Age of Idiocy

[Hrvoje Simic]

It has become glaringly obvious that the society of this Age has fallen into a state of complete idiocy.

Technological development and expansion of external tools has created the illusion of evolution while numerous facts point to the ugly truth, that the internal tools of humans have deteriorated.

Another bullshit sold to the masses, another country attacked.
Different puppets posing for cameras, same puppeteers.

Cars don't fly yet but lunatics troll the planet and have taken over the asylum.
And grown into parasitic dinosaurs. And reality bubble now comes in UHD.

Generations of the future are likely to learn in the books:

"And in the early 21st. humans were living in denial and staring at a highly detailed shiny imagery on the wall "entertained" 24/7, while they were feeding of their own carcases and piling up mountains of garbage, indifferent to the decade lasting imagery of ravaged biosphere of the planet and their own society falling apart".

That is if they'll be able to read. Or allowed.

Good thing these are the times of great changes and the global interactive pool of Creatives, armed with powerful tools of expression can usher another Age of Reason.

McFly runs back to DeLorean.

 

[Wayne Morellini]

Mcfly and the time hopping DeLorean don't exist. And there has been flying cars for decades.

Creatives have been some of the original idiots. They wave their arms around saying, its all wrong, its all wrong, without, ironically, looking at themselves, or presenting a real solution to solve the problem like real solution finders do.

In recent weeks, or months, I have come to the conclusion, that one of the biggest things that the left can do with their documentaries and shows, is to present real solutions, carefully worked out before hand.

Say we have a legal drama, somebody is up on trial, going get it from the nan. Oh, whinge, whine, they go in about the miscarriage of justice wen they loose (somebody else should do something about it). The man rubs his hands, knowing nobody is doing anything much about it. Instead, I envisionaged, how you could have a show, well funded and researched, tat showed a) what is really going on, b) wat laws it breaks as well as morality, c) the way past case history was interpreted, and could have been interpreted better, d) actual legal strategies they and the audience can use to protect themselves from the nan, and get the man stone cold cheaply. The people are shown doing this and winning, or loosing. One part of this is how to cheaply deal with the opposition legal team who are contorting and bluffing, and who to lodge a complaint to to get therm pulled up before a disciplinary panel or government authority. Now,with hundreds if not thousands of armature paralegals running around the city saying "You know what you should try", pointing them to the right legal resources, the Man is now wringing his hands in worry (or at least he should after the Men start getting done over in court a number of times).
Of course, any morally dubious thing or law to stick up should be avoided.

This strategy can be applied to virtually any bad area, not just law. Say if you have dubious dealings in some market, advertising, council, local political cartel like behaviour (note, leave it to the big budgets, don't write about your local people, or things harmful, you can land up in trouble), political corruption, health dangers. Etc. You can do it in TV dramas, comedy movies, doco's, laying out what could be done under legal advisement where. There probably are some good social justice interested lawyers tat might want to detonate time.

These people rely on you being afraid of them to get away with things and change laws, just cost time, stress and effort to do something, especially through the legal system, is a lot for people, deliberately so. They should be afraid of doing wrong to the public instead.

It is not just Creatives, Hrvoje, it ius teaming up with practicals. It is not just identifying a problem and what we do, but implementing it.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

I'm sure this thread will get shut down, but My .02 is that it all starts at the most basic levels, i.e one's own community, a place where one can easily get involved and try to make positive impact. After working with a small group of citizens in my town to defeat a $36 Billion a year company from building a facility that made no sense for our town, I realized that it is still possible for citizens to get things done but you need to have real data and in our case a film that brought human element to it. It's hard to stop the massive engine that is corporations. A lot of the time politicians are just puppets of those corporations, so it's a tough battle but one that I have taken on as a positive contribution I can make with my craft. I am about to work on another one soon that has even higher stakes. As filmmakers we have a powerful medium in our hands but it's only as powerful as the people wielding it. But to me it leads to very rewarding experiences. As much as I love creating narrative and commercial work, films about real people trying to overcome extraordinary odds are what really drives me.

