Have you ever noticed a group of people belonging to a certain taxonomy which lives life in a strangely oblivious manner, as if disconnected from the rooted instincts which hold many of us together? This class of people roaming the world I have dubbed the dissipative people. They seem to go against the grain of natural currents, living in the sway of habits which are over time destructive.
"Granted, many of you reading this could be among them [dissipative people]." Simplicius, you made me smile because readers have to be somewhat attuned to read your intellectualism.
I add that the most dissipative people are born from laziness, something less forgivable.
Regarding mindfulness, activists are an exception because they can be be aware whilst repeating actions endangering themselves i.e., paradoxically dumb and brave.
Not to be a contrarian, but working in oncology, often one meets people who "did everything right." Meaning, they eat right, exercised and meditated, went through annual screenings, etc., and when diagnosed with cancer, they are they are absolutely stunned. It's like they thought by doing everything right, they made some kind of pact with God to be spared. At least for someone who "deviated," they can revamp their lifestyle, change their outlook, but when you "did everything right," and ended up with cancer, the hard landing is much harder indeed....
I'm recalling in the late 1990's, before the cellphones became commonplace, being at the mall, you know, when that was still a thing! Anyways, vividly remember constantly dodging shoppers walking obliviously the opposite way. Was always amazed how many I'd have walked right into had I not anticipated avoiding them. It's kinda the same at the big box stores these days, but more people are larger now than say 25 yrs ago, so one makes room in advance. Never mind those still spooked by the COVID crap. Would you believe I saw more than half the folks at an outdoor bus stop in Sonoma, CA dutifully wearing their masks while standing outdoors recently?! So sad smh.
The Universe is full of love, and we can tap into that if we are willing to love other people and the Universe itself...say by hiking in the wilderness, being kind to everyone, and helping people in need..The rewards are enormous...
Look up Iain McGilchrist. He's saying the same thing as you. He is a neuroscientist and philosopher who delves into how we attend to the world. One manner of attending is to focus, to find food and shelter. But that can't be the only way of attending. The other way must attend to the whole environment, to be aware of danger from predators, or the need to attend to offspring. It is this fundamental need for these two types of attention that give rise to the two hemispheres of the brain, that are found in all animals.
The left brain attends in a focussed way, to be able to grasp, manipulate, and control. It freezes things, isolates them out of context, breaks things into parts, abstracts and generalizes. The right brain is grounded in reality, a changing, flowing world, where everything connects in some way to everything else. "Part of it consists of being naturally observant: of one's environment, of others, of one's own body." This is essentially the right brain's way of viewing the world.
McGilchrist contends that since the Enlightenment, the worldview of the West has become unbalanced, with the left brain taking over, and shutting out the right brain. It's not that we don't need or want the left brain's input, but that there needs to be a balance. I find that this view explains a lot. There is definitely something fundamentally wrong with the mentality of the modern world, of how moderns see things, how they process things.
I just so regret not turning off that damned TV, or 'cord cutting', until just over 4 yrs ago. Such an odd beginning journey. I only had my Ipad (my grandma's last gift to me) for several yrs until buying a laptop-to burn my CD's onto and load them onto an MP3, for skiing of all things. Through that laptop I got into YT, and listened to Lacy Hunt discuss on MacroVoices the deleterious cumulative consequences of debt, and the decreased multiplier function of ever-increasing debt. A month later i first listened to Peter Schiff, who taught me at the time (2019) that the USD had lost 96% of it's purchasing power. I've always taken an interest in economics. This new knowledge sent me down the rabbit hole, haven't left since, you all know how it goes. Yet I'll always be grateful I awakened prior to COVID, Vax, CBDC's, on and on it goes. And I'll always be grateful for noble mentors who fight their fight, in their own fashion, such as yourself, Simplicius. Thanks, and Cheers All!
