I sense a backward trend. No, there are not obvious indications but I’ve learned that when I begin to feel something insistently and frequently, a new dawn is probably only a few degrees below the horizon.
The frantic race to bring greater and greater technical progress to the human population has reached a dangerous level. Cell phones have so many features that I’ve lost interest in learning how to use all the bells and whistles. There are still other things in life for which I'd like to leave some space/time. As we drove down the canyon on our way to Albuquerque and another showing of “Awakening in Taos” the other day, I was remembering the days when I had no electronic guidance to find a destination only the written address and general road information. As much as I enjoy playing with Seri and asking her questions on my iPhone 7, I can’t honestly say that I do any better at finding locations. It is actually more a game than a necessity. I’m a Gemini, and I enjoy figuring things out and pushing buttons but I also enjoyed putting my intuition to work and I’ve noticed that when in computer mode, my intuition is turned off.
We drive computerized vehicles that were assembled by computerized robots, and still other computers can interact remotely with these computers on four wheels. The question of how much technology is too much may depend on the individual as well as that individual’s culture and generation, but the race to computerize everything and every function is in full swing. I remember my first computer. I loved it because I type fast but also hit a lot of wrong keys and with a word processing program, I could quickly delete and correct. It could do astrological calculations too and that cut hours off of preparing a chart. I don’t want to go back to calculating astrology charts by hand, partly because math is not my thing, but I remember that the time it took to manually work out the positions and relationships of the planets focused my attention until I became organically connected to the individual chart and the cosmic environment that a client lived within.
On this recent drive down the canyon, I remembered that Mabel Dodge Lujan ‘s first trip to Taos from Santa Fe took 17 hours in an automobile of the time on the then primitive road up the canyon. It takes an hour and a half now (unless my husband is driving in which case it takes an hour and 15 minutes). I know 17 hours seems like a trial of fortitude, but there is another aspect that we seldom consider. I remember the time I had car trouble in the canyon, had to get out and wait with time to kill for a rescue. I felt the moving air, heard the river spilling over the rocks, and took notice of the insects and lizards scurrying from hideout to hideout in the aromatic sagebrush. In times like this, I realize how little I now experience on this same trip that Mabel took a hundred years ago. It changed her life. I take this trip sometimes several times a month, and although I never tire of it, my senses regard it as a high-speed visual experience. Not so different from watching TV.
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| Mark Gordon, Producer and PQ at latest showing of Awakening in Taos |
As humans, we are heading down a slippery slope and slicker and slicker technology is greasing the slide. On some level, most of us suspect that this is the case, but it’s an addictive state of mind. The issue is how best to use technology without being used by its marketeers. Seduction is right at the center of the technology age. If you are seduced, it is because someone wants something you have and he/she can’t get it without deception. I suspect the hypnotic transfixion on technical gadgets is designed to keep our attention short and narrow and thus allow little time for depth perception.
I don’t believe the problem is technology itself. It is a powerful tool and its fun, but few of us humans are evolved psychologically or spiritually enough to use it wisely or to recognize when we are being used by our tools and toys. The question is; who owns whom. Devices own many of us, and this is especially true of the so-called Millennials.
I believe the mind control leaders have hijacked technology. They are using it to put a wedge between the organic world and we humans. When we become alienated from our connection to the living world and secede to an electronic version, we have lost our souls. For some time, it has troubled me that the heart chakra awaits discovery in a world that values cleverness and ambition but seldom connection . It is always involved in our well-beingness, though not valued in this lickety-split culture. I’ve long believed that those who control our society from behind the stage curtain are originally responsible for this situation. By making sure that the masculine elements of competition and aggression are in control, it is much easier to separate us from our human emotional connections, distort our instincts and encase the heart in a hard steel cover. Masculine and feminine qualities are equally necessary in a balanced world.
I recently received an email from a group that does online seminars and workshops to raise consciousness and promote spiritual growth. The leaders of this organization are admitting exhaustion and frustration about how to go forward. They are reaching the end of energy and resources. Since they are asking subscribers for insights and creative ideas about how to go forward, this thought came up immediately: I don’t join many of these online groups and probably will never join another one. The immediate thrill of being able to communicate with hundreds, maybe thousands of people with one online connection seems awesome but it’s like tasting a delicious meal but not swallowing. It’s not nourishing.
