• Our Minecraft servers are offline but we will keep this forum online for any community communication. Site permissions for posting could change at a later date but will remain online.

A Public Service Announcement

The_Great_Tito

Peacekeeper
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
1,500
Reaction score
1,819
I don't really know how many people will actually care or read through all of this message, but I suppose if people choose not to then there is not really much I can do to persuade them otherwise. I simply hope it opens up the reader's eye to other things and can stimulate their minds---make them think. (but we all know how frowned upon this is today, right?). This a short passage basically and simply explaining and translating all of my thoughts onto one page. Please note that if you are only going to post here to contribute nothing at all to the original post, I kindly ask you to refrain from posting anything at all. This is a serious topic deriving from serious thought that I would hope deserves serious examination and discussion. I post it here because I feel this is the only place where it can be noticed, as MCSG has a massive amount and variety of members.

You see, my (rhetorical) question is, why is it that, in a way, this culture mostly all of us all live in, represents distinctly and clearly, the law of diminishing returns? Why is it that in a way this culture, this ever increasing, massive, technological culture, seems to promise the fulfillment of every wish almost at the touch of a button? At your very fingertips. Yet in many well known fairy tales, when the wishes materialize, they aren't material at all. They're false! Society simply states that a lifetime of work and persistence will award you with money. Money for what? For material gain of course! They say that these things will make you happy, and that if you play their little game, they will grant you with what you want.

A common misconception; the grandest and most inconspicuous lie that has ever been fabricated in recent times. Society and the world, fundamentally, give you the definition of success, more specifically: personal success. Participate in work, become married, bear children, follow fashion, act conformed, indulge in entertainment provided for you, follow all of the laws, and save money for your old age (We'll get back to that last one later). And it seems to me anyone and everyone who steps outside of this self induced comfort zone, is deemed as:
An outcast, a freak, a leper, an exile, an outsider, a stranger, a terrorist and are generally looked down upon by everyone else. Why? Simply put, because you were told what is normal, and how to react to and treat others disobeying it.

Although, I digress. The riches that we produce and manufacture for ourselves are nothing but a facade, a hope for solace, that in reality, only exists in our minds. We know this, of course, and as a result become ever increasingly frustrated. Terribly frustrated! So what do we do? In hopes we can fix this emptiness, we go out and buy more. iPhones, Androids, Computers, Televisions, Gaming systems---you name it! We consume more. And again as a result of our actions, the planet slowly transforms into what looks to be the nursery of a spoiled child who has too many toys and is bored with them, playing with them for a few minutes only to throw them out once more. Machinery and technology that gives a surplus has ultimately and ironically left us in want. We have developed transportation and vehicles that can travel faster than anything existing before it, yet we have shut ourselves in, and are progressing as a race slower and slower.

We crave this speed as well. We want to decimate "time". We want to decimate limitations. It seems as if no one has time for anything anymore. The way of life is accelerating at such an unnecessary and incomprehensible speed. We want to get everything down and done as quick as possible. We want to convert all of the skills of work into cash: cash you can buy things with (And so this is where we find ourselves once again on the topic of cash). We then rush to get home, to get away from work, in order to get to the real purpose and business of life itself: to enjoy it. Yet oddly enough it seems that for the majority of the population what seems to be the actual point of life---what you rush home to get to---is simply an electronic reproduction of life. Except it's even worse. For this life you cannot touch and smell and taste. It has no taste; none at all. You might think that the real purpose of life in a vigorous culture such as ours would be to return home to a banquet, love making, or a riot of dancing and music. But no, nothing of the kind! You see miles and miles of dark houses, illuminated only by the flickering glow of their screens. Everyone isolated, and thus in no real communion with each other at all.

