Moving along with this idea of adaptation to our media, I want to reference something else I said, how most kids watch a lot of flashing lights and images, sensations that seize their brain with loud noises, pretty colors, and rapidly flashing objects. If we all agree that we're adapting to our media, then it should be no surprise that as a culture, we're becoming more reliant on visuals cued with sound. Movies, TV, Video Games, Internet videos - some of these have slightly different effects than other, but the central key of learning and molding through visual cues is consistent. It should be no surprise with this in mind as to why comic books are becoming a popular form of entertainment either. Those bad boys are just keeping up our sensory demands.
With the invention of smart phones and the Internet, I also mentioned how attention spans are decreasing. The advertisers have noticed as well, if any of you flip on Saturday morning cartoons anymore. Kids shows are among the worst among programs with frequent breaking for commercials.
However, this is just all in the grand change of the human brain and human society. We're keeping up with our wonderful toys. We're being programmed to keep up, and our toys, in part, our playing the role of the programmers, incorporating different software that trains us how to perceive and how to absorb information.
I discussed increased anger, frustration, and stress when technology fails us anymore (i.e. cell phone dies or Internet doesn't work), but that's just a weird side effect akin to kicking a drug habit. Those sensations are pleasing to the brain, and if they're suddenly shut off... well.... One might want to check into rehab. If you think about a global catastrophe that shuts down the Internet for a while, can you imagine how people will react? We're possibly talking about a frenzy unlike any we've ever seen. It's like turning the Containment Grid off in Ghostbusters.
Anyone want to play that "It's Magic" song now?
Continuing on, I mentioned that our technology only programs us in part. That's roughly a quarter of what plays into the human psyche. Those drunken dumb-asses in matching shirts don't proudly spout off their oral resumes merely because they have smart phones.
Remember that "You're Special" movement I was complaining about? Like religious indoctrination, this psychological theory wrapped itself around the public education system like a noose. All kids suddenly were unique and special. They were all individual stars that could shine brightly in the night sky - for doing absolutely nothing. No longer was unique-ness and individuality something to be earned and something to strive for, it was handed over. It didn't stop there, either. Eventually, public schools changed their policies to where in some schools, there were no losers in sports games and where the red pen was eliminated from grading protocol because it was too intimidating.
Of course, we see this idea echo in other areas of society too. What do you think political correct-ness is? It's just more sensitivity bullshit wrought by the idea that each and every one of us human beings is an illumination of wonder. Pfft. Tell that that to our servicemen (and women) who have given their lives so some multinational corporation can have at foreign resources.
Oops. Did I say that out loud?
To know how people absorb information is to have the keys for making them buy into whatever ideology you want. Why do you think sex and video go so well? Not only are we fulfilling our brain's need for sensation, we're also filling a biological void for bonin'.
Advertisement has typically been more about selling a lifestyle than an actual product anyway. After all, people want lifestyles and things to dream toward, purposes they can actualize, and if advertisements can sell them the idea that they'll be sex gods by drinking Bud Light, then those folks will drink Bud Light. The dream in the 50's and 60's was a suburban home with a two car garage and a nice lawn. Who gave people that idea?
Ford helped.
Who didn't want a two car garage? One for the man. One for the woman. Freedom. Affluence. American lifestyle. Advertisers know this works, and they've known this probably since man first organized into communities and societies. Don't believe me? Look at RELIGION.
Why do you think there are so many belief systems? Why do you think each one has its own set of eternal rewards? Someone wanted to start a way to organize and order (control) people, and they needed those eternal rewards to sweeten the deal. If that doesn't work, there's always the threat of damnation too. That one scares people into believing you. I mean, what if they were wrong to question you... You sounded so... sure of yourself.
Heading back to technology, however, we're at a very interesting time for humanity. We're reaching a point where technology is increasing so rapidly, and we're so hopelessly juiced into the machines, that we'll form a connection - a singularity. Maybe. Then again, maybe not.
When I look around at many of the people that fill Western Society, I can't say I express hope for the evolution of humanity. All these things you've read are all percolating together into one stew, molding the minds of the youth in the fashion you see them today. They're jittery, easily stressed, emotionally and physically weak husks with a self-centeredness that would make even Charlie Sheen say, "That's pretty fuckin' self-centered of you!" They're the Instant Gratification Class, where life needs to be quick, relatively easy, and in their favor.
But, of course, they're all special, unique individuals who gain their outlooks, fashion trends, self-purposes, and opinions from a strobe light box. Robots.
On some level, we're all robots. If the brain is a computer, then everything in the brain is software. Only by thinking about this, can we truly work toward achieving a potential of serious self-analysis and critical thinking about who/what we are.
My suggestion? Go outside, bask in the summer sun, embrace the ambiance of living things surrounding you, and think about your part on this planet. Like me, like that smelly guy on the bus to work, and like your significant other, we're all just creatures living on some planet in the middle of a vast, ever-expanding universe. We're tiny in the grand scheme of things, and we do have a natural purpose.
One of the issues I feel many people have when it comes to society is fulfilling some sort of destiny or individual mission statement. Advertisements tell them to fill this void by purchasing shit from Ikea. Religions will argue one needs to fill that emptiness by donating in the silver dish they pass around every Sunday.
Doktor nOnsensical, a little nobody trapped in a quaint, White flight, Middle Class, suburban town says you were born with a natural purpose - to live. That's it. You're alive. Enjoy it. What happens when you die, or what happened before you were born is of little consequence. Do what you feel is right, enjoy being alive, and go lean against a tree and read a book every now and then.
Trust me, reading a book is sexy. Why? Because nobody hardly does it anymore. The fewer the people who practice it, the more alluring (and SPECIAL) it is. TV won't tell you that though. They'll tell you that you'll only be awesome if you bunch the same shit the rest of the populace is buying.
Stay away from hipster-ism too. Counterculture for the sake of counterculture is just an inversion of being a consumer whore. It's still bullshit.
Have a nice afternoon.
-Dok
