The more things we invent to simplify our lives, the more complicated they’ve become. With sensory assault bombarding us with relentless velocity from every conceivable direction—and some new ones COMDEX hasn’t unveiled yet—it’s no wonder heads are spinning. Which begs the question, “Is your head getting crowded, too?”
Since competition for mindshare is increasing—some of it obnoxiously so—during radio interviews I frequently challenge the host to select which of two things his or her head has become. Is it an open bar (with free and open access for all); or is it a castle, protected by a drawbridge?
They often pick the former. This is a predictable shame; everyone should strive to be the latter. Heads should be fortified castles, well guarded and protected.
Left unpoliced the mind can and will get very crowded, very quickly. Video and audio stimuli and the gadgets that beget them create noise, and noise creates confusion. Bombardment fosters addictive behaviors. When portals to the mind become too crowded, the traffic jam inside causes head pollution. When the brain resembles a Mumbai intersection, there’s too much chaos inside for anyone’s good.
Everywhere I travel I see behavioral zombies. Worse, the number of afflicted (and addicted) is rising. Pause and look around and you’ll see them too. Next time at the mall or airport observe the behavior of those around you. You will be able to deduce who can and cannot control their mind and behaviors. If you watch what with a fair, unbiased, and open mind … chances are you’ll pity some of those folks. Many lost in a bubble of behavioral addiction lack the awareness to realize it.
Just because someone has access to the mind doesn’t mean that he or she or it has the right to be there. On the contrary! We should be custodians of the mind, stewards who make disciplined decisions about who and what belongs. This starts with a simple decision, whether or not it’s time to end the days of the open bar and commit to a less chaotic life inside a well protected cerebral castle.
Castle dwellers lower the drawbridge whenever necessary to sweep out nonsense. Then they re-raise that drawbridge to protect themselves from unwanted noise and intrusion. Who and what remains inside the castle walls is their choice (and no one else’s). So is the call on when to lower the drawbridge and sweep nonsense out or allow ideas in.
Surrounded by bombardments of clattering noise, how complicated is it to remain calm and in control, sifting through what does and doesn’t belong? If you’re disciplined about it, it’s easy.
But without drawbridge discipline, chaos shall prevail. Depending who we listen to or what we watch, without that drawbridge we are reminded relentlessly that we are an inadequate blend of what we drive, eat, drink, and wear, and no better or worse than who we hang out with. We are connected or we’re not. In or out. Today or yesterday. Relevant or irrelevant. Who decides? Who knows? Everyone is clamoring for attention at the open bar. Opinions are not fact; opinions are fish scales. Treat them accordingly.
This past June in New York City, Des Moines high school student Kate Moore, 15, rallied from behind to win LG’s U.S. National Texting Championships. She won the $50,000 first prize by being first to text an error-free modified chorus from “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.”
I kid you not. FIFTY GRAND for “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.”
Shows what I know; I always thought it was “ZIPPETY-Doo-Dah.” I must be of the lost generation. Raise the drawbridge, quick!