My husband and I have had some pretty long conversations about why Hollywood keeps rehashing old idea's and creating franchises. True, the Marvel franchise works but that's because it's based on a long established history of hundreds of characters.
We've also talked about how music sucks these days. Some will say it's because it's the accessibility of cheap equipment, some will say it's because the generations after the Milennial's lack the intelligence to play musical instruments, and still more will say it's because labels want to market people based on their looks and not talent. However, I disagree with all of these. I've seen a real lack in every creative activity including video games, art, movies, books and music. Even science has slowed down considerably. A lot of the 'innovations' we see coming out today were invented prior to 2000. Companies were just holding onto the ideas because they want to exploit each trend for as long as possible. Designs are being improved but that's the extent of the creativity even in science. That has lead me to wonder...is Creativity Dying in the United States and if so...Why? As you can tell by the preceding moving clip the phenomenon reminds me of the concept of the Nothing in the Never Ending Story. "(Every part of Fantasia)...is a piece of the dreams and hopes of mankind...people have begun to lose their hopes and forget their dreams so the Nothing grows stronger...it's the emptiness that is left...it is like a despair...because people who have no hopes are easy to control and whoever has the control has the power." The Dystopian Future Phenomenon A vast majority of humanity, and thus the collective consciousness, has decided that the civilization is going to fall leading to oppression by some big government. Yet, they seem to want big government so it's not a logical idea to hold. This theme is the most prevalent in the Young Adult movies including Hunger Games, Maze Runner and Ready Player One. Yet, they are equally present in movies such as Arrival, Annihilation and the Planet of the Ape's series (which I never watched). We first started to see this them back in 2007 when V for Vendetta came out. The Millennial's have no hope. They felt they were promised that they would all be famous and become millionaires. The only thing they really contributed to society are raves with ridiculous drug use that always kills at least a couple of people...which doesn't deter them from attending. Now that they are in their 20's and 30's they are resentful. Their vast majority of children born to Millennial's who had kids in their early twenties have named themselves 'the Founders' (although big established news centers are trying to call them something else). Yet, this indicates these kids really believe that the previous generations are going to mess up this planet so badly that they are going to have to reestablish civilization. I guess that's what happens when you grow up without faith in any form of a Higher Power and believing that Climate Change will inevitably wipe most species of the planet. This was long before Donald Trump so you can't blame the current president. Where Is The Creativity? There is no excuse for why creative people can't get their material out there. We have YouTube. We have free websites. We have free Social Media websites like Facebook and Twitter. Strangely, the thing is that there is creativity out there but it's not in the previous modes or channels. A lot of it is happening on YouTube. Lindsey Stirling is a great example of someone that main stream channels rejected. Yet, her persistence, unique music and here astounding music video productions made her successful...she is one of a kind. There is the entire ASMR phenomenon that I will cover soon that is extremely creative and Millions of people follow but would never have been developed through traditional media or television production. That was something that was entirely evolved online through communities. I will be covering that in a blog later. Then there are people like Ryukahr who entertain people by playing video games. I never thought I'd be sucked into watching someone else play video games but he is just a delightful, grounded, self-secure and peaceful person that he is a joy to watch. In a way he causes people to meditate and just 'tune out' of the ordinary every day concerns by enjoying him beat ridiculously hard Mario levels. So, the creativity is out there but it's happening in very small niche markets. So, why are these off beat self-made people being successful in new industries where as the established industries of Music, Literature and Film are completely stagnant? The issue lies within society itself. Companies are not willing to take risks anymore. Society is extremely fickle. Even with the economy recovering people are still hesitant about spending their money of frivolous expenditures. Imagination Is Not Valued Part of the dystopian attitude has to do with the lack of imagination. We have become so focused on the High Priests of Science (to use Thomas Campbell's term) that believe life on this planet was random chance that is short lived while also thinking that humans are the highest form of intelligence possible in the cosmos...that it leaves no room for hope. They call themselves 'realists' and they devalue anyone who thinks differently. Those who believe in a higher power in any form are typically called insane or dismissed as ignorant. Intelligence, they teach, arises from the chemicals and electrical connections (neural pathways) of the brain. Although, they can't prove how that works and they have very little understanding of it. Much like Genetics, they have maps/images of the brain, but they have no idea how consciousness might arise from it. For the most part, in cognitive psychology, they have decided that the brain is just a huge computer that some day we will be able to program. Whether it's genes or the brain science really believes they will Control the genes or brain one day. Society, for the most part, seems to believe this form of control would be a good thing because it would lead to some sort of Utopian society where everyone will live forever, be equal, and eliminate suffering. However, as the ideas expressed in the original Jurassic Park suggest...when mankind takes the control away from nature weird and