Our source is Hartmann and Blass's Thinking Ahead question 6 on page 5 of Quest 3 (2007).
- (6.) In modern culture, especially among young people, there are frequent fads that come and go. These are things that are very popular for a short time. Certain hairstyles, video games, diets, music and sports can be fads. Can you think of any popular fads today?
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When I was at university many years ago (decades ago), Rubik's cube was a fad. Rubik's cube is a cube with 9 coloured squares on each side, and by twisting the sides, you have to get each side to be all of one colour.
ReplyDeleteI was studying mathematics at the time, but people in every faculty were walking around campus twisting cubes intently. It wasn't just university students. It was so popular that it was reported on the TV news, with clips of poeple solving it in amazingly short times. I learnt how to do it, but was never fast enough to get in the news!
I think this fad lasted for about three months, and then it went away. I noticed that it came back a bit more weakly last year - but it wasn't the same full on fad that it first was in the early 1980s in Australia. Actually, it was a worldwide fad then.
I agree with you that it become popular again not long time ago. There is a lot of video clip on the internet showing the boys plays them correctly in very short time while their eyes are closed. The rubiks are also developed into many form so far, for example, in the weird shape not only the cube (Sorry, I can't remember what it's look like) or some is in cube shape but have nine square on each side.
DeleteI always adore the people who can play that very fluently. It require a very good memory and swiftness at the same time.
I failed on swiftness. I thought it was fun to work out the mathematics to move the position of a colour, but hours of practice just to get fast didn't appeal to me so much.
DeleteHappily, a lot of people were impressed that I could do it at all, even if slowly compared to the dedicated champions. I guess like most things, reading and writing included, regular practice is useful in the pursuit of excellence.
Around 5 months ago, a few celebs in Thailand are very excited in feeding God children dolls.
ReplyDeleteThe fad just came in and spreaded over to the whole country very fast. However, it also died out very soon. It lasted only about 3 months time.
I'd forgotten this until I read Kitt's comment. At the time, I did think it a bit odd. Actually, a stronger adjective comes to mind, but ... I don't think they harmed anyone, and as some people wrote in their comments on Hartmann and Blass's question about religion, their beliefs and sense of community probably did contribute something useful to the lives of the women (from the news reports I saw, it seemed mainly comfortably off, middle aged women) who cared for these dolls.
DeleteAs the story continued on for days and then weeks, I felt sorry for the women who were being so publicly mocked for their beliefs - are their ideas really any sillier than believing in gods? In rebirth? In bribing cosmic karma with expensive gifts to temples and so on? Now that Kitt's post prompts me to think about it more, I think that the Thai media, and the consumers of Thai media, treated these sincere believers who seem to have harmed no one very shabbily. The Thai Buddhist monks involved might have been scamming charlatans ripping off the women, but are they any worse than any other priest, monk, pope, or other religious leader making amazing promises in return for very material benefits now in this life? (OK, I'm revealing what I think about religion - in the essay, that won't be OK, but this is response writing, and Kitt's comment clearly got a strong response from me.)
Thank you for sharing your thought on this matter.
DeleteWhen this fad arises, most Thais can predict that it won't be last long as the believe is obviously against the teaching of Buddhism.
Recently, feeding a baby doll as a spirit was a popular fads in certain groups of people but it was very famous in wider society. This trend came and went in a very short period, like a few months.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, there are several fads, but look more sustainable than playing that doll, for example fitness and having clean foods. They have been very popular among middle-class young people.
I wonder: Are a concern for fitness and a desire for clean food fads?
DeleteAs so often, it can be useful to clarify our definitions - and if you skip ahead to Hartmann and Blass's academic writing in "Cultural Anthropology" you will see that it's ... .
I would reply to Ning's ideas about the dolls, but I've just done that in my lengthy reply to Kitt's comment above. And my unusually late afternoon coffee is finished. But I guess I could always grind up more beans.
What comes to my mind first is Furby, a colorful animal-like doll. At that time (several years ago), it was so popular that most girls or even women had them. A year later or less, it was no longer a fad, just a temporary trend for a new toy which might be not useful except for personal pleasure.
