Everyone has a pet theory... Pikachu, I CHOOSE YOU!
Just as a forewarning/FYI, this relates to another post, which I may make and link to later.
So, I was doing some thinking the other day, mainly about the whole “desensitization” idea that we have about the media. There have been dozens of studies that try to link the overload of violence and sex in magazines/TV/etc. to a general “numbness” or “lack of feeling” we have towards these subjects ... and, supposedly, these rules apply to children and adults alike (although children are supposed to be more 'susceptible' to it).
Unfortunately, there's an inherent flaw with this idea: If increased exposure just lead to increased “numbness”, then people would never have nervous breakdowns, psychotic episodes, or get cranky in the post office. Nobody would never get over-stressed or over-loaded with worry, they would just slowly become completely insensitive and passive. That's hardly what I see in today's culture; in fact, people seem more high-strung, nervous, tense, and exhausted.
However, I submit this alternate explanation:
Rather than becoming “numb” to it, I think people actively, purposefully create a perception “patch” to deal with strong stimuli like these. Making this “patch” takes time and energy, but once it's “applied” to daily life, takes a (relatively) small amount of mental “juice” to maintain.
A perfect parallel can be seen in the software industry: ol' Windows 2000 works just fine until some 18 year old kid came up with the Blaster Worm, and all of a sudden you had to download a 500 Megabyte patch to plug up this huge security orafice. After you got all patched up, system resources get taxed a little bit more, but hey, the OS lives again.
But, when we jump back to people, what exactly are we “patching”? I submit this further theory: that people want a pre-packaged version of reality, with a user manual and satisfaction guaranteed. People are attracted to the idea that if you do A, B, and C, you get A House, A Mate, Children, Financial Security, A Nice Car, and All That Good Stuff That You Really Want. Values of “what is important” and “what's not” in Life are Very Clearly Explained, and you're given a basic set of Social Interaction Protocols that you can use to interact with people in various venues. Even big scary things like Death are explained, and you even get a sneak-preview of what The Afterlife is like! Look! It works for all these other people! If you do it right, it'll work for you too!
So, religion and government and commerce and culture all heave together to form this package, and you can download and install your favorite Desktop Theme Package: Christian, Liberal, Jewish, Buddhist, Conservative, and 9 others! Mix and match at your own risk.
However, when shit happens that's “not in the manual” (Illegal operation!), like the Twin Towers being blown up, then things get nuts. People wonder “If this is a free country where All Men Are Created Equal, and our market system NEVER does anything that bad internally or overseas, and our military NEVER does anything that horrible in other countries, and Americans are all just Wonderful Outgoing Smart Driven People Here To Try And Make The Future Brighter For Everyone, then why the hell did this happen to us?!?!?!!”. And suddenly, options start opening up: Maybe we WEREN'T so good overseas. Maybe our military and foreign policy pissed some people off. Maybe our leaders lied to us. Maybe we shouldn't have tried to use terrorists against Russia the way we did. Maybe we ARE just innocent victims. Maybe we made some bad decisions, but didn't deserve something like this! etc. etc.
And suddenly, the Maybes open up a whole new world of opportunity, a whole new way of looking and thinking and doing - maybe they open up a few thousand new ways, or a few million... until not too much is certain any more. Will I really get that car? What about my house and kids? Memory full. Pagefile full. Error! CRASH!
So, then we get a “patch”, to explain what that whole thing was about, why it happened, who's to blame, and how Our Way Of Life Will Go On, and How Our Basic Reality Is Just Fine And Just Needs A Little Fine Tuning, Please Hold Still, This Won't Hurt. You can choose from a list of 14 patches, including: CIA Conspiracy! British Intelligence Failure! Presidential Incompetence! UN Cover-up! Divine Sign! Mix and match patches at your own risk.
