I should probably read kirant and Blazer's conversation later (been having a streak of lethargy this week because IT WON'T STOP RAINING...also lost a whole bunch of game saves like zac recently but that's something I may be able to recover given enough help)
I like trying new things and have for the past few years because I realized just doing and playing the same things was boring--I had a VERY limited perspective on the world and even my hobbies and such and in retrospect I feel like I knew nothing. I was missing out on so many good things, and because of that I think that between trying something I already know was good but won't be half as enjoyable the 2nd time and between trying something new where even if it's not good, at least I broadened my horizons a bit, I'm usually better off with the second path. That's not always the case--in fact, if you compared the joy I get from just playing Smash to the joy I get from playing some other games, the joy I get from playing Smash is more, but I'd still rather play the variety of games. Having done both, I feel like in the long-term, I prefer and enjoy more the variety of experiences, not just doing the same thing, not just having a limited perspective on "gaming" or whatever. And a lot of the times I DO find things that are just as fun if not more fun than if I were to repeat doing the same fun things I've already done, so that's all the more reason it's worth it to me.
Not sure if that made sense, I'm rushing and had a hard time trying to make sense, lol. But in short, I'm not the kind of person who is just content with what he's given or what's in front of him. There's the saying "ignorance is bliss" and it's often true but for me, enlightenment is often way better than that "bliss" (which in retrospect, feels like a very shallow and dull sense of happiness). So whether it's games or anime or sports or whatever, I like to try new things, to find that new awesome thing that I didn't know existed, to have more unique experiences, etc.--and the value of those new things outweighs the value of repeating the same old (especially due to the deteriorating enjoyment of things the more I experience them), so I prioritize them more.
Of course, there are also things I commit to—I can't try out and be good at every sport, or watch every movie, or play every game, so I pick things to be more passionate about while slowly familiarizing myself/trying out some other things, but I'm not the kind of person now who would commit to an MMORPG or highly-competitive sport or anything that would absorb hundreds of hours, because in the time spent in that one thing I could be spending time doing a myriad of other things, and again, having tried both, I prefer the latter. Now that I know how great it feels, I can't go back—but that's just me, because I naturally enjoy a lot of things (most people I know don't have half as many hobbies as me or enjoy half as many different genres of video games or anime as me, simply because they don't and that's fine/is just their personal taste—of course, some just never tried different things besides the one or two things they already know they like, and that's their loss IMO as they could be missing out on even more or greater joys, haha).
Ignorance is bliss-- but only in environments where it's safe and fulfilling enough to stay that way. After all, knowledge is power, and power is used to influence other people.
Well, in my case it's extremely rare for a new experience to have enough positive impact on me for me to feel enlightened, though. (given that you're someone that dislikes the lack of intelligence media tends to include I'm assuming you generally know what I'm talking about here, though media being intelligent usually isn't what enlightens me.) In real life, many new (mostly social) experiences frankly raised more questions and more aversion than anything, which seems to be common considering that children socialize with each other much more easily than adults do. (it being easier is one thing about it, but the other is just that a lot of adults don't even try to find out.)
To some extent I suppose I know which kind of person you are talking about, though it may not be suitable to compare you with those sorts. There are more people than I can remember in college that seem to, frankly, have no idea what they want to do. Not even in the sense of "what job are you aiming for" or "what classes are you interested in taking" but rather, hardly seeming to know what they think is fun. These people seem to like trying out all sorts of different things in college just to discover what they even want to do, like this is the first time they were ever free to do or check out anything. (Probably the biggest horror story: hearing someone say that their favorite food is potato. What did they say when I requested for their elucidation? "I dunno just...potatoes.")
As a result of leading a fairly risk-intensive life before I reached the age of being considered an adult though (which was more out of ignorance of the risks than on purpose, though part of it was for capitalizing on the opportunity I knew I had as someone assumed to be too dumb to know about the consequences of my actions to be held responsible) I've mostly become someone who is obsessed with staying safe and within control of what I'm doing, so the thought of "broadening your horizons" isn't at all appealing to me. Not when I already know what I want most of the time anyway (bigger problem is finding where that is than anything, especially since I can no longer have it IRL), that huge text last page is me being completely serious. (I mean come on, what else could possibly be of greater significance. World peace? AT WHAT COST?) Perhaps I would one day be concerned over greater variety when the time comes that I somehow have my needs fulfilled.