negative things occur. Just like purebred dogs, a more primitive form of controlling genes through selective breeding, have a lot of issues...so too genetic manipulation would probably lead to similar unforeseen issues. When nature is not respected for the tried, true and tested natural Order that it represents but is seen as random and cruel chance...this sort of perversion controlling and manipulating nature occurs. Unfortunately, this sort of belief (that nature can and must be controlled) causes so much fear in people that they willingly allow themselves to be manipulated by those claiming to have the power to produce order out of this supposed natural chaos. The focus on memorization and the ability to spit out facts is equally detrimental to Imagination. After all, intelligence is measured by a persons ability to memorize and repeat information. Yet, knowledge is not wisdom. Knowing that there is a frog named Tutu in the Amazon forest does nothing to improve the quality day to day life of the individual. While it might impress some such memorization is neither creative or productive unless one is taking at test, playing Jeopardy or a competeing in a Spelling Bee. In effect, humans have placed a huge amount of value on useless memorization of facts that doesn't benefit society. The Buddhists call this 'naming activity' and it's seen as being relatively futile and something that people should grow out of at some point. Disrespect Of The Subconscious The Subconscious itself is written off as unimportant or as a mechanism to manipulate to get more material things. Dreams are dismissed as the brain 'crunching data' and nothing more...as though humans were merely robots. Part of this dismissal of the value of the subconscious comes...again...from Science. Cognitive Psychology, while partially of benefit, is partly to blame for this idea. If the human brain is just a biological machine and nothing more then it's underlying programs have no inherent value. Only the Waking Consciousness of the Mind is valued. As I explained, for centuries the greatest thinkers have known that their dreams have value. Einsteins best ideas came from dreams. Those who can tap into their subconscious and pull out wonderful images, stories and inventions are of extreme value to society. They drive society. Yet science and our educational institutions tell us that our dreams and imagination have no value. They are useless and childish. A child that can not memorize facts to pass a test is considered deficient. Part of this is, undoubtedly, is because a society filled with creative individuals do not make for a passive working population. Government, after all, evaluates the health of their country by the cost of goods and the amount of the population able to produce goods. The working stiff in an established corporation is not encouraged to color outside of the lines because Group Think forbids it. They are merely needed to fill their slots. Opinions and input are not valued by the average manager. The same has happened in Academia where to disagree with the group will cause perfectly qualified individuals to be tossed out on their ear and condemned by their colleagues to obscurity. Carly Jung would not be welcome on a college campus today because his ideas were just too wild. There is a reason that some of his books, including the one on Alchemy, are not being reprinted and the originals have a price tag of over $100. While Psychology has embraced some of his ideas and taught them in colleges they have shunned and attempted to suppress information about his more creative contributions that he wrote due to his ability to think outside of the box. A Larger Psychological Shadow As long as we, as a society, deny the power of the subconscious we will continue to see this static state of creativity with a few brave souls in off beat niches defying the norm. Nature does not like static closed systems...and so that which does not continue to grow and be creative will inevitably fall apart. Further, when we deny the power of the Subconscious we encourage people to repress the contents of their Subconscious. This creates a huge Psychological Shadow. As I have explained often, and you can look it up in the side bar, the Subconscious Shadow controls people making them act and behave in ways they don't understand...and logically harms them...whether the result is obesity, alcoholism or drug abuse. Conclusion Our approach to the Subconscious in the United States needs to change. We need to bring the Arts back into our schools and encourage imaginative play. We need to value hands on physical jobs the same way we value intellectual/managerial jobs. We need to start encouraging our kids to play imaginative games instead of being entertained by something outside of themselves that someone else has produced in the form of tablets, video games or unrealistic television shows. We need to encourage discussions about dreams. We need to encourage the expression of emotions and discussion of how to work with our emotions instead of repressing them. Right now society only views two emotions as acceptable- passive positivity or indignant anger. Memorizing information and facts will not solve the overwhelming amount of mental health issues in the United States. We need to teach people how to transform their Shadow into the the benevolent subconscious that drives imagination and creativity. The healthy expression of imagination and subconscious needs to be encouraged. Otherwise we will become a society of genetically created drugged up robots that will eventually willingly kill off our natural emotions and imagination. Such an artificial society cut off from nature will inevitably fail.
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Brave Soul! May Your Journey On The Path Of The Seeker Bring You Joy and Peace! I'm currently posting every Saturday. With a new addition the family I have pre-scheduled most posts through December 2022. Full Moon Posts will contain up-to-date content when I can get to them. Thank you so much for your support and understanding! This is a place where you can encounter new spiritual ideas that have helped me develop as an Individual On The Path of the Seeker. Take or Leave this information as you see fit. Archives
April 2024
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