Bemused, Befuddled Bewildered

Social studies say we live in a post modernity society, even the label is daunting. It took an practical exercise to explain it to me. A few years back I was at an away course for religious enlightenment and the concept was fully explained to me. The hall set up for the usual lecture and debate, but instead there was total silence, which itself can be very eerie when there are so many. We are told that when we are overwhelmed or over stimulated we were to either move to the side or bow our heads. Then slowly one by one various sensory stimuli were introduced, first being classical music, then a slide show on top, then a fragrance and so on layered on top of each other when we started to get things like two different music tracks and a film as well as slide show so around the 6  or even 5 mark most people bailed. By 10 there was me and two others and by 12 or 13 I was on my own and the exercised stopped. Not believing I had got that far I was asked to list in order and detail what I had been exposed to. Unfortunately for the leader I could and did in detail, right down to the movement of Mozart 40th, the possible origin of the perfume and the lines in the film. This kind of put a spanner in his lecture, or rather I was the exception that proved the rule.

The whole point of it was to prove how hard it is for the human brain to deal with the bombardment of media in this post modern world. And how hard it is to deal with too much information at any given moment. Perhaps I should have warned him I have a high I and photographic memory. But then there are a few who can cope, most think they can but only a few truly can. Try it at home start with the TV on , add music, then start reading or writing whilst someone sprays a perfume, now add a second music. It all becomes a blur of information to the majority, and that's not a bad thing humans are programmed to prioritise. It's basic human instinct to judge the most important threat and act on it.

For me being able to work under multiple stimuli, actually was a problem. I can't concentrate on just one thing and it got me in real grief and school, and lead to multiple exam retakes as my mind panics if it has to focus on one solo activity and suddenly everything I know goes out the window. But it does mean there is room for evolution, even if it is a bit scary. So while you may be a little jealous don't be, it's a curse as much as blessing as it doesn't fit the current norm, and that then becomes a source of ridicule.

However it does help at the moment when so much is happening most people are left spinning or at least emotionally exhumed with the current state of world affairs. It means a few people like myself, and some a lot more qualified are able to focus on this consent white noise that is being thrown at us all and not quite see what is being hidden but be prepared for it. For we can focus on the patterns of the past  amid the chaos that is no doubt being deliberately caused by press offices and media alike. For much as I have since looked into post modernity after I was told about it, you can beat every spin doctor, press agent and so has studied it in immense detail, learning how to work this system of over stimulation by media to make it work for what ever cause or action they are trying to achieve.

It's a well know fact that if you continually repeat a lie, eventually some people start believing it's truth. Now take that principle and times by 10, reiterating on TV, in the press, on line, in the radio. Eventually people on mass start taking it as fact, and once you get a core of believers it is easy to expand. That's how the crazy becomes the normal. If you allow your gut instinct to be drowned out by the noise of the mass, you then lose grip on reality and commonsense. That's the principle of post modernity, to drown out everything with what they want to hear, see and do.

Now in the future the numbers of people who can naturally isolate every action will increase,and at the rate we are going it's going to be sooner rather than later, but for those who are still left confused and lost in this flood of voices, all I can suggest is you stop and listen to your own heart and head first and let the lead you into your next course of action. Humans are like lemmings naturally, we are just being treated as such by those who think they are cleverer.

The truth is knowledge is power, but the skill is to work out where you obtain said knowledge. If something niggles at you to double check you facts then that's the right course of action for you. I know I have written some hardcore comments recently, but only after I have checked and doubled checked what are the hard facts of the matter. Sometimes I have to delay what I want to write, as what has been said may not be the most honest account of what is happening. I never read just one paper, but many, sometimes all of the ones I can get hold of. This is the world we live in, every has their spin and often the most powerful make the most noise, when it may not be the most truthful. Leaving us all bemused, befuddled and bewildered when it all goes horribly wrong.