"We all have evolved to the live this kind of ‘double-life’. But for such a duality of consciousness to function effectively, Time is of the essence. By this I mean that without regularly ‘taking time out’ from the daily round to regularly ‘mull things over’ in the Mind…one is less likely to distinguish between significant and trivial experiences, and so come to develop some smidgen of wisdom as life takes its course. And the accumulation of self-knowledge is likely to be more than minimal—until one dies never really knowing one has ever lived."
This is a quote from Graham collier who is the author of 'Art and the Creative Consciousness' and ‘What the Hell Are The Neurons Up To?’. The quote id taken from an article he refers to as a short essay called 'Escapism and Contemporary Life'. He talks about the importance of spending time analysing our experiences to help us understand the world. We have become more and more used to being bombarded with information all day everyday whether it be through television, computers or our phones. Collier addresses the problem with this modern method of escapism saying.
So I would suggest that the real form of ‘Escapism’ nowadays is the compulsive need to constantly be engaged in living an electronic life of fact-finding, problem-solving, video game playing, and personal chit-chat…And this at the expense of retreating from life’s ‘goings-on’ from time to time to exercise the Mind by mentally re-living events…in the course of which one discovers unexpected, intuitively held sensibilities and attitudes concerning the way things have been going: the overall result being the ability to ‘see’ oneself as very much an individual—very much one’s own person.
He suggests that we have become constantly plugged into news feeds for almost every waking hour in our lives and have lost our individuality and sense of self in the process. I think we need time to make sense of our environment. people struggle to take in information that challenges their beliefs. I remember reading a study about how long it takes people to admit they are wrong, I will have to see if I can find the study again.
Which is more dangerous escapism or a complete lack of it?
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