is yours, oddly enough. Cherish it. It’s pretty much half of your life.