Yes, the new era of robotics and technological innovation has given mankind a whole new world of possibilities. We have cars, planes, clean water, electricity, plumbing, cell phones, txting, and so much more! We can travel half way around the world, in half of a day, 200 years ago that would have taken months or even years. We can talk to someone almost anywhere on the planet earth, Its amazing isn't it, what could possibly be wrong with such a perfect world of speed and convenience?
Well just like all great things there is bound to be some negative effects. Today people are not in the natural world, well people who can read this blog post anyways, we are in an artificial world, cities and suburbs were designed by built by human beings, we have altered the the world in so many ways to make life better for us, all while destroying it, and its natural beauty. Now im not saying that the artificial world does not have beauty of its own,the extravagant architecture and neon lights of the modern world are beautiful as well.But it isn't Earth, its DC,its New York, or its Bridgeport..
its fake, and alot of people never see what the actual world looks like, or feels like, or..what it is, I know I haven't. But the change of the world, and reshaping of it, is natural, because its something that human beings will naturally do, so that isn't really the issue. The issue is that because so many people never step outside this artificial world, and adapt to it, the entire construct of the human mind changes to fit it. The neuroplasticity that occurs as a result of adapting to this world, is far greater than most people realize. Take public school for example, as many would say, it is the foundation for this society. One of the many great things about the modern world, well what does it do? It teaches you, it gives you better understanding of the world, it increases your intelligence (average IQ scores have steadily risen by about 3 points a decade since mass learning has occurred). But it doesn't just do that, it teaches you how to, think. You are learning, learning methods, what not to say, what not to do, and what not do think. You learn how you should be, and for many, they learn from their classmates who they should be. A student begins to "self" his or herself based on the feed back on their grades, behavior and cognitive function, and develops a sense of who they are because of it. They begin to see themselves as "smart", "normal", or "stupid" but not based on typical social interaction no, there actually is very little social about it, its based on grades. See grades really have little do with intelligence, it has to do with ambition, cooperation and understanding of the system.
So then you have smart people thinking they are dumb, and dumb people thinking they are smart because of what the system implies to them, and how they interpret it. Also the individuality of a person is often lost, free thinking or different ways of thinking are frowned upon and everything must be done and THOUGHT, according to the public education systems demands. And you develop what I like to call an "institutionalized mind".
Not only that but txting, facebook, twitter, social networking and txt type communication in general (in my opinion) atrophy your real world social skills, and change the entire way of human socialization and communication to a much more "removed" , fast paced, and 'Awkward' reality. And most of us have a sense of 'this isn't how it should be' often time. Common knowledge like "Don't ask a girl out over txt", results, on some basic level, we understand that all this is unnatural and socially destructive. How weird is "# kisses! :))" to you?, probably not that weird. We normalized electronic simulacrums in our everyday lives. We expect the shorter conversations, the lack of emotion in the cyber world, and lack of humanbeingness in our modern world. We think in Tweets, txts, videos, grades, and degrees now. We are used to being watched by the countless video cameras on streets and in stores, or having photo ID, being put in a database, and having numbers put to our name. This is the modern robotic world, and we are slowly but surely developing formally rationalized, robotic minds.
Just stop and think for a second, why is it normal that when a guy has a chemistry or emotional connection with a girl, a tranquil, mystical and beautiful phenomenon, He asks her " What's your
number", how robotic is that...
Well just like all great things there is bound to be some negative effects. Today people are not in the natural world, well people who can read this blog post anyways, we are in an artificial world, cities and suburbs were designed by built by human beings, we have altered the the world in so many ways to make life better for us, all while destroying it, and its natural beauty. Now im not saying that the artificial world does not have beauty of its own,the extravagant architecture and neon lights of the modern world are beautiful as well.But it isn't Earth, its DC,its New York, or its Bridgeport..
