Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Env
Dear Group Members,
I am sending you an article to read. This is about the link between Mind and Social / Environmental-Issues. This is directly related to Spirituality, Meditation, Concentration and Awareness. The article explains why it is so difficult to control the Mind and make it peaceful in today's fast society. We cannot be spiritual if we destroy Nature.
[ My background is given in the first letter ( letter No. 1 ) under the
topic " Correspondence with neuroscientists " on the website :
MAIN ARTICLE & EXPERIMENT
Please note : The article has been written in short sentences rather than paragraph-form because it is about subjective experience / emotion/ reduction of thought.
Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment.
Subject : In a fast society slow emotions become extinct.
Subject : A thinking mind cannot feel.
Subject : Scientific/ Industrial/ Financial thinking destroys the planet.
Subject : Environment can never be saved as long as cities exist.
Emotion is what we experience during gaps in our thinking.
If there are no gaps there is no emotion.
Today people are thinking all the time and are mistaking thought (words/ language) for emotion.
When society switches-over from physical work (agriculture) to mental work (scientific/ industrial/ financial/ fast visuals/ fast words ) the speed of thinking keeps on accelerating and the gaps between thinking go on decreasing.
There comes a time when there are almost no gaps.
People become incapable of experiencing/ tolerating gaps.
Man becomes machine.
A society that speeds up mentally experiences every mental slowing-down as Depression / Anxiety.
A ( travelling )society that speeds up physically experiences every physical slowing-down as Depression / Anxiety.
A society that entertains itself daily experiences every non-entertaining moment as Depression / Anxiety.
FAST VISUALS /WORDS MAKE SLOW EMOTIONS EXTINCT.
SCIENTIFIC /INDUSTRIAL /FINANCIAL THINKING DESTROYS EMOTIONAL CIRCUITS.
A FAST (LARGE) SOCIETY CANNOT FEEL PAIN / REMORSE / EMPATHY.
A FAST (LARGE) SOCIETY WILL ALWAYS BE CRUEL TO ANIMALS/ TREES/ AIR/
WATER/ LAND AND TO ITSELF.
I am trying to get the following experiment conducted in a psychophysiology/ bio-chemistry laboratory.
There is a link between visual / verbal speed ( in perception, memory,
imagery ) and the bio-chemical state of the brain and the body.
Emotion can intensify / sustain only when visual and verbal processing
associated with the emotion slows down ( stops / freezes ).
The degree of difficulty of an emotion depends upon the degree of
freezing (of visuals and words ) required to intensify and sustain that
Subjects (preferably actors specialising in tragedy / tragic roles )
will be asked to watch a silent video film showing any of the
(1) Human suffering.
(2) Animal suffering.
(3) Suffering ( Destruction ) of Air / Water / Land / Trees.
Subjects will be asked to intensify and sustain the subjective feeling of pain/ grief for the sufferer.
The chemical changes associated with the emotion in the body(blood) would be measured by appropriate methods.
The silent video film will be shown at different speeds :
(1) 125% of actual speed.
(2) Actual/real speed.
(3) 75% of actual speed.
(4) 50% of actual speed.
(5) 25% of actual speed.
(1) Intensity of emotion increases with the decrease in visual speed.
(2) Intensity of emotion is maximum when visual speed is minimum (25%
of actual speed)
(3) The amount of chemical change associated with the emotion in the
body(blood) will be found to increase with the decrease in visual speed.
(4) The chemical change is maximum when visual speed is minimum.
(5) The amount of chemical change will increase with the decrease in
breathing rate. Breathing becomes so slow and non-rhythmic that it stops
for some time at the inhalation/ exhalation stages.
The above co-relations will be valid for all subjects -even for those who cannot feel pain/ grief. Such subjects will experience emotion associated with boredom/ discomfort/ restlessness/ irritability/ uneasiness. The chemicals released will be different but the co-relation between visual speed and amount of chemical will be same( the breathing rates will be different/ fast).
All subjects will experience some kind of emotion.
[If scientists can discover 4000 different chemicals in cigarette-smoke then they can certainly detect the few chemicals released in blood when we experience higher-level emotions like pain, empathy, compassion, remorse etc… ]
In the 2nd stage of experiment we shall replace the silent video film with a Narrator ( Audio only ) and repeat the procedure thereby establishing the link between intensity of emotion and verbal speed. The narrator will slow down verbal speed by-- speaking slowly, stretching words, repetition of words/ sentences & making use of
pause/ silence between words.
