Culture Jam 3-71

I found this reading quite interesting. In reference to the camping trip scenario mentioned in the beginning, its scary but true. Sadly enough, I can see the beginning stages of this in my sister. She would rather sit on the beach and text people not at the beach than engage in any other beach type activity. It's annoying as anything... especially since she is younger than me, and should not appear so lethargic and technology obsessed when it comes to exploring the outdoors. Its sad, really. I thought the idea of the kids in the camping scenario going through a loss of "those selves that, when disconnected from the urban data stream, cease to function." As much as I would like to say this isn't true, a part of me thinks that if this hasn't already arrived, it is surely on its way.
I also really liked that part about the earth being a part of our bodies. "If the earth felt less like something out there and more like an extension of our bodies, we'd care for it like kin...If the self is expanded to include the natural world, behavior leading to destruction of this world will be experienced as self-destruction." This statement takes on a very holistic, nature oriented outlook on the world, which I personally think would only benefit our society. "When you cut off the flow of nature into people's lives, the spirit dies." So true, so true. All in all, I really enjoyed the Mood Disorders section.
I also found the Ecology of the mind section to be really interesting as well. It's so true though, if you look at the numbers, it seems as though America is full of people who are just mentally falling apart. "Americans are turning into annoyingly self-absorbed hypochondriacs." This is not to say all mental disorders are self created. I do think that there are some people who do have certain mental disorders, but the shear volume of people in this country alone and the range and span or disorders is just unfathomable, and not to mention unnecessary. I do believe that many of the people who are diagnosed with certain mental disorders could just as easily be helped with a lifestyle change as with psychological help or psychological medications. People are so quick to assume a drug will fix a problem they seem to have based on the symptoms just listed off to them from the television screen. When in reality getting up off the couch and getting some endorphins flowing may better relieve the depression or restless leg syndrome that may seem to be creeping up on them.
This idea of suffering caused by plentitude is also quite interesting. I wouldn't call this type of suffering as intense as the physical suffering caused by for example, malnutrition. But I do think that on some level this plentitude suffering may have some truth to it. People living shallow and meaningless lives and never knowing true satisfaction or happiness. The more things we have the less substance our lives seem to have, so to compensate for the less in out lives, we buy more, which in turn results in less. Its a vicious cycle, although no where near the level of suffering endured by those with the opposite of plentitude.
I also thought the noise section was quite interesting. One part of this section that really stuck out to me was the idea that "quiet may be to a healthy mind what clean air and water and a chemical-free diet are to a healthy body." I also really liked the the poet Marianne Moore's idea that the "deepest feeling always shows itself in silence." It's true, you can really understand how your feeling and decipher what you are thinking so much better when it's quiet and it's just you and your mind.
The jolts section was also quite interesting, it left me with the feeling that our instincts are being visually used and abused.
I thought the loss of infodiversity was also really interesting. The concept that "lack of diversity leads to inefficiency and failure...and the loss of one language, tradition, or heritage-or the forgetting of one good idea is as a big a loss to future generations as a biological species going extinct" really holds a lot of weight, and I don't think it should be taken lightly.
I also liked the Manchurian consumer section as well. The last part of this section really made me kind of step back and "take stock of my life". Would an anthropologist be able to assemble a portrait of my personality and would that portrait be " an original or a type?" It really made me wonder, and I'm still not quite sure, although I would hope the portrait would be an original one, but I'm not quite sure.
One part of the The Cult You're In section that stood out for me was that "We have been recruited into roles and behavior patterns we did not consciously choose."
In The End of The American Dream, the urban legend wedding sewage disaster example, however gross, I can see the parallels. Also, the idea of the American dream being so seductive that people just keep on dreaming is so true. People would rather just go on blindly living and ignore everything around them.