Evolving post modernism into synchronous world

Modernism was natural evolution of enlightenment. Indeed enlightenment period was the brightest phase in human history, atleast European history, emblematized by virile minds of likes of Leonardo da vinci. It had significant impact on humanity and decided the course of action. Modernism was built on triumph of reason that was essentially intertwined on liberty and freedom setting the foundation of democracy and modern world. It led to technological innovation and set the industrial revolution catapulting humanity into frenzied action. Somewhere in its enthusiasm it neglected the ambiguous. Ambiguity that veined through the nature and firmly rooted in human mind. There was a split from the very nature that sustains. Technology was seen as a potent instrument to remove ambiguity as it percolated into all aspects of life. Binary valuation gained significance. Digital media entered every home to occupy mind. Internet became source for interactive reactions and associations that consolidated binary. Meanwhile computer ran on binary, 0 or 1, and compete with the intelligence of human brain. This then permeated into social systems and mindsets. Certainty led to binary of thoughts. Yes and No. Us and Them. There was a constant push towards extremities in order to squeeze out the ambiguous. Issues were sought to be cleaved into neat halves, ostensibly for better understanding but meant for consumption. It became a preferred mode to deal the confusion and give the appearance of control. Indeed ambiguity was seen as something terrible. Admitting not knowing was weakness, and constantly admonished. This led to firming of binary while the ambiguous space (what Syzmborska refers as ‘I don’t know’) was usurped by certainties of religions and market. Knowledge, instead of creating awareness and understanding, was consolidating into utilitarian and focused on specific needs. This set in motion a dangerous value system that polarized society as it degraded debates and social issues. The binary narration taken into the absurdities of polarized politics is what you see in US, very much the culmination of these inanities that brackets everything and anything devoid of reason or compassion. A vociferous section of society constantly mainstreamed binary value system and had clear ideas of the world of what is good and bad. Since they were never confused they exude confidence and easily influenced masses with solutions to all their problems. (“…they ‘know,’ and what they know is enough for them once and for all. They don’t want to find out about anything else, since that might diminish the force of their arguments” -Syzmborska). They are abetted by certainities of market and religion. This gives transactional quality to relations and humbug at the core of interaction. While creative engagement i.e. art end up embellishing and pandering the majority or mainstream narration meanwhile constantly marginalizing the protest or vigilant interventions.     

Modernism no doubt reformed social institutions and evolved on the ideals of renaissance. But its fatal flaw was its undoing. It unleashed horrors of binary as humans slipped into pragmatism of flipside that compromised ideals. The deterioration was swift and led to world wars and amazing level of atrocities in the modern settings (alarmingly among ostensibly refined bearings of classical achievements of modernism, and to make it worse simulating efficiently run industry). Vandalism of modernism was brutally achieved while remnants were dealt by prostituting semantics to highest bidder. Words like liberty and freedom were casually used devoid of any meaning. Refined ideas of logic were stretched to its irrational limits. Art was made inconsequential entertainment that played on the binary to consolidate the narration into fantasy, the victory of accepted good, nationalism, mythical identities and regressive contexts. While fascists, demagogues, fanatics…had easy walk through altars of modern state. The happenings in the early 20^th century baffled sane people out of their complacency into intense soul searching. Post modernism was a backlash. It sought to rectify the mistakes of modernism by identifying the complexities of individuals and diversities of societies. Instead of clubbing humans into achievable and prescribed ideal state it sought to assert uniqueness of human experience. It set out to destructure the systems that were mortifying humans. It was meant to consolidate democratic ideals. The problem with post modernist experience is that it took it to the extreme of nihilism into human centric (ironic, since the deal was not to remove human from the center of discourse) irresponsibility -thus a conduit to hedonism, which was effectively tapped by market. What we see now is the worst of modernism and post modernism in a tussle. The binaries of debates, percolate as values, taking it to absurd extremes while on the other side there is assertion of regressive collectives and irresponsible careless selves.           

Agreed objective truth is difficult to arrive but what is true and sacrosanct is the identity of human beings as humans. This is a timeless and valued universal identity. What is also real is the reality of the world that we face, and nothing, nothing at all must be allowed to diminish this reality. The way we deal with the reality determines the future. There is no relativism in this reality. We have to restore faith in human reason. These cannot be always dismissed as mere rationalization but expressions of thinking human, of human consciousness. It is a potent cognitive tool to deal with reality of our existence. It’s an indelible aspect of being a human. Reasons are consolidation of human experience. For the experience to matter it must be attuned to the reality of existence. In a globalised world of 21^st century facing unique global challenges human identity has never been as significant as also as precarious. There are differences but there is also common humanity, aspirations and challenges. Instead of nurturing systems that seeks segregation and dehumanisation in the garb of differences a synchronous world is a conscious tango with post modern world. It respects humans as humans, and doesn’t assign identities or contexts that negate these. It accepts chaos and realize the absurd. A synchronous world has individual awake to their reality, are creatively involved to assert their uniqueness and synergically associate for global challenges and enlightened goals. This is paramount to consolidate the gains of post modern meanwhile correcting the mistakes that lead to impasse that humanity is in. Mistakes of post modern nihilism led to scattered world stuck in its self-fulfilling prophesies, and ironically, with egoistic humans self-absorbed at its centre. This hubris is responsible for human acquiring fantastic notion about themselves and seeking it as identity undermining humanity as also egalitarian values gained through conscious evolutions of society and subconscious assertion of liberty. It is ironic (indeed deeply disturbing) that post modern context is being flagrantly used to invigorate medieval identities and regressive value system. Sane people must resist this dilution of humanity. They must attempt to creatively involve in a deteriorating world. There must be greater understanding and sincerity in dealing while empathize with predicaments and contexts of fellow humans.