 

[Elsie N]

Disagree with the age of idiocy. I am able to go online and tap in to what some of the greatest minds are thinking/working on.

Agreed the human unit no longer has the scope of ability to function as in the past, but things are being broken down into individual compartments to the point that nothing gets done alone. And soon we may have robotic tech doing almost all the jobs.

Yes, you have the Kardashians and their followers filling the role of consumers. But you also have the Elon Musk/Jeff Bezos/Google/Facebook/Peter Diamandus type followers who are changing the world by the minute. And yes, we are creating human evolution via gene editing.

If you just ignore the non-relevant masses and concentrate on the higher end movers and shakers, you may find we are not only living in the worst of times, but the best of times as well.

But as work becomes the domain of the machine and workers become redundant on a large scale, you may look back on these times as mild compared to the upheaval of the future.

 

[Dan Kanes]

There are hungry wolves in henhouses wearing granny's pajamas and telling us "they're doing it for our own good."

One need only look at he repeal of net neutrality to know "we aren't in Kansas anymore."

And that's only the non-lethal kind of preferential treatment to corporate needs and greed that is daily making headway.

All previous regimes have in one way or another catered to corporate needs, but there has to be checks and balances in place, the needs of the many also need to be considered against the needs of the wealthy few. I read a great article about how people think that aligning themselves with a person they consider successful (even if that person is an asshole) wins out against the perception of being aligned with someone they might consider a tyrant or "the worst boss in history." I'll have to dig that up.

I only bring that up because of the argument that information is freely accessible and communication is our greatest strength.

We are on the verge of some dangerous precipices the world around.

This is not new to humanity though. Hrjove is right, we parade around like proud silverbacks, but at the end of the day in many ways we are still monkeys flinging poo. If we don't evolve at a root level, we are inching closer to that endangered species list.

 

[Stacey Spears]

Disagree with the age of idiocy. I am able to go online and tap in to what some of the greatest minds are thinking/working on.

I have mixed feeling these days on the Internet. I enjoy all the information available and the sharing, but at the same time it has made us all lazy. I de-activated my FB in February as I am dealing with a family situation and I needed a break from the politics, which was making things even more depressing.

What I like about the Internet is how it has brought the world together. Take Red for example. Customers from all over the world are passionate about image quality and we can all share that passion together on RU. If it were not for the Internet, we might actually believe the people running our countries as we might not have any other source of information. Of course, there are people that do believe the people running our countries. Some of them are even family members.

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

A bit cute and naive to think that the people that run this country do not control the media. This is the first thing they make sure of. Freedom of speech bwahahahaha ;-)
I do have a bit different perspective than the general population as I grew up in a totalitarian system. I assume that so does Hrvoje.

 

[Stacey Spears]

A bit cute and naive to think that the people that run this country do not control the media.

Sure, they run Fox news.

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

Also cute and naive to think that the far right does. Fox news is a bait and the liberals are on the hook. And so is the other half of the country thinking that they actually have a voice in Fox news. Beautifully played sirs .... Now lets see where we can sell more bombs....

 

[David Grigorian]

I think your comments lack perspective, this is definitely the greatest time to be alive in the history of humanity. Relax

 

[Matt W.]

I think your comments lack perspective, this is definitely the greatest time to be alive in the history of humanity. Relax

I agree. Almost every day I see something new and amazing, so much optimism and innovation and beauty out there.

That said I do feel alienated by the current political climate, not just the current administration but the shape of discourse across the spectrum.

 

[David Grigorian]

I totally agree Matt. This whole team LEFT/RIGHT mentality is super tribal, unproductive and dated.

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

I think your comments lack perspective, this is definitely the greatest time to be alive in the history of humanity. Relax

Lack perspective? Me? How about middle eastern perspective? Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt (ok north africa too) Libya, should I go on?
It sure is nice to be citizen of an the empire, but how about others perspective? Since we are on the subject of PERSPECTIVE haha...