The garish spectacle around us produces dissipative people. It distracts, entertains, trivializes, decontextualizes, pacifies and confuses. It programs inadequacy and need so we obey, follow and buy. The constant overstimulation of ubiquitous media overwhelms coherent thought--it in effect manufactures autism: it becomes a struggle to sort out the abundance of sensation. It is hypnotic, glamorous and seductive. And it is ultimately abusive, drowning the self with impossible demands. On the individual level one escapes by tuning out mass culture--this is a rare maverick. For society as a whole escape is possible only through structural change. Our capitalist culture awards wealth and status on the basis of amoral, sociopathic behavior. The climb to the social-political-economic apex is a relentless winnowing out of human connection and compassion. It dishes out rewards and punishment according to our contribution to profitability and market share. This is a structural problem--that is these incentives are determined by the legal system, which regulates who owns what and who gets what. Without structural change there can be no fundamental social change.
I see the West simply going through a natural cycle, currently of course it is the phase of systemic corruption, moral and economic decline, it will need play out before things can improve, add in where we are located also in the larger cycle and it will no doubt be unpleasant. Mark Twain's comment on history rhyming was an observation of fact.
Regarding New Age and personal development, some of it is fine but a great deal a misinterpretation deliberate or not that leads people down roads to nowhere. Then there is the the other side focusing on a development on mantras etc. to acquire materialistic wealth, a completely useless endeavor with zero personal growth. Look like for profit businesses to me.
When we are ready for actual personal growth to see beyond the illusion of the cave, events will lead us there, however we still have to reach that junction through our own effort regardless of the path we choose.
This conversation reminds me of “Outwitting the Devil” where the title character admitted to the author that his main way of capturing men was making them into “drifters”.
In some ways, I consider this kind of dissipative phenomenon to be a natural extension of the modern interconnected world. With the rush of everybody always telling us what to do and how to do it, the natural reaction for those who find themselves lost and adrift in the endless sea of messages is to shut down - a biological bluescreen that shuts off the information valves.
Sadly this also prevents the dissipated from changing their habits, because the valves for new information and initiative are closed.
Wasn't sure where you were going with this, but an interesting tie-in there by the end.
For the record, though, these "dissipated" folks you speak of, watching TV until 6am etc, always have three things in common 1) little/no alcohol/drug consumption 2) eat lots of bread/flour and 3) drink very very little water. Just a coincidence, though, I'm sure :)
Outstanding essay, demonstrating that one can criticise phenomena without criticising those who 'live' them!
How society got there - well, I'd suggest that the long fight against 'The elites' is one reason because it led to the now decades-long dumbing down of pupils and scholars in Western education. The current woke~ and cancel~cutlure is just the cherry on top. It'e say to glorify Greek philosopher kings or 'holistic bronze age lives' when one has no knowledge nor imagination of what daily life and the drudgery really looked and felt like.
There's also the ongoing, manufactured disconnect with the past as experienced by ancestors such as grandparents. 'Old' people not only know nothing, not only have nothing of value to teach, but must eb despised and stomped out as 'baby boomers' and a dreadful cost factor in the national economy.
I'm no guru, and my 'remedies' might not suit everybody - but to combat and overturn the habit of spending nights infant of the Tv and feeling horrid all the next day, I heartily recommend getting a dog (not a chihuahua!). They'll get you out of bed really early, in no time, after you've 'dealt' with their gifts to nature they left for you because you ere too lazy to get up and cater to their needs. Additionally, they make you get out into the fresh air - and having to play with them just might make you remember carefree days.
My other remedy is: gardening! It teaches one patience, it teaches one to really be 'in contact' with nature when having to deal with pests, it teaches one equanimity, observance of weather currents and, not least, the delight of listening to and observing garden birds.
I have one final observation: isn't it wonderful how G.K. Chesterton's wise remark has been-laying out, proving your diagnosis over and over again:
"“When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything.”"
To which, in conclusion, his other observation can be suitably and perhaps encouragingly added:
"“The problem with Christianity is not that it has been tried and found wanting, but that it has been found difficult and left untried.”
Excellent, it perfectly describes the evolution of society in the last 2 centuries. where is the metaphysics? its absence is a pity justifying itself in paganism. This emptiness screams at us Lord Jesus Christ without you we can do nothing but you will not hear it because as Psalm 14 says
1 The fool said in his heart: "A lie, God does not exist!" They are perverted people who do infamous things; there is no one who does good.
"Granted, many of you reading this could be among them [dissipative people]." Simplicius, you made me smile because readers have to be somewhat attuned to read your intellectualism.
