When I look upon history, I tend to see it as something that can't happen now. How can someone as ruthless as Napoleon rise again in France (or dare I say, someone so short)? How would a Hitler rise out of the ashes of the one and only atomic war? The more I look at the history books, the more I believe we, as a society, reached a new plateau where the "old rules" do not govern. Yet with deeper inspection, being in "now" altars one's brain greatly.
One thing that scared me about 1984 was the fact that it could totally happen right now. I was trying to convince myself that, "No, it can't happen, we have the internet, we have telephones, people aren't stupid! Oh, wait, maybe people are stupid, and hold on, the government can easily censor the internet, tap your telephone and shoot mind-bending rays at you... maybe 1984 can happen." I don't know what's is stopping a bunch of power hungry politicians from creating a 2008 version of 1984... and don't say democracy because a little bit of greenbacks can go a looonnng way.
Another perception of "now" is the stock market. Investors has managed to convince themselves over and over again that a bull (rising) market can never come to an end. Most investors probably can see the Internet Bubble a few years ago if only they chose to open up their minds. "Oh, this is the twenty-first century nothing can happen to us!" The perception of "now" when it is "now" is already highly distorted, now factor in greed and lust and one could see why most investors can't see the bubble.
I'm expecting a lot of flak in the next section...
It is easy to see now that the road to Iraq was a horrible choice by the current administration. Yet at the time of the invasion, the choice was (in my opinion anyway) fine. At that time, Sept. 11 just happened and the administration needed to take action or else public support will tank (like right now :) . Maybe the administration did choose to ignore some information, but you have to remember, contrary to public perception now, you got to be pretty smart to be president and be chosen for the Cabinet. I don't know the reasoning behind the invasion but there were probably some good reasons at that time of "now."
edit: I think this "perception of now" is also described in physics as Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
One thing that scared me about 1984 was the fact that it could totally happen right now. I was trying to convince myself that, "No, it can't happen, we have the internet, we have telephones, people aren't stupid! Oh, wait, maybe people are stupid, and hold on, the government can easily censor the internet, tap your telephone and shoot mind-bending rays at you... maybe 1984 can happen." I don't know what's is stopping a bunch of power hungry politicians from creating a 2008 version of 1984... and don't say democracy because a little bit of greenbacks can go a looonnng way.
Another perception of "now" is the stock market. Investors has managed to convince themselves over and over again that a bull (rising) market can never come to an end. Most investors probably can see the Internet Bubble a few years ago if only they chose to open up their minds. "Oh, this is the twenty-first century nothing can happen to us!" The perception of "now" when it is "now" is already highly distorted, now factor in greed and lust and one could see why most investors can't see the bubble.
I'm expecting a lot of flak in the next section...
It is easy to see now that the road to Iraq was a horrible choice by the current administration. Yet at the time of the invasion, the choice was (in my opinion anyway) fine. At that time, Sept. 11 just happened and the administration needed to take action or else public support will tank (like right now :) . Maybe the administration did choose to ignore some information, but you have to remember, contrary to public perception now, you got to be pretty smart to be president and be chosen for the Cabinet. I don't know the reasoning behind the invasion but there were probably some good reasons at that time of "now."
edit: I think this "perception of now" is also described in physics as Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
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1984 could happen, but I'd think there would be even more noticable chanes and warning signs along the way.
ReplyDeleteCertainly no flak here. :)