(1) A THINKING MIND CANNOT INTENSIFY / SUSTAIN ANY EMOTION.
While this statement is generally true for all emotions, it is
particularly true for all painful emotions.
(2) In a society in which visual ( verbal ) speed and breathing- rates
are fast , pain / remorse / empathy cannot be experienced. It is
Proof of the link between pain and slow visuals / words :-
In the last century man has made thousands of movies / films on various
themes / subjects. Whenever pain / tragedy is shown in any film the
visuals ( scenes ) and words ( dialogues ) are always slowed down. In
many films tragedy is shown in slow motion. At the most intense moment
of pain the films almost become static / stationary.
Tragedy-films provide direct proof / evidence of the link between pain
Pain can intensify / sustain only when visual ( and verbal ) speed slows
down( stops/ freezes).
CHANGE IN VISUAL SPEED OVER THE YEARS
One thousand years ago visuals would change only when man physically
moved himself to a new place or when other people ( animals / birds )
and objects ( clouds / water ) physically moved themselves before him.
Today man sits in front of TV / Computer and watches the rapidly
changing visuals / audio.
He sits in a vehicle ( car / train / bus ) and as it moves he watches
the rapidly changing visuals.
He turns the pages of a book / newspaper / magazine and sees many
visuals / text in a short span.
CHANGE IN VERBAL SPEED OVER THE YEARS
In ancient times verbal processing was "live" in nature—ie it happened when people actually spoke.
Today there is non-stop verbal processing inside the mind through print and electronic media ( newspapers, books, magazines, radio, television, computer etc…) as a result of which the verbal content & speed has increased thousands of times.
The speed of visuals ( and words ) has increased so much during the last
one hundred years that today the human brain has become incapable of
focussing on slow visuals /words through perception, memory, imagery.
If we cannot focus on slow visuals / words we cannot experience emotions
associated with slow visuals /words.
Before the advent of Industrial Revolution Man's thinking was primarily
limited to :
(a) visual processing ( slow visuals )
(b) verbal / language processing ( slow words )
Today there are many kinds of fast thinking :
(1) visual processing ( fast visuals )
(2) verbal / language processing ( fast words )
(3) Scientific / Technical thinking ( fast )
(4) Industrial thinking ( fast )
(5) Business thinking ( fast )
(3), (4) & (5) ARE ASSOCIATED WITH NUMBERS / SYMBOLS / EQUATIONS /
GRAPHS /CIRCUITS / DIAGRAMS / MONEY / ACCOUNTING etc…
As long as the mind is doing this kind of thinking it cannot feel any
emotion - not an iota of emotion.
In a fast society slow emotions become extinct.
In a thinking ( scientific / industrial ) society emotion itself becomes extinct.
EMOTION IS WHAT REMAINS IN THE MIND WHEN VISUAL /VERBAL PROCESSING SLOWS
DOWN (STOPS/ FREEZES )
There are certain categories of people who feel more emotion (subjective experience ) than others.
If we attempt to understand why (and how ) they feel more emotion we can learn a lot about emotion.
Writers, poets, actors, painters ( and other artists )
Writers do verbal ( and associated visual) processing whole day- every day.
They do slow verbal ( and associated visual) processing every day.
(A novel that we read in 2 hours might have taken 2 years to write. This is also the reason why the reader can never feel the intensity & duration of emotion experienced by the writer )
Poets do verbal ( and associated visual ) processing whole day- every day.
There is more emotion in poetry than in prose.
This happens because there are very few words ( and associated visuals ) in poetry than in any other kind of writing.
There is a very high degree of freezing / slowing down of visuals & words in poetry.
Actors do verbal ( and associated visual ) processing whole day- every day. During shooting / rehearsal they repeat the dialogues ( words ) again and again ( the associated visuals / scenes also get repeated along with the dialogues )
Painters do visual ( and associated verbal ) processing whole day- every day.
They do extremely slow visual processing - The visual on the canvas changes only when the painter adds to what already exists on the canvas.
There are some important points to be noted :
All these people do visual & verbal processing - whole day - every day.
They do slow visual & verbal processing.
They do not do scientific / industrial / business processing whole day - every day.
Most of the city people doing mental work either do this kind of mental processing which is associated with NUMBERS / SYMBOLS/ Equations / Graphs / CIRCUITS / DIAGRAMS / MONEY / ACCOUNTING etc… or they do fast visual ( verbal ) processing whole day - every day.
This kind of thinking ( processing ) has come into existence only during the last 200 years and has destroyed our emotional ability ( circuits ).
