Plague Journal, Shilling To Oblivion
Organisms
soldier on unwittingly.
The difference between how things seem
and how things really are
is just as fatal a gap for them as it can be for us,
but they are largely oblivious to it.
The recognition of the difference
between appearance and reality
is a human discovery.
False belief = getting it wrong.
Truth-telling is, and must be,
the background of all genuine communication,
including lying.
Deception only works
when the deceiver has a reputation
for telling the truth.
Truth,
without being appreciated or conceived of,
is an ideal that constrains
the perceptual and communicative activities
of all animals.
— Daniel C. Dennett
Attempting to write while seated in the breakfast room of the Best Western, the TV incessantly yammers over my right shoulder. One commercial sells me a product to lose weight, another shills prescription medications pitched with mention of the short list of fatal side effects, and “news” reports of a litany of disasters, death in the extraordinary heat, etc. Such does not end, and the media hose continues 24×7.
What about that “ideal” that constrains the perception and communication activity of the human mammal? Climate change events are coming with regular frequency, never mind that we’ve yet to marshal attention to begin to change our customary way of life. The virulent religio-politico “conservatism” continues unabated in small rural communities. Hospitals fill to the stress point with covid delta variant patients.
Too many of us soldier on unwittingly.
4 thoughts on “Plague Journal, Shilling To Oblivion”
As Al Gore’s rather dystopian documentary claimed in its title – “An Inconvenient Truth”. This is exactly the direction the human species seems bent on following in regards to avoiding anything deemed inconvenient. If it doesn’t fit the narrative we have decided to buy into (much like your ads) then it is indeed inconvenient and therefore not worth paying attention to.
FOX News tells their viewers that so-called facts are malleable and that those who cry foul with regard to the many crisis we currently face on earth, are only attempting to trick their constituents into turning to fear induced liberalism. So hold onto your delusional right-wing falsehoods for either God or Rupert Murdoch will save your soul in the end, even if it is in the context of the end of days.
What I keep coming back to over and over is that perhaps we deserve what we get. Those of us who have raised the red flags of warning and continue to do all we can to stem the tide of insanity are in the global minority. If you haven’t seen the movie, The Last Wave, it is worth a look. Richard Chamberlin in an Australian film by directed by Peter Weir. All I’ll say is that visions of catastrophe visit Chamberlin’s character.
The Last Wave approaches and we will have done everything we can to stop it, but that will most likely not be near enough.
“Deserve what we get…”
I think that depends upon what we intend by the term deserve. I think that is correct in light of the fact that we follow and fulfill the course of the precursor cause/effect chains that constitute our sense of self which we “believe” is formed by our choices. We are subject to delusion, that is — easy belief in all manner of falsehoods that confirm what we wish to believe about our selves. I am sure this describes the spectrum of rationalizations which deny human activity caused climate warming, or make vaccine resistance a matter of political party allegiance.
Ah language! Our inaccurate and highly flammable use of words to try and communicate. In this particular case my intent in using the word “deserve” is based on the human predilection towards self-destructive behavior. Yes, cause and effect certainly come into play, but based on the seemingly universal ability to ignore facts while embracing inane nonsense would make it appear to be that we are deserving of whatever terrible future awaits us over the next number of years. We have lit the match, placed the pot on the burner, and willingly thrown ourselves into that very pot. It makes zero sense logically but that does not appear to have any bearing on our path towards self-destruction. So, “deserving” is indeed appropriate as far as I can see.
“Deserving” indeed from all appearances.
It does defy logic, but funny thing, how logic works well only in retrospect. Prospectively a mammal bent on solving the problem of acquiring enough food and shelter for the short term, is highly unlikely to reflect upon how the effects of it’s survival strategy might effect a wider context. And if the animal were wise enough to stop to consider the matter, — I am not convinced that it would be able to project with any confidence into the future. There are just too many unknowns. Reason works best when based upon past experience, and then, after it is too late.
But after encountering some of the long term consequences of our behavior, it does become a matter of getting our comeuppance for continuing to do what we have always done.