its fake, and alot of people never see what the actual world looks like, or feels like, or..what it is, I know I haven't. But the change of the world, and reshaping of it, is natural, because its something that human beings will naturally do, so that isn't really the issue. The issue is that because so many people never step outside this artificial world, and adapt to it, the entire construct of the human mind changes to fit it. The neuroplasticity that occurs as a result of adapting to this world, is far greater than most people realize. Take public school for example, as many would say, it is the foundation for this society. One of the many great things about the modern world, well what does it do? It teaches you, it gives you better understanding of the world, it increases your intelligence (average IQ scores have steadily risen by about 3 points a decade since mass learning has occurred). But it doesn't just do that, it teaches you how to, think. You are learning, learning methods, what not to say, what not to do, and what not do think. You learn how you should be, and for many, they learn from their classmates who they should be. A student begins to "self" his or herself based on the feed back on their grades, behavior and cognitive function, and develops a sense of who they are because of it. They begin to see themselves as "smart", "normal", or "stupid" but not based on typical social interaction no, there actually is very little social about it, its based on grades. See grades really have little do with intelligence, it has to do with ambition, cooperation and understanding of the system.
So then you have smart people thinking they are dumb, and dumb people thinking they are smart because of what the system implies to them, and how they interpret it. Also the individuality of a person is often lost, free thinking or different ways of thinking are frowned upon and everything must be done and THOUGHT, according to the public education systems demands. And you develop what I like to call an "institutionalized mind".
Not only that but txting, facebook, twitter, social networking and txt type communication in general (in my opinion) atrophy your real world social skills, and change the entire way of human socialization and communication to a much more "removed" , fast paced, and 'Awkward' reality. And most of us have a sense of 'this isn't how it should be' often time. Common knowledge like "Don't ask a girl out over txt", results, on some basic level, we understand that all this is unnatural and socially destructive. How weird is "# kisses! :))" to you?, probably not that weird. We normalized electronic simulacrums in our everyday lives. We expect the shorter conversations, the lack of emotion in the cyber world, and lack of humanbeingness in our modern world. We think in Tweets, txts, videos, grades, and degrees now. We are used to being watched by the countless video cameras on streets and in stores, or having photo ID, being put in a database, and having numbers put to our name. This is the modern robotic world, and we are slowly but surely developing formally rationalized, robotic minds.
Just stop and think for a second, why is it normal that when a guy has a chemistry or emotional connection with a girl, a tranquil, mystical and beautiful phenomenon, He asks her " What's your number", how robotic is that...
It seems like the only way to advance beyond the system is to cheat the system. I know that if you learn what it takes to "make the grade" and then go on to pass the test (in school), you can study whatever you wish above and beyond what the teacher asks of you. As long as you make the grade, you can exist within the system ... however, that doesn't have to stop you from learning independently. I think school is a way for students to learn "the basics", but it is up to you to take your personal, individual learning to another level. And when you really think about it, no one and nothing is stopping you. We do live in a mechanized world, but it only restricts you if you let it. :)
ReplyDeleteWell that is true in many cases, but not in all, for example, if a kid grows up in say, southeast DC, and his education is horrible, his teachers are mean or boring, and his entire outlook on education is a bottomless pit of hopelessness, he has no internet, and because of his bad eduction from the start, he can't even really read anyways so going to library to learn more wouldnt work, his parents cant teach him because they are effected by the same misfortune, he is trapped, because he was completely dependent on the education system for certain things, even if he would have loved poetry or horse back riding he won't ever know it, and the worst part is, he doesn't even realize just how trapped he is, and so I might ask you this, how can you over come an obstacle, if you don't even know it's there, and even if you did, you dont have the resources to do it, a bird can't fly without wings no matter how hard it tries. And I believe the entire public eduction system is like this on one level or another, it traps your mind by not providing it with the tools you need to achieve freedom, you can learn whatever, it effects your outlook on life, your perception of reality, and your sense of self according to what the system desires, you don't really hear about all the great art in Congo during the European renaissance, you hear about the French or Italian art, and now when a kid thinks "great artist of history" he sees Italians and French in his minds eye, you remember and forget through public memory, and the system has almost complete control over that aspect of modern society. But I do like your angle, and I haven't thought of it in that way before
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