SELF-ASSESSMENT OF ( SUBJECTIVE ) INTENSITY OF EMOTION IS ALMOST ALWAYS
Suppose the maximum intensity(and duration) of a particular emotion that
can be experienced by any human being is 100 units.
Let us suppose the maximum intensity(and duration) of that particular emotion ever
experienced by two people A & B in their entire life is :
A - 100units
B - 20 units
Now suppose A & B are made subjects on a particular day and are asked
to feel that particular emotion under experimental conditions ( or
outside the laboratory ) and the intensity &duration they actually experience is
A - 90 units
B - 18 units
If A &B are then asked to indicate the intensity &duration of emotion on a scale
of 0 -10 their response is likely to be ;
A - 9
B - 9
Who is right and who is wrong ?
A is right.
B is wrong - B is wrong by a wide margin - B has experienced an
intensity(and duration) of 18 units out of a maximum of 100 units and his correct /
actual score should be 1.8
Self- assessment ( self rating ) can be accurate only if people have
the capacity to experience the highest intensity &duration ( units ) of the
particular emotion under study.
Because of physical work and slow visual/verbal processing in small(slow)agriculture based societies of the past, the mind used to experience a state of emotion all the time. If we read one thousand-year-old literature we will not come across the term "boredom" -the concept of boredom did not exist in slow societies. There were long gaps between different visuals and between words/ sentences -and people had the ability to experience/ tolerate the gaps -it was normal for them.
Emotion can intensify / sustain only when visual / verbal processing slows down ( stops / freezes ). In an Industrial (thinking) society people experience very little emotion because of fast ( visual / verbal / scientific / industrial / business ) thinking
Suppose the maximum intensity and duration of a particular emotion ( for most people ) in a fast society has reduced to 5 units ( from 100 units that people used to experience in earlier /slower societies ).
If such people experience 4 units of emotion they will give themselves a
rating /score of 8 on a scale of 0-10 whereas their actual score should
IN A FAST SOCIETY SLOW EMOTIONS BECOME EXTINCT.
IQ Vs EQ
IQ always has an element of change in it -- IQ is about trying to make/ discover/ invent something new all the time.
Change is an inherent feature of IQ.
IQ is also about thinking more in less time—it involves speeding up of mind. Someone who does more mathematics in less time is considered more intelligent in mathematics. IQ is about change and speed.
EQ is about sustainment of the same feeling/experience over a period of time. When we experience any higher-level emotion for 10 minutes we experience the same feeling( subjective experience) over and over again for 10 minutes.
The( same) feeling can sustain only if there is Repetition.
EQ involves Repetition—Constancy—Sameness.
IQ and EQ are contradictory.
IQ and EQ are opposites.
IQ and EQ are inversely proportional.
(1) A thinking species destroys the planet.
(2) Animals lived on earth for billions of years (in very large numbers)
without destroying nature.
(3) They did not destroy nature because their thinking / activity was
limited to searching for food for one time only.
(4) Man has existed on earth in large numbers for only a few thousand
years / a few hundred years.
(5) Within this short period Man has destroyed the environment.
(6) This destruction took place because of Man's thinking.
(7) When man thinks he makes things.
(8) When he makes things he kills animals / trees / air / water / land.
( Nothing can be made without killing these five elements of nature ).
(9) A thinking species destroys the planet.
Intelligence Is A Curse.
This planet is on the verge of total destruction.
The cause of destruction is -- overactivity.
[Out of millions of species in this world the human-species is the only one that has indulged in overactivity]
The cause of overactivity is -- Intelligence.
[The environment would never have got destroyed if Man had been only as intelligent as animals]
Intelligence is the biggest cause/ source of destruction in this world.
[In fact Intelligence is the only cause of destruction in this world other than natural causes]
MENTAL WORK IS INJURIOUS TO THE MIND AND PLANET.
There is no higher purpose behind work.
People do not work because they want to work.
People work because they cannot stop working.
People cannot stop physical activity and mental activity (simultaneously) for even 2 minutes.
For most people it is a choice between physical and mental work.
The switch-over from physical work to mental work is disastrous for the planet.
Man can do the same physical work every day.
Man cannot do the same mental work every day.
When man used to do physical work ( farming and related activities ) he could do the same repetitive work day after day- generation after generation.
After the Industrial Revolution when man switched-over to mental work he
began a never ending process of making new machines / things / products--
a process which can only end with the complete destruction of environment ( planet ).
