I ditched my TV years ago but I'm concerned that the replacement is even more time consuming.
I congratulate myself on throwing off the primary indoctrination vessel.
I'm now using that time to undo all the damage done by mainstream media but this 'unlearning' still has me sat in front of a screen for very long periods of time. I'm still left thinking life is passing me by and as I've just recently found out, this new 'addiction' is even harder to stop.
It is very easy to let life pass you by. That is why I like writing these types of articles. They make me think.
I would argue TV is among the worst. It is inherently passive, and studies have shown it really does dull the mind. The internet can be similar, but it can also be interactive and there is plenty of good material. That said it can become a problem.
I am also wary of screens and their role in our lives. It cannot really be healthy. It affects eyesight if nothing else. I suspect the only antidote is rationing. Alternatively minimize consumption online and limit it to some productive efforts.
“Just getting to the social media videos that are ravaging our attention spans involves navigating a mental opium den of temptation that will damn you for life. Such is modernity, life-destroying dopamine traps wrapped up in digital perception mazes people cannot escape.”
Maze after maze after maze - one gets lost and the young are feed a steady diet of dopamine via phones and don’t even know another way.
One day, when my son was about 2 he became obsessed with Cars, the Disney film. (We've not done tv since the 90's, just a handful of videos. No I wouldn't do Disney again fwiw.)
For the hundredth time we watched (or I heard) the song 'Life is but a dream' which was a sequence in the film when cars are walking or 'promenading' down the street.
I didn't think much of it until another film had a 'Dream' song featured. Dreams came in to focus and I wondered what the deal was. It was like a rite, a film had to have a dream song in it. What were they saying?
Turns out in esoteric lore we are supposed to take dreams as 'possibilities'. There is a story in the Vedanta about a king on the eve of war who dreams he loses his kingdom and everything in it and wakes up half mad, asking in terror if the dream world was the real world or if waking reality was more true. He was soothed only by it being a possibility of his own potential.
Will must be strong enough to reach its highest potential, which is total reunification with Self, which is what all the religions are saying in their obscure ways, but the priest class is also behind Hollywood and they lull us to sleep with enter (to enter) tain (to hold) ment (the mind).
Dreams are possibilities, or private myths. Shows and films are public dreams or myths. To avoid their capture of our mind we must create our own dreams, meaning we have to control our own minds. Usually it takes a nightmare to wake us up though. Worked for me back in the 90's.
I think the majority like the entertainment, and want it as immersive as possible. Today that is movies and perhaps computer games. Soon it will be augmented reality (a movie happening in your home town?) or virtual reality. They will also be first in line to get chipped, and that process will emphasize entertainment and convenience. The neural shocks for posting memes won't come until later.
Some are not in that group and never will be. But for those who are I think the best we can do is provide better quality material. More Iliad and Beowulf and less Marvel superbullshit universe.
But for those who do see through it they indeed need to distance themselves. For me that began by ditching my TV and going from there.
You are right neither did I. But I knew there were "secrets" that I had to make mine. I am certain there are many truths we have to learn on our own and then share that knowledge by parenting, teaching, mentoring and loving. We are kindred Spiff.
I agree. And part of my goal for this Substack is exploring these things. I find writing articles like this really helps me think about life.
And not everyone has a friend to discuss such things. So maybe someone someday will stumble across this article and it might help them make sense of part of their life. Certainly many deeply worry they have wasted their lives.
I am working on a piece right now that is a more positive take on the subject that will hopefully help people reflect positively on their life they have lived and what they have yet to live.
The comparison to an opium den is really accurate. As you said, awareness is crucial. The more aware we are of ourselves and our actions, the less power the pull of distraction will hold. Great piece.
It is all about awareness. So many distractions today we all need strategies to get through it all. But Herbert saw it all coming, even the backlash against technology.
I ditched my TV years ago but I'm concerned that the replacement is even more time consuming.
I congratulate myself on throwing off the primary indoctrination vessel.
I'm now using that time to undo all the damage done by mainstream media but this 'unlearning' still has me sat in front of a screen for very long periods of time. I'm still left thinking life is passing me by and as I've just recently found out, this new 'addiction' is even harder to stop.