 

[David Grigorian]

LOL citizen of an empire, I was born and grew up in Armenia a former member of the Soviet Union. I am also a first generation immigrant, fresh off the fucking boat, so don't come at me like that.

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

To be clear I am a US citizen have been for almost 30 years. Loving every minute of it, living the American dream. Grateful to be offered this honor and privilege. Doesn't mean I'm blind and doesn't mean we shouldn't strive to make it better...

 

[Matt W.]

I totally agree Matt. This whole team LEFT/RIGHT mentality is super tribal, unproductive and dated.

Yes, tribal is the perfect word. It's a real shame that political discourse has taken this direction. The left vs right is almost as bad as these Red vs Alexa debates. :wink5:

Beyond that, there is so much that is amazing and so much optimism and innovation everywhere. I do bemoan the lack of empathy that allows neo-tribalism to flourish, however, and a lot of the divisive politics that spread online are leaking into real-world conflict and that's an enormous problem and shame.

But whatever side of the political spectrum you're on, your opponents' grievances deserve to be heard. They come from a position of seeking justice, whatever we each perceive justice to be based on our experiences and social groups. The answer to tribalism isn't trying to be in the right tribe; it's acknowledging that we're all in it together.

 

[David Grigorian]

Yes, tribal is the perfect word. It's a real shame that political discourse has taken this direction. The left vs right is almost as bad as these Red vs Alexa debates. :wink5:

Beyond that, there is so much that is amazing and so much optimism and innovation everywhere. I do bemoan the lack of empathy that allows neo-tribalism to flourish, however, and a lot of the divisive politics that spread online are leaking into real-world conflict and that's an enormous problem and shame.

But whatever side of the political spectrum you're on, your opponents' grievances deserve to be heard. They come from a position of seeking justice, whatever we each perceive justice to be based on our experiences and social groups. The answer to tribalism isn't trying to be in the right tribe; it's acknowledging that we're all in it together.

Very well said Matt, Couldn't agree more.

 

[Elsie N]

A bit cute and naive to think that the people that run this country do not control the media. This is the first thing they make sure of. Freedom of speech bwahahahaha ;-)
I do have a bit different perspective than the general population as I grew up in a totalitarian system. I assume that so does Hrvoje.

I have a different opinion... I think the new news media is Twitter, Snapchat... social media. True there are many who still watch Fox news and CNN, but then may also get on social media and call bullshit on a slanted news story (and yes, I truly believe every news story is slanted at least a little.)

Someone made the comment after the last election that Trump (by using Twitter) had the circulation of the New York Times without the overhead.

Say what you will about his politics or his style, but as a marketer the man is a genius. OBTW, this is meant as an observation and is not politically motivated so don't feel you have to turn it into a political rehash.

 

[Hrvoje Simic]

Disagree with the age of idiocy. I am able to go online and tap in to what some of the greatest minds are thinking/working on.

That is true but you are talking about the potential.

In the Age of Idiocy that is all just a potential lying unused while tits, toys, circus and traumas zombify the average Joe 24/7.

Uninterested, distracted, lacking time, focus and energy and incapacitated to utilize that potential.

Sure, they run Fox news.

Every mass media is run by various interest groups.
Mass media are a mean of shaping society. Always have been.

That is their primary purpose.



...



Left/Right are today means of polarizing masses and creating the illusion of choice.
Mass likes the illusion of choice, just like other illusions too and is less likely to question things or rebel that way.

 

[Elsie N]

That is true but you are talking about the potential.

In the Age of Idiocy that is all just a potential lying unused.



Every mass media is run by various interest groups because mass media are a mean of shaping society. Always have been.
That is their primary purpose.

But that potential is being used and will possibly be used in such a way to make network news 2nd bananas.

I just finished reading an article on RedShark news about an inexpensive way to become your own streaming (nouveau broadcasting) entity. Imagine what this can accomplish in the hands of someone with intellect.