For decades, the rise of TV and our viewing habits have been the subject of many studies. Some were of course conducted by advertisers and broadcasters, but there has been a great deal of interest from psychologists who have been concerned at the impact of TV on our lives. Technological advances gave us more and more leisure time, but as TV gained popularity, we spent more time in front of it. Of course in moderation, TV retains the potential to enlighten us and enrich our lives, but we often watch bland programming for hours at a time, which erodes the time we have to spend on fulfilling hobbies and interests or with friends and family. We are so accepting of TV that in many cases our capacity for critical thought is diminished. TV as a distracting ‘easy option’ is probably also a factor.
We’ve lived through the supposed threat of 5th columnists in the form of communists and now, we are told, muslims / liberals / socialists (take your pick). What if the real 5th columnist is hiding in plain sight – in your living room?
Watch a few minutes of a movie classic to illustrate my point.
This summer, I spent two weeks without TV. Most of that time was spent without a phone of any kind or an internet connection. This probably sounds like a nightmare to some of you. To be honest, it did take a few days to get used to it, but I felt like I was really living. I took walks, met new people, and spent a lot more time outside. It is hard to deny that TV and our more modern gadgets isolate and distract us. They give us more excuses not to exercise. We risk becoming more divided, more easily manipulated and less physically involved with the world around us. By now, a whole generation has grown up with the internet.
Like TV, there are advantages. These new and evolving tools can make information more accessible, make communication easier or more affordable, and create new jobs and opportunities. However, we have to resist the glow of the screen and the allure of another 100 ‘friends’ you’ll never meet if we are to hold on to our humanity. Without strong communities, respect for our fellow Man and our health, we remain at the mercy of those who want our vote or our money.
Maybe next time you feel like checking your email, take a walk around the block instead (and leave the cell phone at home).
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
A Matter of Faith
Religion has dominated the headlines recently, and I’m going to try to avoid the story, which I’m sure we are all tired of hearing about (I thought we left book burning in the 1930’s). I’m going to try to discuss religion as objectively as possible.
The belief in a god requires faith. To be a person of faith, by definition, requires a suspension of critical thinking. People don’t question the details of their chosen god. Faith requires acceptance of the basic premise. Religious faith brings several perceived benefits. As far as I can tell, the greatest benefit is a source of comfort. The higher power is deemed to love believers and offer some level of protection, and of course belief in an afterlife is a great source of comfort when dealing with loss or facing one’s mortality. On the flipside, the existence of a demonic force is used to explain the ‘evil’ actions of people. In essence, religion provides explanations for the unanswered questions of life, and alternatives to the harsh realities.
I am more familiar with Christianity than other religions, and so I have a basic understanding of the Bible. I can’t help but notice that many people have differing interpretations of the messages conveyed in the Bible. I’m sure that some of the more dedicated scholars could quote a passage to lend weight to almost any opinion. Some branches of Christianity seem to be divided into Old Testament and New Testament schools of thought. The former is often described as “fire and brimstone”, and is regarded as the harsher of the two. However, even with my minimal schooling on the subject, I do recall that one clearly demands that one should not kill, steal or worship false idols, while the other describes how the main character “turns the other cheek” in the face of hostility and has a particular dislike for money lenders. It seems to me that followers can be quite selective in their reading and indeed their definition of what it means to be a Christian.
To paraphrase a favorite character of mine, we want to believe. We want to have a convenient explanation for life’s hardest questions. Is it possible that the thirst for comfort and simplistic answers is open to abuse? If we want to believe, for example that our leaders do no wrong, and someone in authority makes a fitting statement, are we more likely to accept that without questioning? If a person has believed in a particular religion for his whole life, and someone questions the existence of a god by statements based on critical thinking, that person faces an attack on his or her whole belief system. It doesn’t matter if it makes sense, because everything he or she has believed in and used to makes sense of the world (and don’t forget that convenient comfort) would mean nothing if it was accepted as truth. Denial is a powerful force, and we see it all the time in politics. If the truth is too awful, we can simply tell ourselves that it isn’t true.
