The Attraction of the Distraction
The story goes like this..........
I can't sleep. It's not that it's a choice, I'd want to sleep if the choice was mine at a snap of the fingers. However I'm aware of the minutia behind the semi-frustration of why I cannot pass into the abysmal mental death called sleep. The unconscious calling of thoughts, images based off those thought and then the emotional link tied to those images that raise the heart rate. If I think about scenarios at work or with friends, the wrong scenario will raise my heart rate due to the emotion that is tied to those people and within that situation. And of course one's heartrate needs to be relatively low in order to pass out for sleep. An example of that emotional play is a lil spat I had with a dear friend. I run the verbose over and over within my head looking for the trigger on the play of words which would cause frustration within his mind that led him to leave in anger. Doing so allows me to relive the emotion directly and realistically just like the situation is happening again in real time. His story of the events of course differs then mine, so then I have to dig within my head to find the truth between the two truths of what was said. And then the trick is to rest on my laurels of knowing my version of the truth is more then likely what actually transpired. (with the awareness my version still might be off) verses his. However the entire purpose of that experiment is to desensitize myself to the 'need to get emotional' about a friendship, which helps facilitate my ability to look past the shallowness of a lil argument and not let it alter, stop, or further disrupt a friendship of many years. In which case, I know i'd have to swallow pride and more then likely offer the first step to 'apologize' for my actions (even tho we're both liable). Simply because I know the other party of this argument does not apply thought towards the end goals of life in the same fashion I seem capable... And that thought alone frustrates me further, thus raising my heartrate to further distance my ability to sleep.
Why does the one that applies the most thought towards a scenario end up realizing the faults on both parties and thus puts it up to them to fix, further destroy or just let the scenario be? Nothing gets solved without conscious thought towards a certain situation. Emotion alone is unable to rationalize all the intricacies of the conversation, body language, tone of the verbose, understanding the conversation an hour or a day before an argument that might have led to the 'blow-out'.. Then to place it into one tangible explainable thought to allow the person to make the educated conscious choice of a "yes" or "no" based on all the available information within their perception. It's impossible and not emotion's purpose in life... so why do so many people allow it? What is the attraction of that distraction? Where in the timeline did modern humanity leave the majority of their choices up to what I call spooky logic? The logic that a person would label as a 'gut instinct' the 'devotion to emotion', the choices that they cannot explain to even themselves (which is just baffling), and those choices are thus forced into the forefront of their life.. and before one knows it.. their entire life is based off subconscious emotional causality that may or may not be beneficial for them.... And when it's so blatantly put in front of me in words I can see and understand.. that shit is just crazy. So why, why Mr.Anderson, why does humanity prefer the distraction of the attraction of emotional reaction? I of course, have my theories. :)
So let's get to it. There is no manual for our thoughts, there is no pre-requisite in life and specifically that qualia of swirling pulsating consciousness buried deep within your brain and brain-stem. There is no test before hand around age 8 to see if the child is even competent enough to handle the pressures that society presses upon us. And even if not (he/she fails that test) society would not remove that life to protect the greater whole.. America is set up as it is to support the lowest common denominator So with that understanding it's up to each and everyone of us to make sense of our perceptions of life. Or to ask someone to protect us since for some, life seems too complex... as tho it was supposed to perplex. It's up to us to remove the fear and doubt that would hamper our lives and not allow us to live a prosperous life compared to that of the 301 million other Americans. It's really not that difficult, we grow in life and desensitize ourselves from the basic fears that paralyzed us as a kid. If one is looking for an analogy: The deafing sound of a chainsaw as a kid is no louder then it is as an adult. Sure you can base theory's off of a child's ability to hear purely, is far greater then that of an adult. But basic reasoning and many discussions on this matter leads most people to believe the child just hasn't accustomed his/her hearing to one of the necessary evils in life (Think we'd have this life we live now without the modern invention of a chainsaw?) And as an adult, that chainsaw is now bearable with same ear now also having the capacity to listen/hear and comprehend exacting pitch changes in Mozart. Something a child is not trained upon as of yet.
