People say the world is getting more and more dangerous and unpredictable. And I often see interviews with celebrities and other spotlight seekers where they’re asked: "how do you cope with the madness/political instability/inequalities etc. all around us today?" As if we’re living through some kind of mad dystopian nightmare. And this got me thinking about this global paranoia forming all around social media. 

However, before I continue I would like to clarify that I don't believe things are perfect, far from it, but I am certain that the primary reason we have been led to believe that times are dire (and drastically direr than before) is due to that big fat scary entity called the Internet. Ah that World Wide Web… The Endless access to Everything.

That old adage "ignorance is bliss" is exactly what we were experiencing pre the internet revolution, although we were of course blissfully unaware of our ignorance… It reminds me of the old belief that the smarter you are the more likely you are to be unhappy. And that may well be why many of us feel so low and disheartened in the current climate. It also does seem that the more adversity one faces in real life: war/famine/dislocation etc., the more one experiences true happiness in return. E.g. the post-war 50s boom… but I digress.

Today this access to information has made us believe that everything has turned sour because the worst is being broadcast and experienced at a simple scroll. Except that the pockets of knowledge we gain from our screens are counter-intellectual and only designed to feed a pervasive algorithmic purpose to divide and conquer, and to dumb down our critical thinking. A kind of throw away, cheap knowledge fast-food of sorts designed to ostracise one group against another in order to make a profit. 

And who’s to blame for this endless cesspit of chaos and illusion of impending doom? The Media of course: "Beware of men who are like this/behave like that; women who are like this/behave like that..." New terms keep on popping up everywhere to define traits/behaviours/actions that we’re supposed to swallow like a chemically well-balanced pill. Tapping into our most basic primal instincts of fear. And this insatiable Monster Media is absolutely gorging on it. Grabbing and devouring our fickle little undivided attentions whole in order to sell prime shock content:

Us against Them. Black against White. Good against Evil. "How dare they stand against what I believe in: I stand for real justice! Time to take action!"

It’s Divisiveness making Dividends (there’s a song there somewhere)…

If you thought sensationalist journalism and media was having a breeze with tabloid magazines/newspapers and TV back in the 90s, they’re having a field day with our emotions on our little bright screens we’re hooked on/glued to all day. Not to mention the new hegemony of AI and the opportunities it will bring to further this scheme. 

The fact of the matter is that things are actually much better than they ever have been before. There isn’t the adversity of a world war, we have abundant food and access to healthcare. As a frightening historic statistic the life-expectancy only 150 years ago in our (very) long evolution as a species was merely 40 years… Basically my age (and I feel physically great, we won’t talk about the mental however…).

All this rambling just to say that I feel people need to look on the brighter side a bit more. I have found myself growing tired of always seeing the same shock, divisive content on socials and around the web. The world is not perfect, there’s loads to fix: humanitarian and environmental issues, nepotism, classism, racism, questionable leaders to bash and make accountable, influencers to hang (only joking, not reeeeeeally), the list goes on, but it’s certainly not as bad as it was… by a stretch. 

The bottom line: dbest to avoid sensationalism to build a worldview.

So I say: make art, make music, make love, make good food, drink yourself stupid, read books, breath in that country air, workout, love your family, love your animals, debate passionately about what you believe in, respect and love your neighbour, ditch the screen whenever possible and count those many blessings.