People don't seem to think the way they used to.
You know what I mean? I mean really THINK.
Been reading a book on the history of secularism in America, and it kind of got me thinking about the prevailing attitudes around the time of the revolutionary war. People were busy discussing science and politics and reason and in general being very critical of the world around them every day. Normal folks, too . . . not just some kind of educational elite; we had farmers talking ethics and political philosophy with butchers. If we get any of that today, it's, "What's that good fer nothin' Al Gore gonna do for me? Huh? I don't see her offerin' a tax break in MY bracket! The other fella . . . there's a dude you can trust! Like to have a beer with that som'bitch." And they weren't afraid of hurting people's feelings the way we are today . . . I'm sure there was plenty of disagreement happening, but they went on discussing things BECAUSE they were controversial, not in spite of it. Something gets written in a state law in Vermont, and before you know it, people are conversing on it and arguing over it, hashing out the ramifications thousands of miles away in France, as soon as word can reach them through ships traversing the Atlantic Ocean. Now, here we have this amazing communication tool called the internet, and what are we all using it for? Digging up news on Britney Spears. What was the most searched phrase of 2007 on Google news? American Idol. American Idol! Why have we grown so obsessed with the trivial? Have we truly run so dry on important discussion topics that we're reduced to such mundane interests?
Can I just blame this on the media assaulting our senses with the trivial in so great a quantity that our brains grow incapable of processing anything more complicated than a celebrity hillbilly custody battle?
You know what I mean? I mean really THINK.
Been reading a book on the history of secularism in America, and it kind of got me thinking about the prevailing attitudes around the time of the revolutionary war. People were busy discussing science and politics and reason and in general being very critical of the world around them every day. Normal folks, too . . . not just some kind of educational elite; we had farmers talking ethics and political philosophy with butchers. If we get any of that today, it's, "What's that good fer nothin' Al Gore gonna do for me? Huh? I don't see her offerin' a tax break in MY bracket! The other fella . . . there's a dude you can trust! Like to have a beer with that som'bitch." And they weren't afraid of hurting people's feelings the way we are today . . . I'm sure there was plenty of disagreement happening, but they went on discussing things BECAUSE they were controversial, not in spite of it. Something gets written in a state law in Vermont, and before you know it, people are conversing on it and arguing over it, hashing out the ramifications thousands of miles away in France, as soon as word can reach them through ships traversing the Atlantic Ocean. Now, here we have this amazing communication tool called the internet, and what are we all using it for? Digging up news on Britney Spears. What was the most searched phrase of 2007 on Google news? American Idol. American Idol! Why have we grown so obsessed with the trivial? Have we truly run so dry on important discussion topics that we're reduced to such mundane interests?
Can I just blame this on the media assaulting our senses with the trivial in so great a quantity that our brains grow incapable of processing anything more complicated than a celebrity hillbilly custody battle?