People can be blinded and left in absolute darkness. They can also be blinded by the light…
Sensory deprivation, total or partial, is a challenging condition. Leaving a person in darkness, literally or metaphorically, can turn a person hard and cold. Scorching the senses and taking away all stimuli and initiative can lead to stunted growth and severe distress. It depersonalizes, dehumanizes, de-empathizes. It leads to depression, insanity, violence, suicide, murder…
Emerging from the cave, out of the dark and its shadows, into the light of the wide-open world is a beautiful process. Something like stepping into a bright dream.
It’s also a tricky endeavor, liable to slip into nightmare mode, if one isn’t careful. The experience becomes overwhelming, fast, and caution must be exercised. Care must be taken. Senses and faculties long dormant and atrophied need time to adjust to the rush of stimuli surging through body and mind…
Transition in general must be exercised with care. Too much of it, too fast, and it backfires. Too little of it, all timidity, and it won’t be enough to make a difference. It has to be done just right, and time is a key catalyst, through which natural adaptation is aided through bursts of intervention and systematic support…
The same applies in the abstract sense when cultures deprived of certain thoughts and modes of behavior are exposed to them. Too much of an alien mode of thinking, open and inviting as it may be, can be disastrous. Too little of it, and it never takes hold, never makes a difference. Change needs time and coordination to yield results.
Logic and clarity are indispensable tools for lasting change. Without them, there’s breakdown and chaos, or some kind of abreaction.
Here’s a video from a brilliant BBC series that marks the awakening of humanity from its prejudices, and our entering a world of reason, science, innovation and discovery…
Beauty and poetry, too: invaluable tools, especially when opening the world to new, illuminating possibilities. Where would we be without the appreciation of what is around us?
Here’s the trailer for Koyaanisqatsi, a stunning documentary by Godfrey Reggio, that offers us a glimpse of the natural world before moving on to the impact of technology, and a, life out of touch with harmony – how rampant technological-economic progress gave rise to a life out of balance…
Clearly one’s light is the other’s shadow. Our progress is not all upswing. Win some, lose some, try to reconcile the differences and not repeat the errors.
In Conclusion
Our deprivation can be cured by exposing ourselves to stimuli, engaging our senses and embracing what’s out there, yet too many stimuli can be a problem. Overdo it, and we lose focus, become confused, overwhelmed. We better pause and reevaluate our course before moving ahead, or risk losing control.
In future posts I’ll explore how our next course of action is not a straightforward one. The world is not on the same footing, with parts of it in complete deprivation, others in overload, experiencing pandemonium. A grand course of action is not yet feasible.
What’s feasible and necessary is to gage the situation so that we may deal with facts, one step at a time.
Bottom line, progress is great, but too much of it, too fast, too rampant, leads to the same kind of incapacity as the darkness we leave behind.
Something to think about.
Related articles:
Allegory Of The Cave: Coming To Our Senses Through Equilibrium And Contact