Fireside Chat: Amusing Ourselves to Death
The 21st Century is awesome! Never before, in the history of the world, has it been easier to connect with others, learn anything that we desire and watch television at any time. We can become celebrities overnight, thanks to YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. In fact, millions of people have found ways to make a living through this connected web of systems of entertainment, whether they are starring, directing or producing such shows or music. Truly, it has never been easier for someone to obtain fortune, fame and notoriety in this day and age. Honestly, one of the few reasons that I have been able to make money through book sales is due to the interconnectedness of this world. Many of my own followers have been found through this method alone. Anywhere, anytime, in any place, a star can be made or destroyed by the courts of public opinion.
What is even more fascinating is that we have the choice of learning everything that we could ever imagine AND be entertained at any time, but the word boredom still exists. No one goes anywhere without a cell phone, dead zones for reception are becoming more few and far in-between, and we can find events around us with a quick Google search. Entertainment is everywhere and everyone has access to it. But, as fate would have it, we have plenty of people who claim that they have nothing going on in their lives, and they have nothing to do. There are dozens of streaming services, thousands of websites devoted to learning and hundreds of thousands of social media sites dedicated by subject. And this isn’t counting all of the content on Facebook, Instagram and Reddit. With all of these sources, we are still bored?
In a Polemic, I wrote about Jay B. Nash and his book, “Spectatoritis”, and how he defined the phenomena as a way of engaging in passive amusement in order to eliminate boredom. If he thought this way in the 1930’s, I cannot imagine what he would think about the modern era! Passivity, he claimed, is the death of the soul and I could not agree more. If you don’t believe me, ask someone who works 60 hours a week if they are ever bored. The problem with society is that fewer and fewer people have any kind of purpose in life. Where there is less passion, there is less purpose; wherever there is less purpose, there is a breeding ground for boredom, which leads into a rise for depression. In the modern era, the Western World faces an epidemic of where the well-off are more likely than blue-collar people to commit suicide. I would initially think that the truth would be the reverse, as the lower classes tend to face more problems than the upper class. What is the difference here? What causes them to make decisions about whether or not to take their lives?
When I was young, I noticed some of the elderly who were in an assistant living facility. Most of them were still happy, though they couldn’t live in their own homes safely. There was a man there who didn’t interact with the other residents in the home, didn’t really come out of his room and would not speak to anyone. Before he had come to the home, he had been a Captain in the Army before working as a Police Officer for thirty-five years, becoming a detective in the process. By his count, he had not stopped working for fifty years of his life. However, when he had turned sixty-eight, he wasn’t able to continue his work anymore and had been forced to retire. A year later, his wife died. A year after this, his sons made him go into an assistant living facility. Not even six months had gone by before he had passed away. Before, when he had a purpose in both his professional and personal life, he was healthy. When he died, he had high blood pressure, anxiety and suffered from early Alzheimer’s.
Now, I’m not going to say that his loss of purpose caused all of his issues. However, the loss of purpose didn’t help things any. Keep in mind, this was a man who lost his purpose for only a couple of years and he died from the depression caused by it. I wonder what that means for those of us who fill our days with passive amusement. Does this mean that we are just delaying the inevitable? Are we just giving ourselves the illusion of not being depressed? Or, more worrying, are we delaying the gratification of having a purpose due to our actions not aligning with the lives of those who we deem more accomplished in the amusement we consume? It is a dangerous game and one which eventually leads us towards a life destined for depression. The cure? Find something to give your life meaning in four categories:
Number 1: Physical
Whether you are into cycling, running, swimming, weightlifting, or you just want to knock off some extra pounds through calisthenics, studies have shown that exercise has many positive effects on the human psyche. Our memory tends to clarify, our risk of stroke and heart disease decreases and, most importantly, it aids in the increase of happiness and the decrease of depression. This is common knowledge to most people and yet most ignore it. Therefore, do yourself a favor and get moving!
Number 2: Mental
Whether you are studying to get a degree, doing a course for a job promotion or simply cracking open and reading a book, your mental exercise is equally as important as your physical one. This part is probably more ignored than the first one, and it’s a shame, seeing that we have more access than ever to learn something. Now, I’m not saying that you should dive into Shakespeare and Vidal, but learning how to change your tire or fix a leaky faucet is a start. Simply put, just continue to learn each and every day. It does not have to be something that can change the world. Just start with something that interests you and then go from there.
Number 3: Social
Nothing causes depression faster than the feeling of being alone. We usually are alone when WE feel that we are incapable of being loved or cared for, not because others are telling us this. There is always someone that is out there who will love us, who will care for us and who will be there for us. One needs to find friends, loved ones and family. It’s practically in our DNA to be in groups and the most inhuman thing that a person can do is ignore it. By placing less value in others, we place an even lesser value upon ourselves.
Number 4: Spiritual
Whether you are a Christian, Muslim, Jewish or an Atheist, there is something in our lives which resonates with us in this manner. Whether it is attending church, reading scripture or meditation, there is something that we do which gives us optimism, some kind of ritual which allows our thoughts to transcend our current situation. No matter what is going on in our lives, humans need to have an outlet where they can feel closer to something greater than ourselves, some form of ritual which gives us perspective.
By having something in our lives that gives us purpose in these four categories, we will be elevating the four most important aspects of our lives, leading to a future that we can be proud to have.