This type of isolation of people into their own private world, only creates a mindless crowd. We as a people don't get together or congregate anymore, only for public expressions to rid ourselves of our hostility and natural bitterness. Football, and other competitive sports are examples of this, and it seems that even in the scenes shown on TV it is perfectly expected to see violence or the death of innocent people---but not people loving each other. Only in a restrained or restricted way, because a show where everything is all peaceful and tranquil it seems doesn't harvest or interest viewers, it doesn't make money for networks, no of course not. So in my opinion it seems perfectly reasonable to draw a conclusion that the assumption underlying this is the display of physical love is far more dangerous and outlandish than the display of physical hate, or anger. And it seems to me that that a culture or society that has this type of assumption, is devoted, even if unintentionally or subconsciously, not to the survival of life, but to the destruction of it.

-The_Great_Tito
 

Sim_Man

District 13
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Messages
2,057
Reaction score
1,022
First! Now let me read it :p
EDIT: Read it, I feel ya
 

Blazerboy | Noah

District 13
Joined
Sep 5, 2012
Messages
3,004
Reaction score
3,436
well, what are we to do about it? i'm afraid this is how it's going to be from now on. no one will want to do something about it, and when they do they'll be denounced as one of those freaks too.
 

landowicked

Diamond
Joined
Jul 10, 2012
Messages
411
Reaction score
463
It's very true one of my favorite quotes by a very well known author is "I can write a vivid description of an axe entering a skull, and nobody says a thing, but if I write an equally vivid description of sexual intercourse, and people will tell me they arenever going to read my books again. That's messed up, intercourse has brought mmuch more joy then axes entering skulls."
 
J

Joel/MadDawg

Guest
First off I'd like to say wow, this is incredibly deep and makes me think like I don't believe anything ever has before on the forums. To be able to put your thoughts into words is harder than it seems, and you clearly possess this ability.

Quite honestly I don't know how to respond to most of this (I haven't put the time nor attention into most of your thoughts that would really make me able to respond), but one thing I do (kinda) know about is the human race and its desire for money. Simply put, money is power in society nowadays. Of course, it's basic human nature to desire power - an instinct that is arguably the reason why the human race has been so successful. And in a world where large power (political power) is unobtainable to 99% of the population, money is a reachable way to feel powerful. Even if money doesn't truly give power, it carries an illusion of power that fools almost everybody. When you get money you feel a small rush, because society accepts money as power and will enchange anything for it. Any sale you make is just buying material (random crap) for money (power).

Of course this begs the question, why does society accept money as power? This is one of the many questions about life that I have no response to.

EDIT: I realize I'm not the best at expressing my thoughts, so I'm sorry if you don't really get what I'm saying.
 

RC_4777

Mockingjay
Joined
Feb 1, 2013
Messages
10,404
Reaction score
10,589
As a counter to something you mentioned; In playing and being in this "false" world of technology, I have been able to meet very real people and form very real relationships and feel very real emotions of joy and sadness. While it can separate people, it can also serve to bring people into solidarity even with those that may live far away.
 

The_Great_Tito

Peacekeeper
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
1,500
Reaction score
1,819
First off I'd like to say wow, this is incredibly deep and makes me think like I don't believe anything ever has before on the forums. To be able to put your thoughts into words is harder than it seems, and you clearly possess this ability.

Quite honestly I don't know how to respond to most of this (I haven't put the time nor attention into most of your thoughts that would really make me able to respond), but one thing I do (kinda) know about is the human race and its desire for money. Simply put, money is power in society nowadays. Of course, it's basic human nature to desire power - an instinct that is arguably the reason why the human race has been so successful. And in a world where large power (political power) is unobtainable to 99% of the population, money is a reachable way to feel powerful. Even if money doesn't truly give power, it carries an illusion of power that fools almost everybody. When you get money you feel a small rush, because society accepts money as power and will enchange anything for it. Any sale you make is just buying material (random crap) for money (power).

Of course this begs the question, why does society accept money as power? This is one of the many questions about life that I have no response to.

