Sunday, January 16, 2011

"The Search" is Entertainment

(click to enlarge)

For a long time, I've spent my research hours pondering the outliers, the crossovers, and the masses. 

Frankly, it's time to admit they are all heading in the same direction. The difference is in their speed of arrival.

Outliers by definition are the strange exceptions to the rule. Far from proving that the law doesn't work, they show that there is a different definition to that law - that it has other boundaries and agreements. Feathers don't flaunt the law of gravity in a vacuum, for instance. However, various laws of aerodynamics tend to mitigate gravity, which give us the 7 types of flight.

Crossovers are where a study in one area suddenly shows up as a factor or explanation in another. The stone vs. feather experiment above (as executed on the Moon) is one example - aerodynamics affecting gravity. Or, in the case of outlier miracles, faith being the explanation where science can't. Huna principles giving the explanation for the light bulb and telephone being invented simultaneously on two distinctly different continents. (See Claude Bristol's "Magic of Believing" for more of these...)

The Masses are the ones who follow the rules. Marketing has long been known to deal with these by their psychological norms. For the bulk of humanity, there are simply and only one way to do things. Just as 95-99 percent of all people respond to the same stimulus, any sales page will always get between 1-3 percent response. And so spam was created. Most advertising is a numbers game. As well, around 95% of our decisions are based on subconscious decisions which can be overridden, but are mostly followed like lemmings over a cliff.

Evolution is the one argument which really makes sense out of all this.

It's logic tells us that we are heading in the "right direction". Because more people survive than succumb. Good is winning out over evil more and more every day. And our little inward "free will" is the opening to understanding how inspiration and intuition guide our progress technologically and spiritually.

Of course, we keep conspiracy theorists around (and birthers) to keep everything interesting. (But I couldn't tell you why the White House won't simply produce a bona-fide birth certificate and end the ruckus... Maybe because they thought they won too easily in 2008?) As I was saying - it makes things interesting.

The bulk of humanity is mostly involved in interesting ways of living which helps pass the time they have on this earth. There's even a remarkable niche market in helping people find what their purpose is. And then, you don't have to go further than religion or politics or "making money" to see how people invest their seconds, minutes, hours, years, etc.

One could say that all we are interested in is education, entertainment, or enlightenment. Given that we are all connected, and have an always-on connection to the entirety of knowledge on this planet spiritually - you can rule out education and enlightenment. You're already there, bub.

So the remainder is entertainment.

And so we have movies, TV, cruises (even when we get sick), trail rides, tours, pilgrimages, and so on.

Most of this is stuck to the hilt with the idea that we are separate individuals. Like players on a football field, we break into a number of teams and all play by the same rules on equally-built and maintained fields, with nearly identical safety equipment. And the trophies we pass back and forth each year, while we continue to break new records, and so on, and so on.

Of course, artists break these rules, because they see things differently. I had an uncle who told my parents I was an artist without seeing any of my work. They told him I just didn't make sense of football or sports in general. And he told them, "Well, he must be an artist. Only artists think that way." Everyone else got behind the players and teams and so on. Artists are, for the most part, outliers. (Or outlaws.)

Yet, the works true artists create are lauded beyond reason, because the bulk of humanity can't go there. Not wired that way. So it's a trade-off. Artists (even writers) really live simultaneously in a different world. Like the feather and the rock. Only devoid of their mutual environment do they act the same. Otherwise, feathers float to earth and rocks plummet.

And there are crossovers between those worlds. The occasional artist who is an outstanding football player - or the football player who paints, plays instruments, etc. And there are some "modern" artists who simply can't. Their work sells either by outrageous marketing efforts (sold to the masses) or doesn't sell at all. Wannabes. You look at Picasso's stuff and you'll find that he was an incredibly accurate portraitist in his earlier work. And Pollack studied under Thomas Hart Benton in classic studies before he drowned himself in psychologically exploratory drip-painting. Art which truly is loved through the ages has a master's life-long study of art and communication and life behind it.

But back to our point - we are essentially moving forward as a culture. Our spirituality continues to evolve much as our mechanistic technology does. All moving in the realm of good winning out over evil.

So you can rest easier at night.

The main difference is arrival speed. Those few and minority active people (and these include politicians, oddly enough) are very active and work to change things. (While the rest of the governed would rather they simply didn't. By consistent survey, people are happier with Congress when they are gridlocked.)

But we are all "getting there", regardless. The 9-5-plus-overtime worker with their TV set and beer, is making progress in general. And by their influence, they help others to keep on the "straight and narrow path." Government takes its share of their income (by whatever means it can) and keeps the roads open and it's crony supporters rewarded with fat contracts, etc.

Everyone wins in this. Representatives and Senators who don't reflect their voters' wishes are replaced with regularity. And with the Internet, it's easier than ever to let them know exactly what we consider they should do.

Again, it's the point that every decision you make moves you forward or back. Fortunately, we are mostly taking far more steps forward. Evolution proves it. Regardless of how we started, the doomsayers have never proved their point. Sure, we've had the Black Plague, Hitler, and so on. But Nagasaki and Hiroshima showed that we really don't want to go that route. North Korea and Iran are working to prove that once again. (And the people who live in those countries are some of the poorest on earth, while their governments are investing in becoming "world powers". Here's a hint - get a life. Your neighboring countries have.)

Just read this (or consider it) when you get feeling down. And realize that your emotions and feelings are just what you create them to be - that you can simply let go of the bad and start feeling good.  Because good is what will get you there.

And now, you can see why I'm going to start cartooning for a living. Lighten everyone up a bit and we'll get there faster.

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