I was going to have an early night.
There was another mass shooting in the US, this time at a gaming competition. Reports say that the shooter was upset at a loss and decided to take out revenge. I don't care about who or why this particular shooter did what they did though as essentially, it is always the same, an inability to control emotions. They generally aren't psychopaths, they are just pathetic.
Yet, the media will give them just what they want, attention and we will give the press just what they want, our attention. It is an attention economy after all and the more drama, the more eyes, the more Time on Site and the better the metrics to attract more attention from advertisers and increase revenue. It is a circular economy where the attention seekers feed the consumers who are in turn attention seekers - full circle.
But, it isn't just a circle as to keep getting attention, the severity needs to increase or, the story needs to be more unusual to keep drawing eyes, to keep feeding the machined massed, engineered. It has to ramp up. I just wrote a piece about the war of the attention economy, this is part of it. A drive to turn people not only into endless consumers but, consumers that can be easily manipulated and what a large part of the control mechanism is, is a lack of emotional control in the controlled.
The emotionally unstable are easy to push and pull, easy to manipulate, convince, separate, divide, easy to conquer. It is like the proverbial girl at a bar with Daddy issues wanting to be accepted by men. Easy.
Except, there are many, many people unable to handle their emotional states and, are highly sensitive to anything that threatens their fragile egos. So, we build them safe zones to protect them yet, eventually they have to face the real world and, they feel victimized, oppressed, floundering, depressed, triggered and some, just snap uncontrollably.
I was bullied or ignored, shoot up a school. My girlfriend left me, murder her and her parents. I lost a computer game, kill other players. Pathetic.
Yet, here we are, another pathetic and emotionally immature individual who will make it to front pages around the world and have his little life blown up for 15 minutes of fame where experts and layman will pore over the details of his life. The relationships and the music, school life and of course, what types of games he played. That is going to feature heavily here most likely.
The media will renew the life of beaten horses, violent video games caused this, it was the guns! No, it wasn't; A lack of emotional control did but, that isn't a suitable position in this day and age where people are encouraged to show their emotions unrestrained, get it out, it is healthy. They do not mention that before that point, understanding needs to be built before an emotion is acted upon. Conveniently omitted. A lie by omission I suspect, as it isn't difficult to understand.
We will play along though, we will consume the arguments, cheer for the ones we support and denounce those we do not and ridicule any position or person we disagree with while shouting down any with a valid argument. We will polarize ourselves and tap away at keyboards believing we are doing something useful when all we are doing is feeding the cycle of entertainment. Trauma porn.
Social media personal branding, a thirst for the latest gadget, a desire to be like the famous, a will for workless wealth. We have created an attention economy and then act surprised when the needy cry when they don't get attention and snap when they don't get their way. We have raised generations of increasingly large but fragile egos who believe thy are entitled to special treatment, privilege.
We have raised fully grown humans with the psychological maturity of toddlers and, monster toddlers at that. Ones with the means and the strength to enact their revenge for feeling minimized, excluded, unloved. Pathetic. All the platitudes of individualism posted to the feeds yet, without attention, anger, bitterness and vengeance consume them, inflame them and they have not the inner strength nor the social connections of any worth to temper the heat, cool down the fires, control themselves.
This bubble-wrapped and engineered environment has done them no favours but at the end of the day, it is up to the individual to build the skills necessary to navigate this world effectively and, stability of heart and mind is at the core of the toolbox. But, to know that takes experience and in the echo chambered halls of the internet, behind the screens and in the midst of safe zones where all desires are able to be met, disappointment is shallow, the chance for real understanding is near impossible without deep reflection.
That doesn't happen in a world of endless and disposable entertainment. There is no time to be bored enough to take the time to reflect on ones life, reflect on purpose, meaning and question beliefs. There is always more to consume, more to take attention so it does not fall on what is important. Rather, there is always something to use to avoid;
Weapons of mass distraction.
We want attention, we pay for attention, getting attention comes at a price. Turn on the news, there it is and it is only going to get worse.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
image courtesy of 