Oh man, I love and hate this topic. 
Studying history for so long as taught me that humanity tends to do the same things, like the same things, and fall into the same traps over and over. I don't think there's anything nefarious there - people are just the way they are, and human nature puts the collective into similar situations again and again.
When it comes to entertainment and celebrity, it starts to my skin crawl. I mean, I understand story templates and things like that - the hero's journey or enemies-to-lovers stories or other tropes are always going to be in play. But those templates are popular because them mean something and speak to something essential in the human experience.
But celebrity clones, every movie being the same, and reality being influenced by sci-fi (most sci-fi stories are warnings and allegories, for goodness sake!), is truly repulsive. With how thoroughly vast life is, are we really saying that these small slices are the only ones worth representing? Or are they just the ones that people think will make the most money the fastest? And with how much weirdness the internet has given us access to, how has our culture managed to homogenize even more? It boggles my mind.
@midara Wow I love how you put this. I was trying to say something similar but don’t think I succeeded. Astrology is the perfect example to me of templates. It’s archetypes. We are IN the archetypal dimension wether we see it or not.
I guess it’s that question of what and who creates culture? Is it created or discovered or both? I do think there are social engineers but how organic vs inorganic is their approach? Are they creating triggers or just capitalizing on existing ones? Or is there an actual attempt to override the old archetypal system, that was rich and was about finding Self and God, and morph it into something that makes us more docile? Or maybe there’s a discussion happening about that within the collective consciousness-which direction to go?
@elsa I’m curious though, what does this mean to you? To me- the most I can see clearly is that it’s just the fabric of reality. I could see how to some it would point to a masterful creator of the universe and to some a plot to fool us by a schemer or maybe both. Like- who’s behind this?
@libra-noir I don't know who or what is behind it and I'm not sure I can answer what it means because I don't have conclusions yet. Also, this thread is ongoing; there is a variety of content so I am not sure what we're talking about?
What I can say, positively, is looking at this, along with other things I can see at this time, helps me to prioritize my time and discern who and what I want to take seriously. As I've said, I don't want to get my truth from a liar.
I am interested in things that are raw and real. My whole life is evidence of this. So when I see I'm dealing with some Wizard of Oz stuff, I no longer want to stare at the screen?
I don't know but I think I am just turning into, Henry. He was dirt-poor, from West Virginia. He got himself and education and became a professor but then exited the system and never looked back.
It's about finding things out and then acting on them (for me). As opposed to just wringing my hands. My grandfather drove to the mountains (in AZ) every six weeks to collect drinking water from a natural spring. He camped for the weekend and collected the water in gallon jugs, drip by drip. Apparently, he felt this was worth his time, not to drink the poisoned water. See, it's not defeatist. "I can't do anything about it." Yes, you can.
So I bought a distiller and I process drinking water, daily, drip by drip. PITA but worth it.
Basically, I want to purify as much as possible. A large part of this is to quit consuming garbage on all levels. So I have learned to spot a number of things so I can identify that which is good for me and that which is not.
It is my hope to crack this (personally) so I can help others. I don't want to be a NPC. I don't want my humanity stripped from me. I want to be dynamically alive. And I don't want to be tricked or trick myself, for that matter.
First step is to see you're in a game of some sort. Then you figure our how you want to play your hand.
Thanks for asking this, it's made me think. I guess I'm back in my old card playing days... growing up with with a psychotic psychopath. I did not like my conditions but I was able to figure out how to maintain myself in the environment... and eventually get out.
But now I see am in this other bullshit, so hey. Game on!
I see this everywhere and it’s really boring. All while knowing I, too, am embedded in it. Or it’s embedded in me.
Funny, I was at a bachelorette party on Saturday, sitting at the table with the mother of the groom and people I knew from her Christmas parties, a couple women I see frequently. We all weren’t sure what to wear to the event. And we were talking about shopping for clothes. I said, I always have an idea of what I want but I get to the store and it doesn’t exist in the current season. I am, by no means, a fashion person. I ended up wearing a dress I’ve had 25 years, don’t know, don’t care if it’s in style.
But you can see how we can be limited and forced into boxes unless we can do things ourselves (I suck at sewing).
Have you noticed the robotic narration in ads with questionable products? Or the narration overlay in TikTok videos? I don’t have TikTok so I don’t know if it’s part of the app, the way the narrative voice is on a GPS. But it just sounds like dystopia.
And how many times have you been traveling in a car with navigation, you’re having a conversation with the real people in the car, and the voice comes up to give the next set of directions, and everyone goes silent, as if on command. I understand that you need to hear the next turn but I’m feeling the same way I feel when a child who hasn’t been taught manners, comes up and interrupts others, demanding attention, and distracting everyone.
I hate it.