I add that the most dissipative people are born from laziness, something less forgivable.
Regarding mindfulness, activists are an exception because they can be be aware whilst repeating actions endangering themselves i.e., paradoxically dumb and brave.
Not to be a contrarian, but working in oncology, often one meets people who "did everything right." Meaning, they eat right, exercised and meditated, went through annual screenings, etc., and when diagnosed with cancer, they are they are absolutely stunned. It's like they thought by doing everything right, they made some kind of pact with God to be spared. At least for someone who "deviated," they can revamp their lifestyle, change their outlook, but when you "did everything right," and ended up with cancer, the hard landing is much harder indeed....
Blue light filtering glasses did wonders for my sleep, as did getting rid of social media completely and reading before bed.
I like that definition of mindfulness, active awareness. That’s how I feel after my meditations.
Jon Kabat Zin has really great ones.
I'm recalling in the late 1990's, before the cellphones became commonplace, being at the mall, you know, when that was still a thing! Anyways, vividly remember constantly dodging shoppers walking obliviously the opposite way. Was always amazed how many I'd have walked right into had I not anticipated avoiding them. It's kinda the same at the big box stores these days, but more people are larger now than say 25 yrs ago, so one makes room in advance. Never mind those still spooked by the COVID crap. Would you believe I saw more than half the folks at an outdoor bus stop in Sonoma, CA dutifully wearing their masks while standing outdoors recently?! So sad smh.
The Universe is full of love, and we can tap into that if we are willing to love other people and the Universe itself...say by hiking in the wilderness, being kind to everyone, and helping people in need..The rewards are enormous...
Look up Iain McGilchrist. He's saying the same thing as you. He is a neuroscientist and philosopher who delves into how we attend to the world. One manner of attending is to focus, to find food and shelter. But that can't be the only way of attending. The other way must attend to the whole environment, to be aware of danger from predators, or the need to attend to offspring. It is this fundamental need for these two types of attention that give rise to the two hemispheres of the brain, that are found in all animals.
The left brain attends in a focussed way, to be able to grasp, manipulate, and control. It freezes things, isolates them out of context, breaks things into parts, abstracts and generalizes. The right brain is grounded in reality, a changing, flowing world, where everything connects in some way to everything else. "Part of it consists of being naturally observant: of one's environment, of others, of one's own body." This is essentially the right brain's way of viewing the world.
McGilchrist contends that since the Enlightenment, the worldview of the West has become unbalanced, with the left brain taking over, and shutting out the right brain. It's not that we don't need or want the left brain's input, but that there needs to be a balance. I find that this view explains a lot. There is definitely something fundamentally wrong with the mentality of the modern world, of how moderns see things, how they process things.
I can't explain this all in a single comment. Here is a video interview of McGilchrist expaining it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrlrhuI39K4.
I just so regret not turning off that damned TV, or 'cord cutting', until just over 4 yrs ago. Such an odd beginning journey. I only had my Ipad (my grandma's last gift to me) for several yrs until buying a laptop-to burn my CD's onto and load them onto an MP3, for skiing of all things. Through that laptop I got into YT, and listened to Lacy Hunt discuss on MacroVoices the deleterious cumulative consequences of debt, and the decreased multiplier function of ever-increasing debt. A month later i first listened to Peter Schiff, who taught me at the time (2019) that the USD had lost 96% of it's purchasing power. I've always taken an interest in economics. This new knowledge sent me down the rabbit hole, haven't left since, you all know how it goes. Yet I'll always be grateful I awakened prior to COVID, Vax, CBDC's, on and on it goes. And I'll always be grateful for noble mentors who fight their fight, in their own fashion, such as yourself, Simplicius. Thanks, and Cheers All!
"I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across the floors of
silent seas."