I find parents do a horrible job preparing youths for this cause, because most adults are also lost in life regarding that exacting purpose. Let's tell a story, It all starts somewhere around age 14-19, when the young adolescent starts detaching themselves away from the parents/adult oppressive control (that control is specifically how the adult wants the child to live their life). Once that subconscious attempt starts to take place (no 14 year old is consciously aware of the parents intent is lost upon the parents as well) that's when for the first time that youth actually starts to develop that consciousness of their own. And for the next few years that youth undergoes nothing short of exponential growth of self. Parents of course mostly see this as rebellion and detachment away from their own laws and control over what they only perceive as their right/property. (which of course that view defeats the purpose of parenthood) And of course the parents reject the youths new found objectives because for the parent, life as a teenager was so far long ago, they've lost any and all ties to that free mindset... even tho they themselves have lived it almost exactly the same only at a different time. They only see the childs life as an end goal for themselves. The child never fails, the lost parents never fail. And within the lost mis-direction of the parent for that reasoning, purpose is found based on the success of the child.
So fast forward the time-line on this imaginary youth we're tracking to 18-21 years of age. For the last few years in the pinnacle of his mental growth (brain size and conscious, social, cultural ) has been spent distracting the mind away from the self. Partying, gaining popularity, the chase of a female/males, driving with friends to destinations that only propagate that distracting mindset. (the fun stuff in life youths are basically supposed to do and get it outta their system) However, within that the youth never learns through proper reflective processes how to evaluate the self and learn from the slight victories/failures in life. Develop a character that is their own. More then likely using the excuse "i'll learn it later" if they are even capable of that forethought. Now... here comes the problem in life. Call it fate, call it natural human inclination, call it damnation. Around age 21 the youth should either be wrapping up a college career, or already years into the work force to support their new independent lifestyle. 3-4 years away from age 25 or basically a third of their life. They should 'want' to do this to remove themselves from the fallacy of parental control. However in today's pacifist society more then likely the youth is still living at home while they continue verbatim on the same trend and path that they've known for the last now 6-8 years of their life. Or they've now engaged in irresponsible breeding practices without a stable relationship to base the new born's next 18 years on. Which leads to my main argument of the title of this dissertation, the reasoning of why the majority of humanity seems to be attracted to the distraction.
If you're a clever person you more then likely are already aware of the path i'm going. It's no secret to us, we tease ourselves about it. We have nicknames for it, we toss the verbiage around like a child's toy. Call it what you will, the routine, a set pattern, the basis is the repetition of a known pattern in your life that you've learned through experience for the purpose of survival, pleasure or frighteningly so an unknown reason to oneself. A routine that you're either unwilling or unable to walk away from or change. Humanities Haze, so set in their ways. Perhaps the routine is valuable and expedites your preparation for work in the morning, or you use it as a relaxation method for after work religiously. Worse yet perhaps the routine has turned into a habit, a perhaps negative habit. The problem with set routines is the why within the how. The brain that helps regulate and in parts control that qualia of consciousness loves to wallow in that same set pattern. For change in the brain/mind requires actual mapping of neurons, growth of axons and a slew of unique connections to map new perceptions to new experiences, and then the continuation of the energy to maintain that new growth.. Seems like a lot of work on the subconscious/instinctive level doesn't it? But that question is exactly why humanity loves to fall into the set routine and pattern in life, love, and in their mind all together. The brain like any other part in the body when full use and constant testing are ignored the organ atropiates. To quote "The mind does not like discipline and will resist your efforts to discipline it. It loves its freedom more than anything else, and will try to stand in your way to master it, in any way it can. - Csikszentmihalyi " Examples of this are, cease working out, muscles reduce, watch tv 5-8 hours a day, brain solidifies thus you die. The lack of constant learning, new obsessions and flow, adaptation of the verbatim expedites the downward spiral of the mind. Like America, the brain and body set itself up to survive at the lowest common denominator. But that glory is temporary as time then becomes the forefront of your enemy with that mindset.
Due to the set patterns in life in which they've learn earlier on, those neuronal pathways become solidified and new patterns that help facilitate change and adaptation are never fully realized within the brain. Much like I preach all the time, the body does reflect the mind. Without that self taught drive to force change upon yourself due to the reflection and observation of one's set routine, one's reflection of character based on their own observations of self in society, and reflection of judgement based off the character that should be starting to be defined by yourself at age 25. One will never learn that pattern of growth that leads to a better character that cannot be taught, the mind starts to solidify earlier on, the pliable white matter of freshly mapped connections within the mind turn to the harder set in their ways gray matter. Without the constant forcible adaption of change, your body learns it no longer needs to adapt for survival.. which if you're a Darwin fan should realize the basis of our bodily systems are based to recognize survival and the propagation of that survival at almost any cost to the human body. Cut off the arm to save the body (frosebite), cut off the mind to save the self.