Where would we be without religion? What would a world of godless heathens do with themselves? I’m not sure of the answer to that. Clearly religion has been the basis for a great deal of slaughter over the centuries, but humans always seem to find a difference to divide them and give rise to hatred. I believe that a truly civilized society would evolve past such irrational hatred. Currently, we are predisposed to it, and politicians love how easily we are manipulated. The Stanford Prison Experiment and Stanley Milgram’s work demonstrates our capacity to carry out orders and cause suffering. We like to be controlled, especially when the controller allows us to indulge our dark side.
What if we could accept our presence here is fleeting. How many suicides would be prevented if we all knew that (to quote another character) “there ain’t no coming back”. There would be good and bad people, regardless of religion. I think that we don’t give ourselves much credit if we need a religion to form a moral code and know right from wrong. Without easy answers we would be forced to ponder those large, difficult questions, and maybe we wouldn’t be so (okay, I’ll say it) gullible when our leaders talk to us. Maybe we’d have one less excuse to fight, too.
The belief in a god requires faith. To be a person of faith, by definition, requires a suspension of critical thinking. People don’t question the details of their chosen god. Faith requires acceptance of the basic premise. Religious faith brings several perceived benefits. As far as I can tell, the greatest benefit is a source of comfort. The higher power is deemed to love believers and offer some level of protection, and of course belief in an afterlife is a great source of comfort when dealing with loss or facing one’s mortality. On the flipside, the existence of a demonic force is used to explain the ‘evil’ actions of people. In essence, religion provides explanations for the unanswered questions of life, and alternatives to the harsh realities.
I am more familiar with Christianity than other religions, and so I have a basic understanding of the Bible. I can’t help but notice that many people have differing interpretations of the messages conveyed in the Bible. I’m sure that some of the more dedicated scholars could quote a passage to lend weight to almost any opinion. Some branches of Christianity seem to be divided into Old Testament and New Testament schools of thought. The former is often described as “fire and brimstone”, and is regarded as the harsher of the two. However, even with my minimal schooling on the subject, I do recall that one clearly demands that one should not kill, steal or worship false idols, while the other describes how the main character “turns the other cheek” in the face of hostility and has a particular dislike for money lenders. It seems to me that followers can be quite selective in their reading and indeed their definition of what it means to be a Christian.
To paraphrase a favorite character of mine, we want to believe. We want to have a convenient explanation for life’s hardest questions. Is it possible that the thirst for comfort and simplistic answers is open to abuse? If we want to believe, for example that our leaders do no wrong, and someone in authority makes a fitting statement, are we more likely to accept that without questioning? If a person has believed in a particular religion for his whole life, and someone questions the existence of a god by statements based on critical thinking, that person faces an attack on his or her whole belief system. It doesn’t matter if it makes sense, because everything he or she has believed in and used to makes sense of the world (and don’t forget that convenient comfort) would mean nothing if it was accepted as truth. Denial is a powerful force, and we see it all the time in politics. If the truth is too awful, we can simply tell ourselves that it isn’t true.
Where would we be without religion? What would a world of godless heathens do with themselves? I’m not sure of the answer to that. Clearly religion has been the basis for a great deal of slaughter over the centuries, but humans always seem to find a difference to divide them and give rise to hatred. I believe that a truly civilized society would evolve past such irrational hatred. Currently, we are predisposed to it, and politicians love how easily we are manipulated. The Stanford Prison Experiment and Stanley Milgram’s work demonstrates our capacity to carry out orders and cause suffering. We like to be controlled, especially when the controller allows us to indulge our dark side.