The garish spectacle around us produces dissipative people. It distracts, entertains, trivializes, decontextualizes, pacifies and confuses. It programs inadequacy and need so we obey, follow and buy. The constant overstimulation of ubiquitous media overwhelms coherent thought--it in effect manufactures autism: it becomes a struggle to sort out the abundance of sensation. It is hypnotic, glamorous and seductive. And it is ultimately abusive, drowning the self with impossible demands. On the individual level one escapes by tuning out mass culture--this is a rare maverick. For society as a whole escape is possible only through structural change. Our capitalist culture awards wealth and status on the basis of amoral, sociopathic behavior. The climb to the social-political-economic apex is a relentless winnowing out of human connection and compassion. It dishes out rewards and punishment according to our contribution to profitability and market share. This is a structural problem--that is these incentives are determined by the legal system, which regulates who owns what and who gets what. Without structural change there can be no fundamental social change.
I see the West simply going through a natural cycle, currently of course it is the phase of systemic corruption, moral and economic decline, it will need play out before things can improve, add in where we are located also in the larger cycle and it will no doubt be unpleasant. Mark Twain's comment on history rhyming was an observation of fact.
Regarding New Age and personal development, some of it is fine but a great deal a misinterpretation deliberate or not that leads people down roads to nowhere. Then there is the the other side focusing on a development on mantras etc. to acquire materialistic wealth, a completely useless endeavor with zero personal growth. Look like for profit businesses to me.
When we are ready for actual personal growth to see beyond the illusion of the cave, events will lead us there, however we still have to reach that junction through our own effort regardless of the path we choose.
This conversation reminds me of “Outwitting the Devil” where the title character admitted to the author that his main way of capturing men was making them into “drifters”.
In some ways, I consider this kind of dissipative phenomenon to be a natural extension of the modern interconnected world. With the rush of everybody always telling us what to do and how to do it, the natural reaction for those who find themselves lost and adrift in the endless sea of messages is to shut down - a biological bluescreen that shuts off the information valves.
Sadly this also prevents the dissipated from changing their habits, because the valves for new information and initiative are closed.
https://open.substack.com/pub/argomend/p/global-paradox-2023?r=28g8km&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Wasn't sure where you were going with this, but an interesting tie-in there by the end.
For the record, though, these "dissipated" folks you speak of, watching TV until 6am etc, always have three things in common 1) little/no alcohol/drug consumption 2) eat lots of bread/flour and 3) drink very very little water. Just a coincidence, though, I'm sure :)
Outstanding essay, demonstrating that one can criticise phenomena without criticising those who 'live' them!
How society got there - well, I'd suggest that the long fight against 'The elites' is one reason because it led to the now decades-long dumbing down of pupils and scholars in Western education. The current woke~ and cancel~cutlure is just the cherry on top. It'e say to glorify Greek philosopher kings or 'holistic bronze age lives' when one has no knowledge nor imagination of what daily life and the drudgery really looked and felt like.
There's also the ongoing, manufactured disconnect with the past as experienced by ancestors such as grandparents. 'Old' people not only know nothing, not only have nothing of value to teach, but must eb despised and stomped out as 'baby boomers' and a dreadful cost factor in the national economy.
I'm no guru, and my 'remedies' might not suit everybody - but to combat and overturn the habit of spending nights infant of the Tv and feeling horrid all the next day, I heartily recommend getting a dog (not a chihuahua!). They'll get you out of bed really early, in no time, after you've 'dealt' with their gifts to nature they left for you because you ere too lazy to get up and cater to their needs. Additionally, they make you get out into the fresh air - and having to play with them just might make you remember carefree days.
My other remedy is: gardening! It teaches one patience, it teaches one to really be 'in contact' with nature when having to deal with pests, it teaches one equanimity, observance of weather currents and, not least, the delight of listening to and observing garden birds.
I have one final observation: isn't it wonderful how G.K. Chesterton's wise remark has been-laying out, proving your diagnosis over and over again:
"“When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything.”"
To which, in conclusion, his other observation can be suitably and perhaps encouragingly added:
"“The problem with Christianity is not that it has been tried and found wanting, but that it has been found difficult and left untried.”
Excellent, it perfectly describes the evolution of society in the last 2 centuries. where is the metaphysics? its absence is a pity justifying itself in paganism. This emptiness screams at us Lord Jesus Christ without you we can do nothing but you will not hear it because as Psalm 14 says
1 The fool said in his heart: "A lie, God does not exist!" They are perverted people who do infamous things; there is no one who does good.