Break the Jinx

I'm amused by the way people think.

Or rather, how they don't. North American culture has seen to it that, no only do we not have to think, but doing so is to our detriment. We are instead told to act based on "how we feel." Instead of thinking things through, we're expected to make judgments based on what's coursing through us at an exact moment. Betrayal. Hurt. Revenge. On revenge alone, I'm very surprised we haven't wiped ourselves off the map, but hey. Even the best ordered systems have their exceptions, including the unthinking brain. Even once in a blue moon, the most moon-struck, oblivious individual will have a momentary epiphany, a singular notion not born of reaction or instruction - a genuine creative insight.

The problem lies in that such waves of unforeseen thought never happen all at the same time. Say, at election time. Or when there's just been a catastrophe. All people know is how they feel. And to be brutally blunt, feelings are just an exploitable resource for those who have none. Do you think our politicians, our bureaucrats, our leaders give a flying fuck about how we feel? Not really. They want to inspire us to something so that we'll vote for them and give them power. They'll do everything short of raising hell (and lets face it, some have even crossed that line) to ensure we get that vibe that brings the numbers to the polls.

And now, look at modern times. We've been so hamstrung by our feelings that we've just stopped. Miserable, isn't it? We're caught in the hypocracy of trying to live our lives without feeling, while at the same time, being utterly enslaved by them. When we're hurt, we yell. When we're stolen from, we get mad. No thinking involved. Knee-jerk.

I'm often depressed. I have no reason to be, but for now I'll chalk it up to the fact that I have to be dictated to by people who are living their lives in a primitive autopilot. They don't think about things, but rather just feel their way through life. Honestly, if I wanted to be a blind fish, snapping at whatever bugs comes down the stream, I would've hit reset long ago.