Sometime back I was reading about human brain signals and how it differs from signals from heart while heart exhibits repeated smooth pattern and erratic is a sign of alarm the brain works just the opposite. There were no pattern, it was determinately erratic, as if brain connect to the chaos for possibilities while any indications of repetitions was signs of stroke or seizure. Human mind is attuned to the chaos of the universe. Therein lay the possibilities. The other day I was reading Roger Penrose. It is impossible for AI to attain consciousness in the language of algorithms that is based on binary. Mind works on quantum possibilities. Consciousness is entangled in chaos to retrieve a synchronous world. As much as earth bubbles in the mind boggling concoction of chaos while it knits the beauty of life.

This is an incredible picture of a Malaysian moth that i came across few years back. It has murals on its wing delicately depicting two flies feeding on bird dropping. This evolution happens as life constantly attunes and synchronize with its surroundings. This synchronizing is achieved through constant exchange of information, some conscious, while mostly subconscious that gradually seeps into genetic material –the discerning witness and sensitive acquirer. It’s a closed loop of heightened awareness that keeps refining itself as it is passed on through hereditary material for better chance of survival. And very possibly in few million years in the chaos of quantum possibilities this moth could evolve into specie with as sophisticated consciousness as human being. This sophisticated consciousness is equipped to create sophisticated world but it has to hinge with reality, it will have to synchronize with life.           

 

Will of the herd and the rise of democratic demagoguery

Democracy expects individuals to be aware. It’s hinged on responsible citizens, who use security provided by the state, modern health facilities and opportunities through education, the technological innovation, to enhance their critical thinking and understanding of the world around them. It's only when the citizens are aware that the democracy can function as an optimal system. Otherwise it’s the will of the herd that votes for manipulative herd controllers based on primal fears and atavistic association who then pander to gain more control by undermining rule of law and severely degrading democratic institutions. It is the rise of democratic demagoguery. Authentication of dehumanizing system and rise of authoritarian values and regressive revivalism across the world is not at all a coincidence but natural extension of systems that is being nurtured in the garb of liberalism by manipulative elites who grabbed power after WW2, and set to work liberal democracies across the world. The liberal here was rarely about thoughts and actions but seeping into crony capitalism and nepotistic association. These had dire consequence in nascent democracies. 

Democracy is an evolved thought to associate human into a thriving system that safeguards individual liberty and strives for equality. It therefore provides space for humans to evolve into better selves while synergizing to create a better world. But as Socrates warned more than two thousand years ago that it needs people to be skilled to vote and not be based on their emotions or random intuitions or birth right. Voting is an intellectual right that checks the reason and persuasion, and it has to be earned. It has to be earned by making an effort, being responsive to society and by educating oneself. The reason why education becomes such an important parameter for the survival of democracy. Education therefore is a birth right of every child. Education must be necessarily be attuned to exposing all the ideas and thoughts to encourage inquisitiveness and logical rational choices based on empathetic awareness and philosophical predicaments (and a possibility for wisdom). A civilized society will necessarily invest in education on a priority basis. It will be concerned about education system, and will keep refining it while continuously augmenting the infrastructure. Future of humanity is dependent on it. Primitive societies and its conceptions are therefore assault on humanity and constantly seek to degrade. Education produces the wherewithal to be vigilant. Hence quality education should be wrenched out of religion and market frame as these plays to ineffectual efforts and creates pliant human that works to mindlessly enhance the system. It seeds potential to herd. Contemporary problems can be pointed to these mindlessness.          

  An ideal society is an egalitarian society that effortlessly rationally self govern in a grassroot level participation. In such society systems of dealing will refine itself as the participants. It is not a surprise despite shortcoming some societies produce best of human endeavors whether in science or art, and these hold future of humanity. It is but expected that conscientious objectors like Greta Thunberg can only arise from Scandinavian countries. For liberty to assert individuals must be free to think and associate, education therefore provides the necessary skills for discernment. Any system that pulls an individual away from this possibility therefore is a threat to liberty hence to democracy. It stifles the possibility of human hence the chance for thriving society. It becomes a violation of being a human. It’s an abuse of human rights. Two systems that pose such a debilitating threat to humanity are Market and Religion. Market because it exaggerates and manipulates need while asking to compete and consume. It creates a superficial world and dealings that constantly assaults human mind and converts it into constant craving, an unthinking consumers. It seeks to monetize everything and creates meaningless choices in a diminishing world. It nurtures humans who are least bothered about their surroundings except as investment for returns. It’s a dangerous system that has severely undermined individuality while exploiting nature and giving impression of liberal companion of democracy. While religion has been discussed umpteen times herein so will not be going into the details except that it is a serious threat since it isolates sentient humans from their surroundings into herds with fantastical vision frozen in time. It is not only a loss to humanity but a constant source of nuisance and source for most contemporary problems and strife.           

There are deep entrenched group that nurture these at the expense of humanity. This then ensnare the human minds as consumers and followers making it ineffectual. These “sweetshop owners” (as Socrates so rightly evaluates) nurture herds by pandering them with sweet talks and dire consequences. These herds are threat to democracy as they are incapable to make choices since they lack faculties to discern. They lack what make them human. What can be more tragic than this?