Why is there so much violence and corruption going on today? Why is everyone so obsessed with themselves? Why do people, especially younger people, have so little regard for life, for things that are natural or historical, or for the concerns of others? You may have heard me say before that I am afraid that the glory of our human civilization has peaked, today's technology revolution is simply the final chapter of the waning Renaissance, and we may well have begun the downward spiral toward another Dark Age. I don't know what we can really do about it, except try to understand it.
The dilemma is very, very complicated--a combination of problems, as I see it. So, let's look at problem number one and save the others for another day. This is the one I call 'Virtual Overcrowding'--a weird sort of population explosion brought on by the way technology puts us micrometers away from virtually everyone else on Earth. If you are a social media obsessive, you probably think this is a good thing, right? However, it's always been true that the more people we come in contact with each day, whether directly or indirectly, the more chances there are for conflict...and the more need there is for regulation, laws, and, yes, political correctness (i.e using discretion and practiced dishonesty).
Back in the old days, we might have come in contact with maybe a couple dozen people a day---family, friends, coworkers, etc. But today, thanks to technology, we come in contact with thousands (Think of every face, or image of a face, you see on TV, the internet, social media, in public places, driving down the street, etc.). You are not aware of it, but these are people you are in contact with and affected by. And when you are in constant contact with such a huge number of people virtually every minute of every day, and are expected to be politically correct to every one of them, it eventually warps the whole way you interact with people and the society around you. It can mess your mind up. You start to become antsy and irritable, and things resembling depression, ADHD and PTS begin to seep into your personality.
Scientists have known this for years. I remember learning it back in biology class; that when so many of a species---mice, monkeys, ants, or whatever--are crammed in a cage together causing severe overcrowding, they start doing wierd things: rape, deceit, violence, sexual perversion, stealing, substance abuse, etc. In other words, their society breaks down. Could that be what is happening to us?
My theory is that we are suffering the consequences of over-population--not actual numbers of people, but 'virtual overcrowding'. Hence the mass murders, terrorist activities, and disregard for institutions like religion and family. Our society is crumbling under its own weight. And it is especially bad for young kids whose developing minds are also having to cope with other powerful forces: peer pressure, for instance, and negative influences coming at them from all directions, including the dark worlds of entertainment and marketing.
So there you have it. One of several possible problems worth pondering. The others we can go into someday. But the question facing us now is this: Is there anything we can do about it? I don't know, but I have a sense that we basically have just two choices: either resolve to change our culture by adding more moral and ethical parameters...or opt to leave it altogether and go live in a small insular community (like my proposal, the Naoi Meadow Way) where we and people like us get to call the shots and do things our way. Personally, I am rapidly losing confidence in the first option.
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