The nature of mental work is such that man has to do new mental work every day- in fact he has to do new mental work every moment- Man cannot repeat in the next moment the mental work that he has already done in the previous moment.
A mathematician cannot solve the same problem of mathematics every day- once he has solved it he will be forced to take up a new( unsolved) problem. Even when he is solving one particular problem he has to move from one step to another - there is a continuous change involved -- there is no constancy at any stage.
An engineer cannot design the same machine again and again --once he has made a machine he will try to make changes/ design a new one.
A writer cannot write the same article every day- he will be forced to write something new every day/ every moment (This is also the reason behind endless discussions/ debates/ arguments).
Discussions, Debates and Arguments.
Let us examine how much discussion we are collectively having in Industrial Society every day.
Millions of pages in print -- newspapers / books / magazines.
Millions of web-pages on internet every day.
Now add to this all the conversation (discussion) we are having through radio / television / telephone and several other media every day.
And add to this all the discussion we are having through face-to-face interaction.
The volume of discussion per individual in one week is greater than the total discussion someone living in pre-industrial society would have in his entire life.
There is too much discussion in modern society.
Discussion is not solving our problems -- discussion itself has become a problem -- a gigantic problem.
A society that does mental work will discuss itself to destruction [extinction]
A society that does mental work will argue itself to destruction [extinction]
A society that does mental work will debate itself to destruction [extinction]
A society that does mental work can never stop discussions / debates / arguments -- it is impossible.
It will discuss / debate / argue till the last moment of it's existence.
Discussions / Debates / Arguments -- these are creations of a society that has switched-over from physical work to mental work.
Discussions / Debates / Arguments -- these are diseases of a society that has switched-over from physical work to mental work.
Discussions / debates / arguments can end only in agriculture-based societies that do physical work.
We cannot do physical-work and mental-work simultaneously.
There is an inverse relationship between physical-work and mental-work.
If one is high [more] the other has got to be low [less]
If we want to do physical work we have to reduce mental activity by the same proportion.
If we want to do mental work we have to reduce physical activity by the same proportion.
There is very little discussion / debate / argument in societies that do physical work - ie, agriculture-based societies - And this is the reason why they are millions of times saner than industrial societies.
Change is an inherent feature of mental work.
Since change is an inherent feature of mental work - a society that does mental work can never be at peace with itself -- it is impossible.
A society that does mental work will always be restless.
Only those societies that do physical work [agriculture and related activities] can find contentment and peace.
AS LONG AS CITIES EXIST WE CAN NEITHER SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT NOR THE MIND.
To save the ( remaining ) environment from destruction man will have to
return back to physical work ( smaller communities ).
To save the mind from mental diseases man will have to return back to
physical work ( smaller communities ).
Criminality and Abnormality.
Industrial Society has collectively killed billions of Animals and Trees [ Remember -plant and animal species developed over a period of millions of years]
It has also killed most of Water and Air [ Please note - polluting Water and Air is equivalent to killing Water and Air ]
The soil was not fertile when the earth was created. It became fertile - very slowly - over a period of millions of years. And look what man has done - He has covered millions and millions of hectares of land with cement and concrete. All the land that has been covered with cement and concrete has been killed.
What could be more criminal than this.
What could be more abnormal than this.
Lawyers and Judges are trying to catch a few criminals.
They don't realize the entire Industrial Society is criminal.
Psychologists and Psychiatrists are trying to classify a few people as abnormal.
They don't realize the entire Industrial Society is abnormal.
There was a time when Man knew nothing about the number of species and
millions of species existed.
Today Man knows the names of millions of species and nothing is left of
After destroying millions of highly-developed species on earth Man is today searching for a few molecules of life in outer-space.
If a few microbes, a few molecules of methane / water are found on Mars - it becomes the newspaper headline.
They call it progress.
The following is about to come true.
Nature can exist
(1) before man.
(2) after man.
(3) not with man.
Environment can be saved only if we stop production of most [ more than
99% ] of the consumer goods we are making today.
ENVIRONMENT CANNOT BE SAVED BY RECYCLING
TRYING TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT BY RECYCLING IS LIKE SHOOTING SOMEONE
10,000 TIMES AND THEN TRYING TO SAVE HIM BY TAKING OUT ONE BULLET.
Time is running out for this planet.
Please note :
Fast emotions = emotions associated with fast visuals/fast words/fast breathing/fast heart-rate.
Slow emotions = emotions associated with slow visuals/slow words/slow breathing/slow heart-rate.
Rate of thinking = number of visuals/words processed per minute.
Gaps between thinking = gaps between visuals/ words/ sentences.