EDIT: I realize I'm not the best at expressing my thoughts, so I'm sorry if you don't really get what I'm saying.
Why does society accept money as power? Well, I suppose that over the course of hundreds of years people eventually became familiar with it's concept and believed that it brought happiness because they saw the men who had lots of it were doing significantly better financially and material wise. Also because society saw that it was basically essential to it's own survival in that men were motivated to work through money and fear of never having enough of it. I know that money was not always considered evil but it seems like it is today.
As a counter to something you mentioned; In playing and being in this "false" world of technology, I have been able to meet very real people and form very real relationships and feel very real emotions of joy and sadness. While it can separate people, it can also serve to bring people into solidarity even with those that may live far away.
Right, it seems I forgot to mention the benefits of these technologies, as they were created for the good of mankind. I understand what you're saying, but I was talking more about how people use technology as a way to find solace but are unable to, so they attempt to buy more things in order to justify or to heal their reason for doing so.
 
Last edited:

AlgerWaterlow

Platinum
Joined
Apr 13, 2013
Messages
1,666
Reaction score
1,104
I, for one, am not for conforming. To anything. If the universe was a blood vessel, I'm a definite free radical. This in itself is strange because I'm still conforming to the societal construct of being a lone wolf or outcast.

While the "culture of death" as some call the technology of today may bring humanity apart, I've found myself using it, especially and exclusively the Internet, almost as a drug to escape reality. Don't have enough self-esteem to ask that cute girl at work out on a date? Play some MCSG. Your landlord raised your rent to the point where you can no longer afford it? Run to your phone and whine about it on Facebook? Only the former (first) of these has happened to me, but they are merely examples.

My point is, why is anything the way it is? "Society" is such a deeply ingrained concept in the human mind that it's maddening to try breaking through. You ever try to explain some theory or hypothesis you've concocted about the universe to someone and they just stare at you blankly like "WTH Is he/she on about?" It's because the majority of humanity seems to have contented itself with blinding or blinkering itself. I personally wanted to shed a tear when N.A.S.A. was shut down. The universe is so large, so vast. We're only infinitesimal specs compared to what might be out there, yet the societal construct of statistics and general "math" is making scientists doubt. "Ethics" are even blinkering science as to what we're allowed to study, what we are allowed to question.

I'm glad that you brought this up, Tito. How do we make others listen? Pretty speeches are apparently not enough for us commoners.
 

Ikanacanyon7

District 13
Joined
Apr 19, 2012
Messages
2,546
Reaction score
1,648
I don't really know how many people will actually care or read through all of this message, but I suppose if people choose not to then there is not really much I can do to persuade them otherwise. I simply hope it opens up the reader's eye to other things and can stimulate their minds---make them think. (but we all know how frowned upon this is today, right?). This a short passage basically and simply explaining and translating all of my thoughts onto one page. Please note that if you are only going to post here to contribute nothing at all to the original post, I kindly ask you to refrain from posting anything at all. This is a serious topic deriving from serious thought that I would hope deserves serious examination and discussion. I post it here because I feel this is the only place where it can be noticed, as MCSG has a massive amount and variety of members.

You see, my (rhetorical) question is, why is it that, in a way, this culture mostly all of us all live in, represents distinctly and clearly, the law of diminishing returns? Why is it that in a way this culture, this ever increasing, massive, technological culture, seems to promise the fulfillment of every wish almost at the touch of a button? At your very fingertips. Yet in many well known fairy tales, when the wishes materialize, they aren't material at all. They're false! Society simply states that a lifetime of work and persistence will award you with money. Money for what? For material gain of course! They say that these things will make you happy, and that if you play their little game, they will grant you with what you want.