What if we could accept our presence here is fleeting. How many suicides would be prevented if we all knew that (to quote another character) “there ain’t no coming back”. There would be good and bad people, regardless of religion. I think that we don’t give ourselves much credit if we need a religion to form a moral code and know right from wrong. Without easy answers we would be forced to ponder those large, difficult questions, and maybe we wouldn’t be so (okay, I’ll say it) gullible when our leaders talk to us. Maybe we’d have one less excuse to fight, too.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Labor Day
This year, labor Day is going to be a strange one for a lot of people. The official unemployment rate stands at 9.6%, although some estimates put the real figure at more than 16.7%. That would be a minimum of 14 million people out of work - maybe over 20 million. Many of the jobs they've lost are not going to be replaced anytime soon. A jobless recovery is no recovery for those left behind.
For many at the top, especially bankers, business is returning to normal and the bonuses are flowing again. For those at the bottom, final demands and foreclosure letters are all they can expect. Back in 1911, a US anti-capitalist poster was produced, which clearly shows a Communist view of the system. Yet, at times like this, similar viewpoints are difficult to avoid.
More and more, it seems that we are on our own, just as people found themselves on their own after the Katrina disaster. Has globalization and outsourcing resulted in the obsolescence of many of the currently unemployed? If so, this reveals the ugly side of our system.
Happy Labor Day. Spare a thought for those who are struggling.
For many at the top, especially bankers, business is returning to normal and the bonuses are flowing again. For those at the bottom, final demands and foreclosure letters are all they can expect. Back in 1911, a US anti-capitalist poster was produced, which clearly shows a Communist view of the system. Yet, at times like this, similar viewpoints are difficult to avoid.
More and more, it seems that we are on our own, just as people found themselves on their own after the Katrina disaster. Has globalization and outsourcing resulted in the obsolescence of many of the currently unemployed? If so, this reveals the ugly side of our system.
Happy Labor Day. Spare a thought for those who are struggling.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The American Dream
Since I didn't grow up in the US, I've often wondered exactly what the American Dream is. I have several ideas, based on my experiences here:
Owning a car
Owning a house
Freedom (along the lines of the Bill of Rights)
Owning a business
Having a family with 2.4 children
Or a combination of the above
It seems to be a difficult thing to define. It depends on who might be trying to sell you a product, and whatever it might be, it is probably being revised to suit our current financial situation. Maybe these days, the American Dream should be having a place to live and a job to support you. George Carlin once famously said that it was called the American Dream because "you have to be asleep to believe it".
So many of our products are sold to us on the basis of what they will tell others about us, or that we will achieve a certain milestone in life, and yet if we think about it, we can see that much of it means nothing. Sure, we can own a car and a house, but if they are not the biggest and best available (or at least better than our friends' or coworkers'), does it really mean that we have failed somehow? Doesn't it just mean that we paid more? We talk about a work/life balance (notice how the two are separate), but do we really think about how much of our earnings, or how many hours of our lives, goes to pay for the latest phone, the more expensive car, the 500sf of our house that we never use, or the credit card and mortgage interest?
Owning a car
Owning a house
Freedom (along the lines of the Bill of Rights)
Owning a business
Having a family with 2.4 children
Or a combination of the above
It seems to be a difficult thing to define. It depends on who might be trying to sell you a product, and whatever it might be, it is probably being revised to suit our current financial situation. Maybe these days, the American Dream should be having a place to live and a job to support you. George Carlin once famously said that it was called the American Dream because "you have to be asleep to believe it".
So many of our products are sold to us on the basis of what they will tell others about us, or that we will achieve a certain milestone in life, and yet if we think about it, we can see that much of it means nothing. Sure, we can own a car and a house, but if they are not the biggest and best available (or at least better than our friends' or coworkers'), does it really mean that we have failed somehow? Doesn't it just mean that we paid more? We talk about a work/life balance (notice how the two are separate), but do we really think about how much of our earnings, or how many hours of our lives, goes to pay for the latest phone, the more expensive car, the 500sf of our house that we never use, or the credit card and mortgage interest?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
