[Previously: With business as usual, and humanity permanently stuck on Earth, there’s no future worth talking about, at least none that includes the incredible biodiversity of Planet Earth.]
One look at what’s happening, and with some knowledge of history and psychology, the outcome of business as usual is obvious. Get stuck, and things turn catastrophic. You either break out of the cage and make for open space or, lacking the options, suffer the consequences of a life spent in confinement, with all that it entails — overcrowding, malnutrition, pollution, loss of hygiene, pervading injustice, insecurity . . . the list goes on.
I’ve added an extra edge to the argument, for kicks, because, well, I’m human. It’s what we do.
It’s also what sells. Attention grabbing. We have to grab attention to make an impact. First thing I was told by everyone in the industry, in marketing, business, and academia, as well as art, science, and engineering, and pretty much in every field you can imagine, they all agreed: grab attention to make an impact. No grab attention, no one gives a shit, and your idea is as good as never having existed. End of story.
See, I once wrote a bunch of books and essays identifying a series of problems in human affairs, all of them derived from psychological malfunction, miscommunication, misunderstanding, bias, and other psychologically-related dynamics from which the world suffers. My take was simple. Acknowledge the problems first, deal with them later, just like that. Deal with them after you’ve pinpointed them, examined them, and understood how they came about.
To help the process along, I proposed a number of ways to tackle these problems and dysfunctions, all of them involving taking a hard look at oneself and owning up to the problems, to each our own, and doing something about them.
The idea was solid, but the concept didn’t stick. No one was interested. Zilch. People wanted something with a kick, they said. A narrative to engage their imaginations, not put their brains to work.
So I switched the narrative to one of love, intrigue, conflict, greed, pain, hatred and desire; death, suffering, sacrifice and forgiveness; and triumph; and respect, plenty of that, and civil conflict and revolution and heartbreak and catastrophe, and the rise and fall of civilization, and the evolution of systems, and the change that comes with it, the reluctance and anger and rage, the ecstasy, and every kind of emotion available, and, wouldn’t you know it, people responded.
So here we are folks, what the majority of people respond to: a colorful list of emotionally charged, visceral, often entertaining premises, some of which amuse us, some of which horrify us, all of which captivate us enough to make us pay attention, to pay money for them, to spend time getting to know and understand them.
6.5 billion people, for example. They need to go, no question.
(A captivating, attention-grabbing prospect.)
It’s a nice number, too. Six point five billion people.
It’s also business as usual, only this time it involves a bigger plan, therefore, it isn’t business as usual. It’s a monumental shift.
Imagine the mythology that follows such a watershed event, all the drama and inspiration, the birth of a new set of choices, a new era. The Great Purging. The Grand Rebooting. The Grand Migration and The Space Age. The Planetary Renaissance. The Re-enlightenment.
The Revelation.
The Resurrection.
I love these last two. The Resurrection and Revelation. They have a familiar ring to them. 4.5 billion people will most likely respond to these concepts in some way or form. It’s part of their daily worldview. 4.5 billion people currently live and die by doctrines founded on apocalyptic eventuality AKA monotheism.
Something tells me my work is going to be easier than I thought. Engaging people is all too easy if you speak the lingo of the apocalypse. The system is rigged, anticipating revelation, if not craving it.
At your service, ladies and gentlemen! Now and always, you have my full attention, and I will make I have yours.
In the meantime, enjoy this beautiful video on the natural and biological wonders that constitute this world — wonders and miracles we’re in a hurry to record before we reduce them to ash and ruin.
Do I have your attention?
Does David Attenborough?
https://www.facebook.com/bbctwo/videos/1310683535618728/
The jokes are over, and yet —
I have a feeling they’ve only just begun.
From the shores of a volcanic I-Land,
and from the bays of a hurricane-ridden Pearl Coast,
and with input from EON and Spin Doctor,
Fish a ton of oysters,
say ciao to the barrier reef and other natural wonders,
(don’t worry, we have them on video),
keep your ears open,
eyes open, mind sharp, and
watch this space for more.