6-23-04

A big factor in the slide down the slippery slope of media sex and violence is that people don't want to be perceived as "wussy" or puritanical in this regard. Or, worse, as advocating censorship of "artistic freedom." This whole area needs a lot of reassessment, and should be dictated by the overriding consideration of the welfare of young minds.




The proof of high intelligence in a person can be observed in two palpable ways: How they differentiate between similar but different things, and how they extrapolate incomplete data into its probable results, and accurately predict the outcomes of current trends.




In matters of discipline, extreme love and extreme fear both work equally well. A lot depends on whether you much care for the individual's later emotional status. (And how much time and patience one has, as the fear method is more immediate, while the love technique usually takes some time to work.)




Often the difference between success and failure, and even happiness and unhappiness, is the quality of intelligent flexibility -- the "Let's make this work" gene that some otherwise gifted people seem to lack.




The floodgates are opening now, quasi-hypnotic techniques hyper-delivered into our progressively larger TV sets, with heavy-layered sound, bursts of light, spinning orbs, concentric ripple effects, rapid cuts for disorientation, and impact words adroitly (cynically) tested by consumer research to push your buttons.




The hot new trend in TV, mislabeled reality programming, is really more about the trials, travails and humiliations of others as a source of amusement for those watching the tube.




Some children are raised to be cynical by parents who want them spared the pain of disappointment in a world full of lies and selfish pursuit, so they over-innoculate the kids with harshness and negativity and instilled distrust.




I went to the park Saturday morning, and again in the mid-afternoon. It's amazing how few people partake of the nice natural habitat, not to mention the ball fields, swings, etc. I guess you can chalk it up to the triumph of television (and videos/DVDs and the Internet and handheld games etc.).




Americans live in a culture that is devolving toward a state of decadence. The mass media has become a parade of ever-more-vulgar presentations, be they the increasingly immoral behaviors of TV-show characters, celebrity ego flauntings or the crass scandal-mongering and emotional manipulations of the news branches.

The overriding point involved in all these aspects is that such behavior is rewarded - in higher ratings, more fame, more money. So in a society where fame and money take precedent over ethics and virtues, we in America find ourselves in a wicked (albeit entertaining) decline to the depths, all of us ensconced in our wired-to-the-teeth handbaskets.