A common misconception; the grandest and most inconspicuous lie that has ever been fabricated in recent times. Society and the world, fundamentally, give you the definition of success, more specifically: personal success. Participate in work, become married, bear children, follow fashion, act conformed, indulge in entertainment provided for you, follow all of the laws, and save money for your old age (We'll get back to that last one later). And it seems to me anyone and everyone who steps outside of this self induced comfort zone, is deemed as:
An outcast, a freak, a leper, an exile, an outsider, a stranger, a terrorist and are generally looked down upon by everyone else. Why? Simply put, because you were told what is normal, and how to react to and treat others disobeying it.

Although, I digress. The riches that we produce and manufacture for ourselves are nothing but a facade, a hope for solace, that in reality, only exists in our minds. We know this, of course, and as a result become ever increasingly frustrated. Terribly frustrated! So what do we do? In hopes we can fix this emptiness, we go out and buy more. iPhones, Androids, Computers, Televisions, Gaming systems---you name it! We consume more. And again as a result of our actions, the planet slowly transforms into what looks to be the nursery of a spoiled child who has too many toys and is bored with them, playing with them for a few minutes only to throw them out once more. Machinery and technology that gives a surplus has ultimately and ironically left us in want. We have developed transportation and vehicles that can travel faster than anything existing before it, yet we have shut ourselves in, and are progressing as a race slower and slower.

We crave this speed as well. We want to decimate "time". We want to decimate limitations. It seems as if no one has time for anything anymore. The way of life is accelerating at such an unnecessary and incomprehensible speed. We want to get everything down and done as quick as possible. We want to convert all of the skills of work into cash: cash you can buy things with (And so this is where we find ourselves once again on the topic of cash). We then rush to get home, to get away from work, in order to get to the real purpose and business of life itself: to enjoy it. Yet oddly enough it seems that for the majority of the population what seems to be the actual point of life---what you rush home to get to---is simply an electronic reproduction of life. Except it's even worse. For this life you cannot touch and smell and taste. It has no taste; none at all. You might think that the real purpose of life in a vigorous culture such as ours would be to return home to a banquet, love making, or a riot of dancing and music. But no, nothing of the kind! You see miles and miles of dark houses, illuminated only by the flickering glow of their screens. Everyone isolated, and thus in no real communion with each other at all.

This type of isolation of people into their own private world, only creates a mindless crowd. We as a people don't get together or congregate anymore, only for public expressions to rid ourselves of our hostility and natural bitterness. Football, and other competitive sports are examples of this, and it seems that even in the scenes shown on TV it is perfectly expected to see violence or the death of innocent people---but not people loving each other. Only in a restrained or restricted way, because a show where everything is all peaceful and tranquil it seems doesn't harvest or interest viewers, it doesn't make money for networks, no of course not. So in my opinion it seems perfectly reasonable to draw a conclusion that the assumption underlying this is the display of physical love is far more dangerous and outlandish than the display of physical hate, or anger. And it seems to me that that a culture or society that has this type of assumption, is devoted, even if unintentionally or subconsciously, not to the survival of life, but to the destruction of it.

-The_Great_Tito
Oh my, great thread! This has just expressed my exact thoughts on the society we live nowadays. Im glad Im not the only one. I have many more thoughts on the topic too but this has just reprecented most of it.

I wanted to point out specially on what you said on the fifth paragraph about how everything nowadays is wanted to be done/gotten quicker and quicker as it is something Ive suffered personally... I just despice the fact that everything has to be NOW and theres no patience on things anymore, this is something that affects me pesonally as it makes me feel I dont have a space in this society, and Im never gonna be given one for the fact I have a diagnosed problem which prevents me from interpreting information and tasks at the normal speed most people do... basically, Im slow, not meaning Im stupid, but just that I get to understand things (and thus start doing them) at a slower rate than the average person. I really whish our society could go back on this... but it wont, and that is just another example of how it can outcast people who dont "fit" the requirements to be in this comfort zone...


Sorry if what I said isnt very clear, Im not very good at expessing my thoughts.
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
242,192
Messages
2,449,550
Members
523,971
Latest member
Atasci