People need to get together physically and be involved in 3D interaction and focus. Anything else is a teaser and as such is better than nothing is but not completely satisfying and not optimally empowering. I’ve been involved in live groups and still hunger for this, not just workshops that end and you never see each other again, but ongoing groups where all the dimensions of life can be encountered and developed heart to heart. The operative word is development. I can certainly envision a small group of like hearted people using the shared information of a podcast or book as a springboard but the alchemical power of interactive minds cannot be replaced electronically. Nobody ever imagined that corresponding by snail mail is as satisfying as a face to face relationship even though it keeps that physical contact alive in the senses. Despite the magic of instant contact with people anywhere on the globe--even Skype with a screen view of the person I'm talking to is not a totally satisfying substitute for physical presence.
I envision people beginning to use technology rather than serve technology. It’s a marvelous tool but a dangerous and abusive master. We don’t exist to support the economic system, although it’s obvious that the corporate world perceives us as prey. I’m hoping a new more critical Sun will rise on the mass culture of electronics while I’m still in this 3D world.
During the Q & A that followed this latest screening of “Awakening in Taos,” the sense of family involved in its creation was very strong. My direct involvement came at the very beginning but I’ve loved witnessing the story grow from hatchling to fledgling and getting to know the amazing people involved in its creation. As we sat on stage answering audience questions, I realized that our group is an entity in its own right and this initiated another awakening in my own heart to send out vibes of love and appreciation in all directions. There are two stories here--the one that resulted in well crafted and powerful story on screen and the creation of a team of humans melding their skills, passions, dramas and personal history into the visual soul print of Awakening in Taos. The protagonists of this story have a new life and renewed purpose because of this team joined at the heart as well as the mind.
Marti: right on the nail. Good stuff.
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ReplyDeleteA very good book, written by (what looks to be) a millennial: “The Four-Dimensional Human,” by Laurence Scott. The assumption has been that we've been reduced to a planar existence – two dimensions on a computer screen. It's just the opposite. We've been abducted by a “new” confusion of identity - which is our 4th dimension, as “pre-digital selves.” It's existential now.
Yes, it's the new social addiction – looking downward into one's lap and/or looking into a hand-held box while walking, eating, making love – as if waiting for the next command on what to do, how to be. We're asking for instructions on who we are as if from a deity. The old nuclearity of family, the group, is gone. It gathers around a new epicenter, a new umbilicus to God, beyond human reach and controlled by forces unseen.
No one writes letters anymore which is not just about illiteracy but impatience. Everything is instant and serves a new appetite. We write “netiquette” now and coded semaphore, all because of having “no time.”
Personally, I think the problem began the day elementary students looked up and could no longer read a rotary clock. I thought “oh no.” A wrong pathway was already being forged.
But: I have a thought to this whole dilemma (requiring a major cultural shift) which I know would never happen. So here it is (raw and unvarnished): keep all the same computer technology we have which does not require satellites. In other words, pull all the satellites down. It would regress the world back about 25-30 years – to around 1990. Gone would be cyber-terrorism, government surveillance systems, loss of privacy, and identity theft. It would require (if you remember) the old institutions – like the post office, the public library, the old-fashioned bookstore, and getting in your car to get things done. But personally I think these are good things. (As long as I can keep my word processor I'm a happy guy!)
Remember the bookstore, the old-fashioned letter mailed with a stamp, actually touching things before we bought them, meeting people "in the flesh" instead of by profile and photo? – Two major challenges here: Yes, we would use more paper again (and trees), so our brains should focus on inventing a synthetic paper that would save them. Second, we'd be in our cars again using more gas. So, again, technology could focus on really effective forms of mass-transportation (NOT the RTD) – something truly modern, efficient, and clean.
Some would argue that “some” satellites are crucial for (???) space exploration, weather data, and so forth. And that opens a Pandora's box for arguments justifying other satellite systems for other things – ad hysterium. The floodgates would open for “legal rights” to space. Also, it's true - your kid would no longer be able to text while driving, families could no longer escape each other while eating dinner, scyping would end, GPS navigation, and so forth – OMG! We'd be forced to mentally and physically slow down, catch our bearings, and regain some perspective on reality – absolutely no way!!
But it's the Faustian deal (as I see it) if we want to regain a patina of sanity in the world. We lose some things (mostly indulgences we don't need and which are not good for us), and we gain something (definitely not an indulgence).
Well, like I said, dream on. It would never happen – the unseen powers controlling our minds, bodies, and money would never permit it. Also, we're simply too spoiled and “addicted” by now. It would be like wrestling heroin from a user with a syringe stuck in his arm (almost) every minute of every day.
Still, it's an idea. It would be a kind of tech-revolution in reverse. Going forward means going backwards. There's something oddly ancient and prophetic in that notion.
William of Ockham (Occam) must have seen his razor on an open country road!
Marti: thank you for your insight here. -- rick