I am seeking help from volunteers in spreading this message far and wide.
Re: Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Env
Seeking to spread messages is exactly how we got here. In gassho
Re: Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Env
It is assumptive to assume emotions will become extinct in a highly active (fast) society. It is our pronounced logical ability which provides us the ability to refine our behavior and emotional responses. Attaching thought to feeling is not killing emotion, though I'd say it does complicate it. The trick is balance. If your mind moves uncontrolably quick, the insights haven't any time to sink in and find meaning, but if you slow them down too much, you develop tunnel vision and miss out on the correlating connections which indeed are a more holistic representation of the truth.
A thinking person not only feels, but begins to understand how what it feels relates to the world around it, resulting in growth/evolution of the being/interaction. The problem described in this article arises when people place too much emphasis on thinking and not enough on feeling. Both are quantifiably pertinent to human existence as evinced by the fact that we have two halves of a brain which operate more or less as two distinct brains, but which, when operating together, create a more holistic image of the surrounding environment, much like how two eyes creates a holographical image. To forsake one in favor of the other is to half-blind yourself to the reality around you.
The idea that scientific thinking in and of itself destroys the planet is devoid of virtue. Beavers destroy ecosystems by changing them, just as do cities and the like. The difference between humans and beavers is that humans have aquired more power through our ability to reason (AKA-science) and act in concert with each other. Few if any other animals work together as well as humans do. We're like a child who has learned how to cook with fire but hasn't yet learned about wild-fires...which both destroy and promote life, by the way. Like in all other things, there is capacity for good and bad. Balance is the key. With great power comes great responsibility and a greater need for reason. Feeling and reason, when seperated from each other, are ruthless and cold.
Agriculture came about through insight/science, not through some inate nature. One or several people discovered the security that comes in tending an edible plant and others learned by witnessing it or being told about it. The same is true of chimps in Africa who eat nuts by harvesting them and smashing them open with rocks. Other tribes who do not have the means to learn this trick do not practice this primitive form of agriculture. Again, the problem in humanity can be found in the disproportionate value placed on money and what that money actually represents. Industry, when used wisely, lessens disease and hunger and allows the meak a greater chance at surviving...granted this article might view that as detrimental.
And, finally, I know about depression and anxiety and its stemming from periods of extream sensation followed by periods of an extream lack of sensation. Another name for this concept is "tolerance." As a guitar player, one hand's finger-tips have callouses, making it harder to feel soft touches so I work on sensitivity exercises to counter-balance that effect. Looking at this another way, one set of finger-tips can withstand greater stress without being damaged. To some this might seem a duality, but to me it appears as two singularities along the same continuum. At either end of this continuum lies a sort of chaos, but somewhere in the middle lies a beautiful harmony. This applies to activity as well. Calm the mind, sure, but don't make it so calm it ceases to breathe altogether. In Aikido we learn lively relaxation. A state of being ready to act with all your available efforts in any direction, but which is serene and calm.
Re: Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Env
Balance is the key. Science doesn't destroy nature. People who misunderstand (don't think ENOUGH about) the world around them do. Science, being a human mode of contemplating the world around them, is a process of trial and error (ie-is imperfect). Yes, it's good to keep the mind calm so it can focus, but it's also good to strive to understand nature so we can evolve into better beings. Science created agriculture. Contemplation is a very useful way toward insight. Insight is an improved understanding which can then lead toward a better way of life. This is what science is. Feeling and thinking go hand in hand. One without the other is either blind or ruthless. If you destroy science you destroy the ability to garner power. And while greater power requires greater responsibility, it also allows the otherwise meak to live and love better lives. To ignore this is to ignore virtue, just as to ignore feeling is to ignore humanity itself. The two halves of the brain, each of which represent science and feeling, operate like two eyes, providing a better picture of reality. Without both you're left with a meager ability at recognizing its depth.
Re: Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Env
Hmmmm. Seems like a basic treatise of "MAN vs NATURE" as opposed to "MAN with NATURE."
Here's my take on it: Cities, the destruction of the wilderness, etc. are all a survival response to population pressures. We keep breeding, and do not die off as fast as we reproduce. Solve that equation, and you can turn back the clock and return to your "slow" world. However, you cannot solve it in a "humane" way, even if the solution is "natural;" you have to eliminate 95% (or more) of the current world's population to return to the Eden-like state you ascribe to.
Remember: slow = dead, if speed is your best defense against predators. I'd rather live fast, and adapt to a changing world, even if we are responsible for those changes.
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