Now that one's basically convinced the body that adaptation and growth is no longer needed the body only sees that as a switch to start to decline. Within that powerful decline white hairs pop up or start to fall out earlier then expected. Due to lack of learned perception years of walking with shoulders slumped forward causes poor posture and later on back problems. The posture leads to drooping of the peck muscles for the males and sagging for females (but that's more due to bra training and usage) and of course years of poor diet due to sheer neglect now melds the pecks and extended gut into one coherent mess of a shape. The heel drag of a lazy pace turns into foot problems which of course compound back problems later on in life. Years of neglect to the average male facial skin leaves deep rutted lines and flaky poor complexion of the skin and still, people are unaware of the change when it's so blatant in front of them, I can see the death in their clouded eyes from a simple observation. All they need is a mirror. Now the years of our youth are rolling faster at an exponential rate. Even while accomplishing nothing with his life the years seem to pass by with ease. Thirties blow by, into the forties. Age sets in hard for our now pass middle aged subject. Years of neglect have caught up to them, and lost for the reasoning of why the body has betrayed them. They now turn to one of the only 2 saviors they've set themselves up to accept. God and doctors. Of course the doctor cannot point out the hypocrisy of 45 years of neglect. His hypocritical oath is to heal without question. And due in large part now of our media and advertising driven society, the acceptance and ease of that treatment by large scale pharmaceutical companies is now the society norm. Take one pill to cure an aliment, take another pill to ease the side effects of the first pill.. Clever ploy is it not? You couldn't plan it any better to take advantage of a person who's whole life is set up to ignore pattern and observation. And of course, our subject lost in his ways as he's forced to recognize the possibility of an early death for the first time in his life, does not question but gulps down the treatment with hope.
In conclusion (which will be a rant). I have a saying which I didn't make up i'm sure. You start dying the moment you are actually born. This line holds a certain truth as we don't get this consciousness it takes to read and understand this line until around 8-12 years of age. That ability to allow yourself to understand, I the writer am talking to you the reader, even tho I have no idea whom you are. Just is something a child doesn't understand yet due to lack of experience and self teachings. At that time the body is already starting to peak, puberty starts, it's the first day of summer in that persons life. The consciousness is fresh and new, while humanity only gives themselves roughly 10 years on their own (during a peak of hormone confusion from 14-24) to create a mindset that will last them the remaining 40-50 years! The sheer audacity and off-balance karma cries havoc to the mind and causes it to retract to only that which it knows for sure. It creates a need not to survive but to simply exist... And that is not enough internal drive to sustain a healthy life which requires 2500-3000 calories a day to maintain a body heat of 98.5 degrees for 365 days a year and out of that you hope to get 65> of those years. The drive comes from internal. It's self taught only if you are listening. Each of us has the ability to remove the party phase of life from the mind and start to use this life for what it is. Call it existentialism, call it narcissism. We're a product of our market driven environment in the age of excess, with the freedom of knowledge that even the professionals, the psychologist, shrinks, head docs try as they might.. still cannot reduce a thought down to a mathematical equation to see if it is correct or not. There is no zero and one to your thought, and if they found one would you believe the white men lost so deep within themselves, their purpose is to find the exacting purpose of thought... why so they can then tell us how to think after making it an official science. And then of course profit off that.. Because that is what is going to take for them to finally believe this rhetoric they spew forth. . Where we can afford to try out making this life about us, me I or you. Where the average is now capable of the extreme and all I see is people wasting it on a routine.. Damn that rhymes. Of course I know I didn't hit up on the %1 I call them( One-percenter) . The rariety among us now-a-days that choose to be alone because something inside them (there are thories that our social order is determined by our genes much like that of eye color*) Those that reject society by choice, and choose to listen instead to their own voice. And out of 301 million that still leaves an amazingly high 3 million 10 thousand people in america alone. (and i'll give you that 1% is a low ball number).
What also is a safe assumption that if u got to the end of this dissertation on your own after being asking nothing of you, it's possible you retain the articulate nature to be one of those one percenters. So then if that's true, and you think you have your life in order. I ask you, understand your place within it. Look around and observe humanity, be kind to them, engauge them in conversation. Test them for us. They are our future as they breed out of control. They listen to the music the one perceters make, the movies they create, the recipes for the food they eat. The numbers are so out of favor for the one percenters there creates the subconscious Eienstien theory. For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. If the one perceter theory holds any candle and if you can apply the theory of general realitivity to it, that would mean for every One percenter deep within them lays 99 individuals lost within themselves. Feel that power, and be responsible.