Just like Windows, however, I feel that applying patch after patch after patch might indicate a fundamental flaw in the original Kernel. After a while, your resources are so sucked full of patches and fixes and crap, you can't even get up in the morning without making yourself remember why you're doing it, making yourself remember why everything will be okay, and why the world isn't the scary, crazy place your senses keep screaming it is, just drink your cup of coffee quickly and get to work.
Okay, that's a lot of bitching. So, wiseguy, if this Modern Western Culture 5.6 isn't REALLY all that great, why don't people use something ELSE?
Perhaps it's the same reason Windows has a near monopoly on PC-based hardware: Everyone Else Uses It. How else am I supposed to work, play games, and share MP3's with my friends? Legally share MP3's! Of course, legally...
SURE, you could use some LINUX version, you FREAK, but then I can't MSN message you to show you the coolest new MPEGS I just downloaded, 'cuz your OS DOESN'T DO THAT. :P
What else gets “patched out” besides reasons behind terrorist attacks? Sexism? Racism? Materialism? Abuse? Conspiracies? Ghosts? Angels? Demons? UFO's? WHAT?!?!?!!
Of course, this is a fine line to tread - and one of the attractive sales points of WC5.6, which includes the following Safety Guidelines: There are no UFO's. Ghosts are only seen by Very Weird People, who you should avoid. Angels and Demons can be talked about in sermon-form in church, but you're a Wacko if you talk about it elsewhere. Materialism is great, since it's a Solid, Countable, Irrefutable Method of Trying To Establish Some Sort of Concrete Equality For Everyone. In fact, Materialism is The ONLY Way To Try And Establish Equality. This Is Why Consumerism Is So Darn Good - It Makes People Out-Shop Each Other Rather Than Kill Each Other For Good Stuff.
Of course, these “safeguards” are meant to help everyone Get Along, which is OF VITAL IMPORTANCE!!! With no Commonly Agreed Boundaries, Charles Manson was just “doin' his own thing”. This is not a minor point!!!
So, after all this blabber, what the hell am I getting at?
I'd like to hear your opinion on this matter. What important things do you think we casually “filter out” in our daily lives? Whick “filters” do you think need tweaking, and which should be left alone?
So, I was doing some thinking the other day, mainly about the whole “desensitization” idea that we have about the media. There have been dozens of studies that try to link the overload of violence and sex in magazines/TV/etc. to a general “numbness” or “lack of feeling” we have towards these subjects ... and, supposedly, these rules apply to children and adults alike (although children are supposed to be more 'susceptible' to it).
Unfortunately, there's an inherent flaw with this idea: If increased exposure just lead to increased “numbness”, then people would never have nervous breakdowns, psychotic episodes, or get cranky in the post office. Nobody would never get over-stressed or over-loaded with worry, they would just slowly become completely insensitive and passive. That's hardly what I see in today's culture; in fact, people seem more high-strung, nervous, tense, and exhausted.
However, I submit this alternate explanation:
Rather than becoming “numb” to it, I think people actively, purposefully create a perception “patch” to deal with strong stimuli like these. Making this “patch” takes time and energy, but once it's “applied” to daily life, takes a (relatively) small amount of mental “juice” to maintain.
A perfect parallel can be seen in the software industry: ol' Windows 2000 works just fine until some 18 year old kid came up with the Blaster Worm, and all of a sudden you had to download a 500 Megabyte patch to plug up this huge security orafice. After you got all patched up, system resources get taxed a little bit more, but hey, the OS lives again.
But, when we jump back to people, what exactly are we “patching”? I submit this further theory: that people want a pre-packaged version of reality, with a user manual and satisfaction guaranteed. People are attracted to the idea that if you do A, B, and C, you get A House, A Mate, Children, Financial Security, A Nice Car, and All That Good Stuff That You Really Want. Values of “what is important” and “what's not” in Life are Very Clearly Explained, and you're given a basic set of Social Interaction Protocols that you can use to interact with people in various venues. Even big scary things like Death are explained, and you even get a sneak-preview of what The Afterlife is like! Look! It works for all these other people! If you do it right, it'll work for you too!
