WHERE'S YOUR HEAD AT?

or How To Explain the General Collapse of Society

Jul 24, 2022

I wasn’t supposed to see the document.

The email had arrived with a promise of photos from my talk but instead actually arrived with a spreadsheet of attendee comments.

I opened the file…

Positive comment, positive comment, glowing comment (that’s more like it), positive comment, and so on until…

“Too much talk about the pandemic”

"Too much talk about the pandemic?? Do they mean the worldwide virus that was/is one of very few shared experiences globally in over a hundred years, held economies hostage and killed millions? Too much talk??

I read further. About 1 in every 10 comments or less shared the same sentiment.

I get hired for speaking engagements. Usually comedic keynotes where I tie an inspirational story into current events and ideally provide a takeaway or two that will leave the audience inspired, thoughtful and happy.

I’m a delight.

This year, it would seem asinine to ignore this MASSIVE HUGE THING that we all have had to go through. Again, it’s one of very few shared experiences these days. We all went through it. How could we ignore it?

I understand the desire to put it behind us. I really do. However, as a nominally sentient being, I’m also aware that 1) it isn’t over yet and 2) it has had a massive impact on all of us psychologically and, for some, physically.

It’s been very real… and ignoring reality is not smart.

I kept trying to qualify this mindset of wilful ignorance with a name or description… head in the sand? Close, but no. ‘Head in the sand’ suggests the choice of ignorance over readiness but it also has a element of acceptance of consequences. I don’t think that describes it.

It goes further than that.

We were chatting with a couple of people recently and I brought up Pierre Poilievre’s name. These people are both quite smart.
Both successful. Both Canadian.

“Who’s that?” they replied.

I explained he was running for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Now, here’s the thing… if you’re not Canadian, or you’re a child, or you’re someone of very advanced years, I wouldn’t expect you to know who Pierre is. However, if you’re a Canadian currently engaged in society and aware of what’s happening in the media… any media, I’m kinda shocked if you don’t.

I’m no political junkie. Politics is gross. Slimy. An endless cha-cha of moral exchange and Pierre is an excellent dancer who is clamouring for the spotlight.

He is ubiquitous. As a fellow shameless self-promoter I doff my cap to him.

He’s a lifetime politician (technically nothing wrong with that but red flag, right?) and a bonafide political elite that has somehow convinced his supporters that he is… the opposite of that. He holds well attended rallies. His social media videos get hundreds of thousands of views. He cozies up to the “freedom convoy” crowd when it serves him. His declarations, to me at least, range from highly questionable to transparently dog whistle-ish. He is amassing a group of supporters that are, in my opinion, misinformed, over-promised, exploited and wildly volatile.
Unchecked, people (most of all his own supporters) are possibly going to get hurt fiscally or worse.

(Any of this sounding familiar to those of you mildly aware of US politics?)

Love him or hate him… as a Canadian, not knowing who Pierre Poilievre is requires real effort.

So, “head in the sand”?
No.
“Head in the clouds”?
Close, but still no.
Head in the clouds suggests a complete lack of awareness by choice. An attitude of ‘you worry too much’.
I don’t think any choice is being made because they’re not even aware.

So, what is it then? How have we ended up in a society that is so filled with seemingly chronic self-destructive apathy and blissful ignorance?

I’ve thought about this and you’re not going to like the answer I came up with.

Technology.

I LOVE technology. It is, as you can plainly see, the backbone of my entire enterprise these days.

Technology has arguably offered us unlimited choices.

In its most basic sense…
We can watch only the shows we want to watch.
We can hear only the news we want to hear.
Etc..

However, I think in being so good at offering us choices, technology has allowed us to choose our own realities.

We don’t have to experience the things we don’t want to.
Sometimes that’s good, but I think it can be not so good too.

When I first got Spotify I listened non-stop to 80s music. If I wanted, I could easily live a life that was completely unaware of what a Dua Lipa was.

What a waste.

It’s like we’ve been offered more choice than ever before and, instead of sampling and growing and learning from the bounty, we’ve decided to turn inwards and only consume the information and content we already know we like to hear/see/read.

This is like me having a regular order at Subway.
I actually hate ordering at Subway.
All those choices. I can have anything I want. It’s tiring just to ponder.
Too many choices.
No, just my regular tuna with green peppers, onions, cucumber, and mayo please.

Just give me what I know. I don’t want to be challenged.
I think that’s where we’re at currently… with everything.

It’s never been easier to live in our own bubbles.
Only consuming more of what we’ve consumed before because we don’t want to feel uncomfortable.

The dangerous part about it is, while we drift blissfully about in our chosen reality, actual reality marches on.

Until recently, we’ve never had the ability to choose from so much.
I’m by no means saying we should return to the good old days of unavoidable media. That media was flawed, biased and highly susceptible to influence. However I am saying that we’re so fortunate that technology has brought us so many choices, but we need to be aware of our choices.