Ohhh shiney!!!

My friends and I were at the beach today. Kids galore. I mean, climbing up and down the walls status. Which is odd because beaches don’t really have many walls to climb up on as is…but regardless. We got into a discussion about how obsessive the newer generation is: Twilight, Hannah Montana, etc. Everything with these kids erupts into Beatles-mania hysterics. Jonas Brothers anyone? These pop culture [I regretfully say] icons become so talked about that they are even made fun of and discussed on an adult level [see South Park]. And it’s odd, because every single one of things are average at the most. Why do we cling on to run of the mill products for dear life?

Has our generation advanced to such a place where there honestly is nothing new under the sun? Everything we have is a product of something that is already existent. Look around your room. Is anything a completely new concept? Or is it just a derivative? Do we grab on because we know this is truly the last of its kind? We live in a day and age where the end of the world as we know it can be daily conversation at your local Starbucks.

If this is the case, I can understand why we would want to obsess over what we have. Since everything advances at record speed, it seems like the only way we can enjoy something for an extended period of time is if we can obsess over it. I’m not entirely sure if there honestly is a right or wrong perspective on this, since if we take the time to discuss this I’ll have a new post and progress like everything else in this microwave meal world. All I can say is, slow down, chew slowly and enjoy the flavor life brings you. And think twice before you play ‘Burning Up’ on your ipod.

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.
~Albert Einstein

1 batty batty batty, 2 batty batty batty!

When our minds are still sponges, at that tender age where our duty is to observe and act cute on command, we learn from our teacher ,the giant yellow bird with an imagination problem, how to count. First the basic 1-10, and then deviations of the arabic symbols we call numbers onward. From there, I believe, a world of problems start.

It is from this moment we learn how many more fruit snacks Timmy has than you. It is this age that we learn Mommy spends ‘x’ ammount of time fixing her hair, but only ‘y’ ammount of time playing Jenga with you. We now can record when we are to expect, when we are to be disappointed, how much longer we have to suffer, how much longer we have left together, etc. etc.

Would life be more meaningful without the stress of math? Think of how many of the world’s problems involve these numbers: money to some degree would be meaningless, age something that’s relative, and time comletely subjective. We would never be stressed to lose that 5 pounds, pay back that 36 dollars that we owe or race to an interview 15 minutes early to find that we are actually 20 minutes late.

Would humans be able to let go of this control? Because that’s what the number system ultimately is…a way to control the world around you through science and probability. Would humans be able to get there when they feel like it, wake when they are ready, pay what they feel is right, not worry about what the scale says but rather how they feel…or would the world be too up in the air?

Would the world be ok living on the basis of just trying; not having to make that certain percent, or would we find another way to torture ourselves?

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.
~Eric Hoffer, Reflections On The Human Condition