manitou Posted August 20, 2021 (edited) 7 hours ago, thelerner said: Misery Porn. The basis of most reality shows and lower end talk shows. Trotting out unfortunate folks and putting them/encouraging them to show their very worst side. News does it too- it bleeds it leads. A distillation of all that's going wrong in the world. Watch enough and that's how you come to view the world. But it's wrong. Those shows are like a photo, often 'posed' of people at their worst. The news is the news because its the exception. 99.9% of the world is.. not exactly fine, but regular. Same as yesterday. People either doing their best or running on auto-pilot. Easy to see others as idiots but walk in their shoes and you get fuller perspective. They have reasons not apparent from a surface glance. I was thinking very closely along these lines this morning. We apparently believe what we want to believe, and then subconsciously find the evidence that aligns with what we already believe to be true. Proof of this is the 180 degree difference between the right wing talking heads and the left wing talking heads. It is all so predictable, what their response will be, because they wear their precious beliefs on their chests for all to see. I guess that's how us human animals are. I think perhaps another definition of enlightenment would be, to have no beliefs or opinions at all. Those people who happen to be sitting in key positions, those who cover the human affairs and selectively decide what news is and isn't - that's exactly what you're saying too, lerner. Your handle says it all. 'thelerner'. The beginner's mind, the mind that knows nothing, the mind that is open to learning at each and every moment. Maybe that's why in the DDJ there is that mention of how the people on the terraces in the springtime are witty and merry making, and he alone feels like a dullard? (Paraphrased, obviously ) The merrymakers in this analogy are sharp, clever; the one who knows the Real feels muddled and nebulous. Because one with opinions has closed themselves off to an alternate view So, I'm with you. Whatever we see come across on a screen is merely someone's idea of what news is. And the incredible thing is that these Deciders of What News Is sets humanity down various paths where everyone buys into everything, because it's all become so condensed and confusing. We need simplicity sometimes, we crave it. But within the problem lies the answer, as I see it. We all have the capacity now, economics allowing, to determine the truth, to the best of our ability. We have access to the information at our fingertips. Surely somebody can come up with a way to still get and disseminate the truth, whatever that is, without spin. Or maybe not. Anything observed is going to contain the internal spin of the observer's conditioning, so every report is going to be skewed, like the old telephone game. But this is when it's fun to jump back and forth from what is reported as reality, and then going up to the mezzanine and, out of realization that we're all the same being, see how ridiculous it is for one leg of a centipede to kick another leg. Thanks, lerner. Misery Porn. That's it exactly. Edited August 20, 2021 by manitou 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thelerner Posted August 21, 2021 I recently found myself wasting too much time on Reddit and Quora. Reading news and opinions. The more I opened the more it catered to my prejudices. Subtly at first, but after a few days everything was so agreeable to my point of view. Like sugar. Like skating down hill. We're much more susceptible to 'likes' and agreement than we realize. I was reading about one Qanon guy who made it big. He didn't start out w/ rabid, make believe ideas. It was 'likes' that turned him. Writing on normal things gave him a few likes, writing political gave him dozens, but the more outrageous he wrote, the more approval he got. From dozens to 1,000s to 10,000s. People showing him love, the more outrageous he spewed, the better. Growing until it became self feeding madness and he was in the middle of it, raking in some decent cash and rationalizing the craziness. We want to feel superior. We want to save the world. A little bit is fine, but too much and we fall into some pretty deep traps. The worst kind, because we enjoy being in them. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doc benway Posted August 21, 2021 34 minutes ago, thelerner said: We want to feel superior. We want to save the world. A little bit is fine, but too much and we fall into some pretty deep traps. The worst kind, because we enjoy being in them. It begins with being conditioned to craving approval from our earliest times in childhood. Approval of parents, siblings, teachers, employers, lovers, the list is endless. It’s subtle and pervasive in our patterns of behavior. This is a central focus of many talks by Father Anthony Demello - one of my favorite teachers. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted August 21, 2021 And even TDBs has conditioned us with Likes. I Like the Likes. Yes, it's like it scratches an itch sometimes. Conditioned by Likes. That's good, Lerner. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thelerner Posted August 21, 2021 1 hour ago, manitou said: And even TDBs has conditioned us with Likes. I Like the Likes. Yes, it's like it scratches an itch sometimes. Conditioned by Likes. No Likes for U ManitoU 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted August 22, 2021 16 hours ago, thelerner said: No Likes for U ManitoU No Soup for U today. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
