You have no radio, no TV, no phone, no text, no Facebook, no YouTube, not to mention no Saturday night event. What do you do?
This is/was the situation of humanity for millennia. What did they do?
If you could read, it might be the Bible or biblical texts. It might be a text from an altogether small list of available books. They might be read again and again. Such works were memorized, re-memorized, and recited to your family or group. Folks that could not read received information in this way. For others it was the retelling of stories or legends. Granted, this was not ideal, but it was the only method of communication for countless ages.
Human communication is important! This a fact modern society is just now learning.
When I grew up, there were few TV channels of interest and then only at select times. Later in the evening, there were good radio shows. I fondly remember Earl Nighingale on WGN out of Chicago. He was my early source of wisdom and motivation, such as it was. Earl's smooth, liquid and satisfying voice assured me of the present and the future. Yet he is no longer, nor will there likely be a replacement for the next generation. What else? There were always books. We read them like crazy. Libraries were full of "customers." There was then no talk radio. Ideas were suggested in newspapers but never pummeled. But we live in the modern day, the era of post modernism!
.
These days, witness the hundreds of channels of TV dedicated to every topic with an audience, with the radio relegated mostly to music stations playing and replaying familiar sounds over and over again. As well, we have talk shows, expostulating political and sports refrains over and over again. Even the news channels so engage. With such an abundance of communication and information thought is no longer required. Thought is irrelevant; thought confuses what you think. You are conservative, you are liberal, find your channel. Everything will be spelled clearly. You will know what to think, who to hate, who to adore, and moreover what to do and for whom to vote. What should the inquiring mind do? Listen to them all? Turn them all off?
Discrimination of ideas, or of thoughts? Forget them guys. All knowledge is now pre-digested and pre-reduced to simple sound bites or maybe an image or two. Can you name a single issue for which you can see multiple facets, multiple solutions, or multiple actionable recourses? What ever happened to "There are more ways than one to skin a cat?" Gone for good, I'm afraid.
In fact, many of our contemporary issues are complex, well beyond comprehension and understanding offered by sound bites or images. There are so many of these issues, budget, debt, health care, security, balance of trade, we hide from them preferring to consider and reform them into simplistic models of what they actually are. We have leaders that simplify and then over simplify their foundational complexity. They prefer simple digestible positions, probably as much to convey a message but to reflect their personal approach - and to reflect the depth of their own thought. Most cannot grapple with overwhelming complexity, much less deal with multiple solution sets. In an effort to appear resolute and to offer ready solutions, they rescale the complex to simplistic pablum. They offer up an approach to a single facet, or maybe half a facet, ignoring all others. Or they deflect or detract our attention from a bundle of issues to a single inconsequential point.
You are stuck on the tracks at a railway crossing. A train is hurtling in your direction. What should you do? Clean the window to clarify your situation? This may be a viewpoint but is not exactly the best solution to your problem.
You are puzzled, horny, friendless, hopeless, sad, happy, bewildered, lost, rejected, homeless, infirm, rich, poor, laid off, retired, intoxicated? Relax and stay tuned,there is a channel for you! Extra fees may apply.
This is/was the situation of humanity for millennia. What did they do?
If you could read, it might be the Bible or biblical texts. It might be a text from an altogether small list of available books. They might be read again and again. Such works were memorized, re-memorized, and recited to your family or group. Folks that could not read received information in this way. For others it was the retelling of stories or legends. Granted, this was not ideal, but it was the only method of communication for countless ages.
Human communication is important! This a fact modern society is just now learning.
When I grew up, there were few TV channels of interest and then only at select times. Later in the evening, there were good radio shows. I fondly remember Earl Nighingale on WGN out of Chicago. He was my early source of wisdom and motivation, such as it was. Earl's smooth, liquid and satisfying voice assured me of the present and the future. Yet he is no longer, nor will there likely be a replacement for the next generation. What else? There were always books. We read them like crazy. Libraries were full of "customers." There was then no talk radio. Ideas were suggested in newspapers but never pummeled. But we live in the modern day, the era of post modernism!
.
These days, witness the hundreds of channels of TV dedicated to every topic with an audience, with the radio relegated mostly to music stations playing and replaying familiar sounds over and over again. As well, we have talk shows, expostulating political and sports refrains over and over again. Even the news channels so engage. With such an abundance of communication and information thought is no longer required. Thought is irrelevant; thought confuses what you think. You are conservative, you are liberal, find your channel. Everything will be spelled clearly. You will know what to think, who to hate, who to adore, and moreover what to do and for whom to vote. What should the inquiring mind do? Listen to them all? Turn them all off?
Discrimination of ideas, or of thoughts? Forget them guys. All knowledge is now pre-digested and pre-reduced to simple sound bites or maybe an image or two. Can you name a single issue for which you can see multiple facets, multiple solutions, or multiple actionable recourses? What ever happened to "There are more ways than one to skin a cat?" Gone for good, I'm afraid.
In fact, many of our contemporary issues are complex, well beyond comprehension and understanding offered by sound bites or images. There are so many of these issues, budget, debt, health care, security, balance of trade, we hide from them preferring to consider and reform them into simplistic models of what they actually are. We have leaders that simplify and then over simplify their foundational complexity. They prefer simple digestible positions, probably as much to convey a message but to reflect their personal approach - and to reflect the depth of their own thought. Most cannot grapple with overwhelming complexity, much less deal with multiple solution sets. In an effort to appear resolute and to offer ready solutions, they rescale the complex to simplistic pablum. They offer up an approach to a single facet, or maybe half a facet, ignoring all others. Or they deflect or detract our attention from a bundle of issues to a single inconsequential point.
You are stuck on the tracks at a railway crossing. A train is hurtling in your direction. What should you do? Clean the window to clarify your situation? This may be a viewpoint but is not exactly the best solution to your problem.
You are puzzled, horny, friendless, hopeless, sad, happy, bewildered, lost, rejected, homeless, infirm, rich, poor, laid off, retired, intoxicated? Relax and stay tuned,there is a channel for you! Extra fees may apply.
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