Many claim quite confidently that our society is materialistic, but is that really the case? I read this short passage from the Apocalypedia by Darren Allen which suggests otherwise, and I think he's completely right.
Modernity is not materialistic, it is a deeply dissociated and idealistic collective. People want the status from something more than the thing itself. People want to feel safe by being told reassuring lies rather than actually being safe and ownership of their lives. People are so out of touch with their body that they get stuck in loops of rumination and pointless worrying. The technological system numbs our bodies through never exerting it, our emotions through never allowing them to come up, and our minds through rewarding obedience as opposed to genuine thinking.
And on top of that, the ideals that people pursue become their own justification, untethered from the ground of providing something genuinely valuable. This process is what I've come to call hollow thinking: all form, no substance.
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2024-03-30