Eine Kleine Zeitgeist

Apathy is inertia in action ~ nothing goes anywhere.

Those suffering from extreme cases of apathy sit around like blobs of Play~Doh, commiserating with each other about the state of the world.

When challenged to do something to change the world for the better, they shrug in resignation at their “fate” and go back to doing what blobs do best.

Nothing.

Apathy can be overcome by enthusiasm, and enthusiasm can be aroused by two things:  first, an idea which takes the imagination by storm; and second, a definite, intelligible plan for carrying that idea into action.

~ Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975)

Now, I am NOT admitting to being an apathetic blob of Play~Doh generally, but Saturday morning, when Chad shot the link for The Zeitgeist Movement my way, my general physical and mental functioning resembled “apathy in action,” with certain Play~Doh like characteristics.

Since my analytical brain would have spent its time criticizing and nit-picking every little point with which it disagreed, I just turned that half of my brain off ~ easy to do that morning since it was still sound asleep from Mad Hatter’s Almost Eco-Friendly Tea Party.

I proceeded to read The Zeitgeist Movement with my creative brain and discovered, to my surprise (and Chad’s), that it was the “shot in the arm” that I needed that morning.  The creative vision for the future “took my imagination by storm” ~ acting as an antidote to my apathetic countenance.

In short, I was wowed by the idea of living in a world with no currency, no corruption, no greed, no property, and no politicians . . . especially since the planners promised there would be liberty, equality, and abundance for all.  More on this subject in future posts.

Yesterday, my initial burst of enthusiasm deflated rapidly like a tired balloon because . . . the analytical side of my brain is decidedly less enthusiastic about the project than my creative side.

Paramount of those reasons ~  The Venus Project does NOT have “a definite, intelligible plan for carrying [the] idea into action.”  Instead, it vaguely envisions all countries simultaneously (1) replacing current governments with computers to oversee things; (2) building new robotic cities while leaving the old cities as empty shells; and (3) abandoning money as a unit of exchange, and nationality as a symbol of pride.

Absent some colossal brain-washing scheme, I don’t see that happening even if (a big if) everyone on the face of the planet became convinced that  implementing the idea would be in everyone’s best interest.

Why?

Because we don’t trust one another enough.  We have been socialized to compete, not cooperate.  That distrust is unlikely to evaporate in a single puff of compassionate Zeitgeist smoke.  Especially since some of that competitiveness is hard-wired into us ~ in the reptilian portion of our brains which pre-dates civilization by a wide margin.

The authors of The Zeitgeist Movement disagree, insisting that we are the products of our environment.  They argue that, once we change the environment from greed-based to need-based, we will follow suit.

They are convinced that nurture (i.e., socialization), not nature (i.e., genes), has the most influence over our development.  In support, they cite a few articles, and toss a few treatises around.  But they rely on anecdotal evidence, rather than hard science to support their hypotheses that “human nature” will change in significant measure.

The more my analytical brain considered the issue of getting from here to there, the more stumbling blocks it ran into.  In many ways, it doesn’t really matter whether nature or nurture is responsible for who we are (and how we act) right now.  The fact remains . . . we are who we are.

Even if (another big if) we ALL wanted to change, our egos are not likely to step aside and allow us to change overnight.  Among other things, ego is unlikely to enthusiastically embrace the idea that computers and robots can run things better than we can.  More on this subject in future posts.

In short, the antidote to apathy offered by The Venus Project is not fully developed yet.  There is much work still to be done to complete the second half of the equation.  A creative idea is a wonderful start, but it’s not enough to sustain people’s interest for long.

To achieve our dreams for a sustainable future, we must allow creative ideas to fire our imagination with enthusiasm ~ and then rein in that enthusiasm long enough to create a workable plan to bring our creative ideas into being.

To be continued in Eine Kleine Zeitgeist ~ part 2.