ReplyDeleteLike Furby, Angel dolls in Thailand would be another example for fads. But this was about superstitious belief indeed. It was once popular news and then disappeared.
That's a real fad of the past decade. I still remember that there was a translator for understanding their language when they were talking to each other. That's so crazy!
DeleteI quite like the Feem's idea. How people get mad at all fad is about the personal pleasure not the use. People like the fashion to show their identity in the society not its use. And that reflect the prosperity and cultural capital of the possessor.
Furby reminds me of Tamagochi - that was all the rage for a time in Thailand many years ago. It was shortly after my first visit, so I guess the late 1980s or early 1990s. Does this mean I've been visiting or living in Thailand for longer than some of my students?
DeleteI had many pieces of Tamagochi as well. At that time, I felt really excited to play them as my electronic pet. That was one of the best toys which children in my generation or so must have.
DeleteWow, I'm surprised that you have been visiting or even living in Thailand for many decades. Perhaps, it is longer than my age.
In the past we have many fads such as game play station that everyone want to play. However, nowadays I think many game application on Facebook are fad because it can be very popular in just one night and next day it will be out dated.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a university student, there was a famous dessert shop from Malaysia opened in Siam Square. At the opening there was a very long queue along the pavement around 300 meters. Its name was "Rotee Boy" and it sold a coffee bun. Its popularity lasted for around three months and it was closed in a few year. The Bangkok people are easily to get boring and keep their eye on the new shop.
ReplyDeleteI remember the moment you mention, but I never followed this trend nor I wanted to. I can't see any necessity to waste time on a long queue. It's similar to the fad of having "Crispy Creme" few years ago. Even though "Crispy Creme" is still available nowadays, it is now seen as normal donuts rather than privileged ones.
DeleteI remember Roti Boy. I used to walk home from AUA's original home on Rajadamri, and from the walk way under the BTS tracks at Saladaeng, I could look out on the queue to buy Roti Boy from the shop near Silom Complex - I stretched all the way down past the Dusit Thani Hotel.
DeleteLike Ning, I can't imagine doing that, but obviously a lot of people thought differently. When one of the secretaries at AUA gave me one a few weeks later, it was very disappointing - I wouldn't queue for more than about 0.25 seconds to buy it.
On the other hand, last Sunday, my friends and I happily (maybe entirely happily, but we did it) queued for almost 15 minutes to get seats at our favourite oyster bar. This week we're going on Saturday, when there hopefully won't be so many people out enjoying their day off.
I mean "it stretched," not "I stretched."
DeleteNext I'll be typing "place" when I mean "plane."
I have heard of Rotee Boy but I have never try one. When I first knew it, it had disappeared from Thailand. However, many said that it was tasty but I did not have a chance to try it. I was really sad.
DeleteWhen I was in high school 3-4 years ago. There was a doll called Ferby. It is a talking doll that talk in its own language. It looks like a bird as I remembered. The dolls have variety of color and appearance. I remembered that it was a fad and it was very popular that everyone even old people wanted to own it. And people carried this doll around when they went from place to place. Probably due to its popularity it was so expensive at that time and it was hard to buy. I think it was so ridiculous that the talking doll became this popular because it is just a doll! We can do nothing with it.
ReplyDelete"I think it was so ridiculous" sounds like my initial reaction to a few things, but unless the parents buying them were poor, it probably didn't do much harm. One of my colleagues at AUA (no names) is obsessed with Star Wars and similar things, and his keenness used to seem a bit extreme to me, but then I thought that he probably thinks some of my passions are equally odd: my school mates used to think me weird because I loved to go home and relax with some serious mathematics. I've grown out of that today, but I still get passionate about things like designing databases and then there is my long term obsession with philosophy and ancient Greece - not everyone's idea of a fun way to spend the evening.
DeleteI seem to have strayed a bit from Furby, but that's a sign that Ant's comment was successful in getting a response from readers.