So, religion and government and commerce and culture all heave together to form this package, and you can download and install your favorite Desktop Theme Package: Christian, Liberal, Jewish, Buddhist, Conservative, and 9 others! Mix and match at your own risk.
However, when shit happens that's “not in the manual” (Illegal operation!), like the Twin Towers being blown up, then things get nuts. People wonder “If this is a free country where All Men Are Created Equal, and our market system NEVER does anything that bad internally or overseas, and our military NEVER does anything that horrible in other countries, and Americans are all just Wonderful Outgoing Smart Driven People Here To Try And Make The Future Brighter For Everyone, then why the hell did this happen to us?!?!?!!”. And suddenly, options start opening up: Maybe we WEREN'T so good overseas. Maybe our military and foreign policy pissed some people off. Maybe our leaders lied to us. Maybe we shouldn't have tried to use terrorists against Russia the way we did. Maybe we ARE just innocent victims. Maybe we made some bad decisions, but didn't deserve something like this! etc. etc.
And suddenly, the Maybes open up a whole new world of opportunity, a whole new way of looking and thinking and doing - maybe they open up a few thousand new ways, or a few million... until not too much is certain any more. Will I really get that car? What about my house and kids? Memory full. Pagefile full. Error! CRASH!
So, then we get a “patch”, to explain what that whole thing was about, why it happened, who's to blame, and how Our Way Of Life Will Go On, and How Our Basic Reality Is Just Fine And Just Needs A Little Fine Tuning, Please Hold Still, This Won't Hurt. You can choose from a list of 14 patches, including: CIA Conspiracy! British Intelligence Failure! Presidential Incompetence! UN Cover-up! Divine Sign! Mix and match patches at your own risk.
Just like Windows, however, I feel that applying patch after patch after patch might indicate a fundamental flaw in the original Kernel. After a while, your resources are so sucked full of patches and fixes and crap, you can't even get up in the morning without making yourself remember why you're doing it, making yourself remember why everything will be okay, and why the world isn't the scary, crazy place your senses keep screaming it is, just drink your cup of coffee quickly and get to work.
Okay, that's a lot of bitching. So, wiseguy, if this Modern Western Culture 5.6 isn't REALLY all that great, why don't people use something ELSE?
Perhaps it's the same reason Windows has a near monopoly on PC-based hardware: Everyone Else Uses It. How else am I supposed to work, play games, and share MP3's with my friends? Legally share MP3's! Of course, legally...
SURE, you could use some LINUX version, you FREAK, but then I can't MSN message you to show you the coolest new MPEGS I just downloaded, 'cuz your OS DOESN'T DO THAT. :P
What else gets “patched out” besides reasons behind terrorist attacks? Sexism? Racism? Materialism? Abuse? Conspiracies? Ghosts? Angels? Demons? UFO's? WHAT?!?!?!!
Of course, this is a fine line to tread - and one of the attractive sales points of WC5.6, which includes the following Safety Guidelines: There are no UFO's. Ghosts are only seen by Very Weird People, who you should avoid. Angels and Demons can be talked about in sermon-form in church, but you're a Wacko if you talk about it elsewhere. Materialism is great, since it's a Solid, Countable, Irrefutable Method of Trying To Establish Some Sort of Concrete Equality For Everyone. In fact, Materialism is The ONLY Way To Try And Establish Equality. This Is Why Consumerism Is So Darn Good - It Makes People Out-Shop Each Other Rather Than Kill Each Other For Good Stuff.
Of course, these “safeguards” are meant to help everyone Get Along, which is OF VITAL IMPORTANCE!!! With no Commonly Agreed Boundaries, Charles Manson was just “doin' his own thing”. This is not a minor point!!!
So, after all this blabber, what the hell am I getting at?
I'd like to hear your opinion on this matter. What important things do you think we casually “filter out” in our daily lives? Whick “filters” do you think need tweaking, and which should be left alone?