It is very easy to let life pass you by. That is why I like writing these types of articles. They make me think.
I would argue TV is among the worst. It is inherently passive, and studies have shown it really does dull the mind. The internet can be similar, but it can also be interactive and there is plenty of good material. That said it can become a problem.
I am also wary of screens and their role in our lives. It cannot really be healthy. It affects eyesight if nothing else. I suspect the only antidote is rationing. Alternatively minimize consumption online and limit it to some productive efforts.
Yes rationing is the way forward, thanks.
" to undo all the damage done by mainstream media"
Don't undervalue this.
“Just getting to the social media videos that are ravaging our attention spans involves navigating a mental opium den of temptation that will damn you for life. Such is modernity, life-destroying dopamine traps wrapped up in digital perception mazes people cannot escape.”
Maze after maze after maze - one gets lost and the young are feed a steady diet of dopamine via phones and don’t even know another way.
Indeed. But temptation is always with us. We must develop methods to insulate ourselves and escape.
As for the young, that is a worry. I have no answers except embracing real life.
Too many dream of what they will be and refuse the responsibility to do.
One day, when my son was about 2 he became obsessed with Cars, the Disney film. (We've not done tv since the 90's, just a handful of videos. No I wouldn't do Disney again fwiw.)
For the hundredth time we watched (or I heard) the song 'Life is but a dream' which was a sequence in the film when cars are walking or 'promenading' down the street.
I didn't think much of it until another film had a 'Dream' song featured. Dreams came in to focus and I wondered what the deal was. It was like a rite, a film had to have a dream song in it. What were they saying?
Turns out in esoteric lore we are supposed to take dreams as 'possibilities'. There is a story in the Vedanta about a king on the eve of war who dreams he loses his kingdom and everything in it and wakes up half mad, asking in terror if the dream world was the real world or if waking reality was more true. He was soothed only by it being a possibility of his own potential.
Will must be strong enough to reach its highest potential, which is total reunification with Self, which is what all the religions are saying in their obscure ways, but the priest class is also behind Hollywood and they lull us to sleep with enter (to enter) tain (to hold) ment (the mind).
Dreams are possibilities, or private myths. Shows and films are public dreams or myths. To avoid their capture of our mind we must create our own dreams, meaning we have to control our own minds. Usually it takes a nightmare to wake us up though. Worked for me back in the 90's.
I think the majority like the entertainment, and want it as immersive as possible. Today that is movies and perhaps computer games. Soon it will be augmented reality (a movie happening in your home town?) or virtual reality. They will also be first in line to get chipped, and that process will emphasize entertainment and convenience. The neural shocks for posting memes won't come until later.
Some are not in that group and never will be. But for those who are I think the best we can do is provide better quality material. More Iliad and Beowulf and less Marvel superbullshit universe.
But for those who do see through it they indeed need to distance themselves. For me that began by ditching my TV and going from there.
Well Said
this message or teaching should have been imparted from parent to child.
Very few people get this advice from their parents in my experience. I certainly didn't.
You are right neither did I. But I knew there were "secrets" that I had to make mine. I am certain there are many truths we have to learn on our own and then share that knowledge by parenting, teaching, mentoring and loving. We are kindred Spiff.
I agree. And part of my goal for this Substack is exploring these things. I find writing articles like this really helps me think about life.
And not everyone has a friend to discuss such things. So maybe someone someday will stumble across this article and it might help them make sense of part of their life. Certainly many deeply worry they have wasted their lives.
I am working on a piece right now that is a more positive take on the subject that will hopefully help people reflect positively on their life they have lived and what they have yet to live.
The comparison to an opium den is really accurate. As you said, awareness is crucial. The more aware we are of ourselves and our actions, the less power the pull of distraction will hold. Great piece.
It is all about awareness. So many distractions today we all need strategies to get through it all. But Herbert saw it all coming, even the backlash against technology.
https://iweothers.substack.com/p/sars-cov-2-pandemica-coming-soon
Yes .