The Powerful Trend No One Comments On

by metatron 39 Replies latest jw friends

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  Markfromcali

  As to porn causing impotence, it DEFINITELY does!!! Probably not right away; probably not in every man, but looking at porn leads to impotence because there IS NO SUCH THING as a perfect "10"...

  And here I thought it's because peole jerked off way too much..

  Uh hem, anyways.. As far as a collective consciousness go, some may say it already exist - but it is just not very self aware, but it's there just in the sense that there are certain common mental patterns in the collective. Or for that matter, the electronic connectivity is just a reflection of something happening with that collective consciousness.

  We don't know for sure how it'll turn out, in the long run it may be nice but this kind of behavior clearly shows that we're working with very low common denominators. I may have posted this in another thread a while back but it's relevant here:

  Children want attention. Therefore, young adults, in their newly extended childhood, can now perceive themselves to be finally getting enough attention, through social networks and blogs. Lately, the design of online technology has moved from answering this desire for attention to addressing an even earlier developmental stage.

  Separation anxiety is assuaged by constant connection. Young people announce every detail of their lives on services like Twitter not to show off, but to avoid the closed door at bedtime, the empty room, the screaming vacuum of an isolated mind. -Jaron Lanier, You Are Not a Gadget

  He actually doesn't say it's all bad, but referred to it as a kind of neoteny which is potentially positive in that we are not so instinctual and continue to learn, so for that matter even habits are not necessarily that rigid. But if people are so used to the structure of the networks that they don't take on new learning, it becomes very dull and the great connectivity we have would just become a way to reinforce those lower instinctual traits, which is no doubt why there's these mob dynamics and such.
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  ziddina

  "OK, I'll offer my wild and crazy idea about this trend: it may be a necessary step in human evolution towards a collective consciousness.

  Here we go - if there is any truth in reported encounters between humans and extraterrestrials, notice how invariably the ETs have telepathy. Frankly, I would expect that a highly advanced civilization would ......."

  Metatron, I see your point, but I wouldn't hold out any hope that the "twittering/tweeting/texting" would lead to such an advancement...

  Because the people who ARE "twittering/tweeting/texting", are IGNORING reality and life as it goes on around them...

  Telepathy that evolves from an obtuse disregard for reality and real life, wouldn't effectively enhance our species' ability to survive...

  Zid
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  Markfromcali

  I've wondered about the possibility of networking using a neurointerface, but it still comes down to what you're doing with it. As it is punching in little abbreviated messages with your thumbs is not exactly high bandwidth communication. For that matter, a collective consciousness does not necessarily mean a model that takes advantage of peoples unique knowledge and abilities in an exponential way, it may just be a uniform mass with most behaving in fairly simple and predictable ways - in which case you don't even need to be telepathic. (isn't there a hierarchy for insects for that matter?) And even if people become telepathic, intelligence still counts. What good is reading other peoples thoughts if you don't understand it or know what to do with it? You can just play your part in the collective, but if there is no awareness of the whole then it's really no different than how it is now is it?
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  Snoozy

  I certainly understand what you are talking about. When visiting my daughter's Mother in law last year the whole family was in the family room. Out of my daughter's family no one was talking. My daughter was on her cell phone, my son in law was playing a game on his phone, my two grandkids where both texting on their phones..they all had their heads down and their fingers were going crazy..(this is a normal condition in their house)

  The other mother in law and I looked and started to laugh..they had no clue why we were laughing..It was really pretty pathetic.

  I saw a Supernanny show one time where she demanded that all the family members put their phones in a box when they got home so they would pay attention to each other!

  A wise move for families today it they want to survive!

  BTW..my grandkids are still joined at the hip to their cell phones.They had them since they were 14 and they still have them. They are both in college now and I am anxious to see how this generation turns out. They also demand to know where anyone is at any given moment because they can..there is no privacy.

  I wonder if someday they will not be able to talk face to face with others..

  Snoozy
• 

  Mad Sweeney

  This has the possible appearance of a first step towards linking up minds, consciousness on a mass scale - like an electronic telepathy.

  There are those who think that's how we originally were.

  http://www.bearfabrique.org/Catastrophism/babel.html

  http://julianjaynessociety.tripod.com/bicameralmind.html

  Apparently, when the earth was a satellite of Saturn, there was electromagnetism or some such "rays" that allowed human brains to communicate telepathically. Then, when the comet Venus came flying by, all hell broke loose and Mars, Earth, and the destroyed planet that became the asteroid belt were torn away from the binary proto-stars Jupiter and Saturn leaving individual humans mentally alone.

  Nice how the solar system then settled down so quickly that nobody would ever know these events occured until Velikovsky came along.
• 

  PSacramento

  texting? Iphone ?? WTF is all that ???

  * attaches note to pigeon and sends it on its way*
• 

  Heaven

  I, for one, do not wish to be in constant communication with everything and everyone so I have chosen not to own a cellphone. I'm totally cool with being able to go grocery shopping without having to answer a phone.
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  Meeting Junkie No More

  Heaven, we are part of a dying breed. I too am glad not to have one of those money-guzzling contraptions. Payphones are getting harder and harder to locate though, so I don't know how long I can hold out...

  Anyhow, good thread Metatron! This new texting/sexting generation already can't add (because they've got apps for calculations); they can't spell because you make up the words as you go; if things keep up, these people won't be able to interact socially at all. Too busy interacting with their screens to realize there's a real world all around them. I view these developments with increasing alarm...
• 

  GrandmaJones

  I can't stand to text. It feels like I am passing notes in the fifth grade. I don't understand why it is so popular. Why don't people wish to speak to each other? No one is particularly articulate in a text, and I fear that intelligent conversation will die among some of these young people. All they are saying is "What's up?........Nothing......Just hanging out, whatchou doing?"........I refuse to answer text messages, and all my grandchildren know it. If you want to talk to Grandma, then you need to CALL her! If you want to text Grandma, then it needs to say something like "Grandma, I have been kidnapped, they have me locked in the trunk of their car! I can't talk, they'll hear me! CALL THE POLICE!!!!!!" When I call them, they pick up the phone!

  I think it is rude to talk on the phone unnecessarily or text when someone else is present and trying to engage in conversation. If the call is important, excuse yourself and leave the room. Not to do so is the equivalent of two salespeople engaging in meaningless and mindless conversation while you stand and wait impatiently for them to finish. One of my grandchildren started texting incessantly during dinner (he is a teenager old enough to drive) and I sent him home because he refused to respect that. He had continued to text and he just held the phone under the table. I am not some old lady just here to cook for two hours, and you some young person here just for the free meal. I adore this child, and he loves me too. He doesn't use the phone when we do things together anymore.

  I know this may sound harsh to some, but I am of the firm belief that others will treat you in the way you permit them to treat you. I can remember once remarking at work, (when I still worked in my career) that it was so nice that it was an atmosphere where people didn't swear or tell lewd jokes. (Although I will admit privately to you that Grandma is not above amusement at one a little cleaned up a bit, so long as it doesn't demean women) Everyone present in the room laughed. "It goes on all over the building" they told me, "just not in front of you." Frankly, I was flattered.

  Unless someone is a neurosurgeon on call, or waiting for information of some importance, (it could be that someone has arrived somewhere safely, etc..that is the kind of thing that phones are for) then please don't use them in front of Grandma.

  Don't mean to offend...Just offering my own opinion.
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  cognizant dissident

  Amen Grandma! Everyone listen to Grandma, there is wisdom there!