In July last year, I published a post entitled, ‘In Praise of Ignorance’. I sought to describe some challenges of the human condition – we don’t know everything, yet we manage to stumble through Life, more or less ok. And yes, I did quote Donald Rumsfeld’s words about ‘Known Unknowns’ et cetera.
It is a learned skill, I believe, to accept that we are ignorant of much which affects or is going to affect us quite shortly. I do not refer to wilful ignorance – blithely ignoring accumulating facts which lead to an inevitable conclusion – an obvious example might be what is happening to the world’s climate as a result of human activity. No, what I mean is that we should incorporate two courses of action in our lives: first, not to go seeking out bad news. The second is not to avoid bad news when it happens around us.
My 21st August piece about news pouring from the radio these days centred upon the natural prurience of human beings – all our media exploit the delight we take in schadenfreude – a German word summing up the relief we feel when someone else suffers misfortune rather than us. Increasingly, I am afraid the truth is that a more accurate name for the phenomenon is ‘epicaricasy’ – literally, finding joy in evil. Or rejoicing in the evil befalling another.
Are you guilty of ‘Doom Scrolling’? You spot an article which pops up on your news feed. You consume it, ie. spend more than two seconds glancing at the headline and the clever algorithm concludes you like the article. It sends you more of the same. Before you know what has happened, you are led to the belief that this is all the news there is in the world. If I am charitable, I’ll say that very clever people designed these manipulators of behaviour in order to encourage you to buy their Cheesy Widgets or whatever they are selling. In less charitable moments (I do have some of those) I wonder if manipulation of the populous towards unsavoury political ends might underly the effort.
Is it any wonder that people feel ‘down’, pessimistic, unsatisfied? Even medically depressed? Following such mass conditioning, we are easy meat for whichever politician comes along and says, ‘Whatever ails you, I can fix it. Look over there – there is your enemy. They are the reason you feel bad.” Immigrants? Sure. Bankers? Of course – How could I forget them? The Deep State? Ah yes – that label can be applied to anyone I don’t like.
There are good things happening in the world. The media choose not to broadcast them because they don’t sell newspapers. Yet for us to have a more balanced view, we should consume good and bad news. But where to go for our Recommended Daily Allowance of good news? I’ll leave that up to you – perhaps you are clever enough to fool the algorithm into switching you into a Good News consumer. Or maybe you can take conscious pleasure in something good. Walk through the trees, breathing the same air. (The Japanese call this ‘Shinrin Yoku’ or ‘forest bathing’ - absorbing the scents of essential tree oils and phytoncides given off by the plants). You may read of a medical breakthrough. Or a local school raising funds for some worthwhile cause. Perhaps you have a fool-proof method of dealing with slugs..? In which case, let me have it!
I promise your life will be better. Better sleep, healthier gut, fewer arguments with your spouse. Gee, I’d better be careful – next I’ll be writing, ‘Vote for me and I’ll set you free’.
Next is my recommendation not to ignore bad news when it happens around you. This is trickier, because it can be overwhelming. And we are naturally disposed to look at the entirety of a situation in order to figure out the solution. Trouble arises when a person can see the resources needed extend far, far beyond what they can provide. This is the moment when you have a choice of four actions:
i) You can decide to let yourself become over-stressed, overwhelmed and, after a painful spell of this, be unable to cope with even straightforward tasks.
ii) Perhaps you reckon that, either physically or metaphorically, you can put your fingers in your ears and deliberately ignore what you see coming.
iii) Or if you are going to accept that you cannot do everything – you cannot fix a great deal in Society, in Life, by yourself. Just accept that the world will be what the world will be. Perhaps everything will be alright; perhaps it won’t. Perhaps others will fix it. Or not.
iv) Rarely, some recognise what is building and heading their way. They know they don’t have the resources to challenge it, but they set about acquiring those resources. Perhaps they make a cabin in the woods and stock it with cans of food – ‘Preppers’. Or they gather others, influence them to join together to tackle whatever is the perceived threat or challenge.
In my view, the healthiest option above is number (iii) for most folks. They remain cognisant of approaching threats (and opportunities) and also keep watch for the exceptional individual with whom they might join in order to survive. Such people are said to be natural leaders. Or charismatic. But beware the charlatan peddling snake oil! They don’t always look like slugs, but they leave a trail of slime, real or metaphorical and consume those meagre resources which you have been growing and nurturing for your family.
Ask yourself: are they padding their own resources at your expense? Perhaps manufacturing some imagined, unstoppable hazard of which you were not aware? Is their every pronouncement confirmed by independent sources? Do you even have access to independent sources of information? Most especially – are you being told what to watch, what to read, what to think? And threatened with punishment if you try to look elsewhere? Can they take a joke..?
I commend a short story to you, by Kurt Vonnegut: ‘Harrison Bergeron’. Included within his book, ‘Welcome to the Monkey House’, it is set in 2081.
QUOTE
Everyone is supposed to be the same as everyone else. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General. Some things about living still weren’t quite right, though. April for instance, still drove people crazy by not being springtime. And it was in that clammy month that the H-G men took George and Hazel Bergeron’s fourteen-year-old son, Harrison, away. It was tragic, all right, but George and Hazel couldn’t think about it very hard. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn’t think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains. George and Hazel were watching television. There were tears on Hazel’s cheeks, but she’d forgotten for the moment what they were about.
UNQUOTE
Extreme? In 1961, when he published it, how everyone laughed at its absurdity. I invite you to compare Mr Vonnegut’s dystopian vision of 65 years ago with the moral and societal wrongs being inflicted upon many western countries by their governments.
Hey ho. Only 56 years to go.
