At this point nearly everyone has visited a website where there are forums, a place to chat, to talk about your ideas and interpretations of an ever widening array of topics. The inherent anonymity of the internet provides a place where you can really let loose and be yourself. On the other hand, you can do what the other half does and be the polar opposite of yourself. You can make it all up if you feel compelled to do so and no one would be the wiser, most of the time. On the internet, no matter who you are or are pretending to be you can say exactly what’s on your mind and if people disagree, no harm done. In fact, if people don’t like what you’re saying all you need do is log off. This all sounds great, it’s freedom of speech at its finest, right? There is privacy and at the same time freedom to speak your mind in a more honest way than you ever could face to face.
People like to pretend that all this technology is bringing us closer but I'm not so sure. We can communicate with people from anywhere in real time but grammar and spelling are taking a total beating and it's only getting worse. More and more people can’t spell even simple words, it’s just sad. For me there are times when I feel as though it’s all happening too fast, so fast no one sees what is actually going on. Or worse yet, everyone does see it, everyone knows it they just don't care. Of course now my mind is reaching out to acknowledge the apathy toward so many things, so very many things.
People cut and paste parts of other people’s brains on their pages and then go around patting themselves on the back for how wonderful and insightful they are. Either that or they pretend to be modest but it’s laid on so thick it is clear that there’s no sincerity behind it. More than anything, people want to slap a giant label on everything. It isn’t good enough anymore to be a Christian, now it’s all about what KIND of Christian you are, that is further diced down into what sect, what branch, what church, what’s your rank, what level are you and so on and so forth until it is ludicrous. And it isn’t as though Christianity is the only thing effected, in point of fact, just about everything has become so convoluted anymore with arguments over how to properly define often undefinable things people don’t have conversations anymore, they have confrontations and they don’t have to worry about accountability at all.
This isn’t a regular piece for me, it’s more like a rant, a journal entry and it is coming to me on the heels of seeing a great chasm of hypocrisy all over the internet. Even pages that are supposedly filled with wisdom and guidance are hype and bullshit and every single one of them wants your credit card number. I have internet and I have devices though I feel that based on observation I may be somewhat less addicted to device mentality than a vast majority of folks. I am not suggesting that being more or less addicted to tech and devices is better or worse or any of that type of bullshit, there are far too many variables that haven't even occurred to me as I haven't given it too much thought. I can no more easily predict the long term effects for the addicts as I can for folks who practice a bit more moderation.
Connection is what is often sought, the internet provides it, sort of. Mix copious amounts of information with a world filled with competitive people who all want to be the best or the first or have the shiniest bobbles or coolest gurus and all you have is more superficial connection. In most cases it becomes not only superficial connection with others but also superficial connection with oneself. It’s easy to appear to be enlightened during a workshop or at a retreat or in the presence of your guru but do you take it home with you? Does it translate into your real life? From what I have seen, it simply doesn’t for a disappointing number of folks.
Everything is a scam these days and everyone is selling you something. The question is, how easily tricked are you? The intention may not be to trick people, it may not be to scam them, it may not be to get rich off of them and to be true, it isn’t the fault of these “gurus”, "New Age Coaches” and "experts" that this happens. The reality of the situation is that they can get rich this way because so many people are trained from birth to both over-consume and leave their fate spiritually, physically and mentally in the hands of “gurus”, "New Age Coaches” and "experts." It isn’t just in the realm of spirituality or self-help that this happens, I mentioned mental and physical too and it doesn’t take a genius to see that the same is true in these other aspects. That in a general sense, it could be said that people are trained to rely on others rather than on themselves. To run from accountability rather than examine it closely and allow it to shape how we treat ourselves and others.
There is an underlying, thrumming discontent that I feel toward disconnection between people, it is big, it is undefinable, it is ever too present and it is frustrating as hell. It has so many reasons for being there, so many causes. If each individual person represents tens of thousands of variables and there are billions of people on this earth well, then the reasons why are too numerous to count or to worry about and yet those differences are what people focus on rather than the similarities. The most frustrating thing of all is that most people know it but don’t do a damn thing about it because it’s easier to be caught like a snake in a wagon rut, seemingly moving forward but not realizing that you’ve chosen a route with only one direction that was pre-determined by a wagon that made it too long ago for anyone to remember when it was really even made or why and all that's left is to argue over that rather than helping one another out of it.
People cut and paste parts of other people’s brains on their pages and then go around patting themselves on the back for how wonderful and insightful they are. Either that or they pretend to be modest but it’s laid on so thick it is clear that there’s no sincerity behind it. More than anything, people want to slap a giant label on everything. It isn’t good enough anymore to be a Christian, now it’s all about what KIND of Christian you are, that is further diced down into what sect, what branch, what church, what’s your rank, what level are you and so on and so forth until it is ludicrous. And it isn’t as though Christianity is the only thing effected, in point of fact, just about everything has become so convoluted anymore with arguments over how to properly define often undefinable things people don’t have conversations anymore, they have confrontations and they don’t have to worry about accountability at all.
This isn’t a regular piece for me, it’s more like a rant, a journal entry and it is coming to me on the heels of seeing a great chasm of hypocrisy all over the internet. Even pages that are supposedly filled with wisdom and guidance are hype and bullshit and every single one of them wants your credit card number. I have internet and I have devices though I feel that based on observation I may be somewhat less addicted to device mentality than a vast majority of folks. I am not suggesting that being more or less addicted to tech and devices is better or worse or any of that type of bullshit, there are far too many variables that haven't even occurred to me as I haven't given it too much thought. I can no more easily predict the long term effects for the addicts as I can for folks who practice a bit more moderation.
Connection is what is often sought, the internet provides it, sort of. Mix copious amounts of information with a world filled with competitive people who all want to be the best or the first or have the shiniest bobbles or coolest gurus and all you have is more superficial connection. In most cases it becomes not only superficial connection with others but also superficial connection with oneself. It’s easy to appear to be enlightened during a workshop or at a retreat or in the presence of your guru but do you take it home with you? Does it translate into your real life? From what I have seen, it simply doesn’t for a disappointing number of folks.
Everything is a scam these days and everyone is selling you something. The question is, how easily tricked are you? The intention may not be to trick people, it may not be to scam them, it may not be to get rich off of them and to be true, it isn’t the fault of these “gurus”, "New Age Coaches” and "experts" that this happens. The reality of the situation is that they can get rich this way because so many people are trained from birth to both over-consume and leave their fate spiritually, physically and mentally in the hands of “gurus”, "New Age Coaches” and "experts." It isn’t just in the realm of spirituality or self-help that this happens, I mentioned mental and physical too and it doesn’t take a genius to see that the same is true in these other aspects. That in a general sense, it could be said that people are trained to rely on others rather than on themselves. To run from accountability rather than examine it closely and allow it to shape how we treat ourselves and others.
There is an underlying, thrumming discontent that I feel toward disconnection between people, it is big, it is undefinable, it is ever too present and it is frustrating as hell. It has so many reasons for being there, so many causes. If each individual person represents tens of thousands of variables and there are billions of people on this earth well, then the reasons why are too numerous to count or to worry about and yet those differences are what people focus on rather than the similarities. The most frustrating thing of all is that most people know it but don’t do a damn thing about it because it’s easier to be caught like a snake in a wagon rut, seemingly moving forward but not realizing that you’ve chosen a route with only one direction that was pre-determined by a wagon that made it too long ago for anyone to remember when it was really even made or why and all that's left is to argue over that rather than helping one another out of it.