Modern Skepticism, Attempt At Reconciliation

Skepticism. No word has gained a worse reputation in a short amount of time. The expression started a long time ago, with good prospects, high hopes. Greece, I think. Yet there it is now, sinking like a stone...

What it truly means to feel skeptical as "in doubt" of people or ideas I think every person alive knows. It is an intrinsic part of being human to have the feeling, that something is wrong, "off", a certain fact, an idea, maybe even a generally considered truth. Similar to a sense of foreboding - when you think something bad is about to happen - it can be quite overwhelming. 

That's why I'd like to define skepticism as a state of feeling, not being, because unlike the philosophical movement, it is not a product of thorough thought or opinion formation - no, feeling skeptical is typically what happens before that process starts, maybe even the foundation for it. Theoretically, you could remain in skepticism mode for a longer time period, but people usually don't. Same as with feelings of premonition, it is a state of mind that passes once the occasion, the trigger for it is gone.

A world pandemic is a substantial occasion for skepticism, because not only does the virus target our lives, the safety measures to contain it challenge our ways of living. And the truly agonizing part is, that we can't escape the situation, and the complete control it exerts on all of us.

Some say these feelings of lacking control are justified, others say, they are excessive, and a small price to pay for all our physical health. Whatever your position on it may be, the fact is, that at the moment, many people feel confined, trapped, and that feeling is real and needs to be taken seriously. 

Confinement usually starts when someone's personal freedom is in some way limited, controlled, watched over, even a public topic of discussion. "How to sneeze" is a new etiquette, same as not showing one's nose and mouth in confined spaces. "Not be too many" is a hard rule to follow, maybe the hardest. I think, this may be the one linked to skepticism the most.

I have a suspicion, that at its core, skepticism is a direct result of feeling confined. Societal normalcies like being close to each other, hugging or talking to someone while seeing their face are tumbling right now. People are afraid to stand too close, thus, we as a people, feel separated from our own tribe. But the tribe is our history, our existence, our everything. It has always been the solution, not the problem. It has been the most basic human need ever since we stepped out of the mud and decided to live on dry land. So, feeling skeptical, when our world is turned upside down, is a completely understandable reaction.

Too symbolic? Oh, well.

It may take crazy turns once we decide to "side" with Covidtruthers, ProCovidmeasurists or anyone, who, motivated by a feeling of skepticism, is loud and opinionated. These are not tribes we can rely on, but a mere "signaled" affiliation to some people we feel close to in our shared anxiety. And we feel the need to attach to someone, something, during this crisis. So what can we do?

I don't know. We need to try and get through it, somehow, and let the feeling run its course. Usually, what happens after skepticism is opinion formation. Let it be based on facts not fear. Don't let fear overrun your thoughts. This may sound simplistic, but you just tell your fears to shut up for a minute. "Shut up fears, while I check these facts." These fears will be much quieter, once you've collected your information.

Let me just say this: we belong to one tribe, all of us, even the loud obnoxious ones, who seem to be on the opposite side of what you feel is right. Don't let anyone or anything drive a wedge between you and someone else. We all share the same anxieties, we are all afraid. We all want to survive this, and there are no two sides to beating this virus. Let's just agree that separation is not the answer, neither to the virus, nor to the feelings we have concerning this matter.

And speaking of an enemy image: this virus is more than enough, so we really don't need any fights amongst ourselves. Let's just try and kick its ass instead. 

There's Spiders on the Interwebs

I had a blog on the interwebs at the foot of the Ngong Hills...well, duh. I still have a blog, though deserted at daytime, I'm always close by at night, never far from putting down thoughts in writing. And I seriously realize I need to do some spring blog cleaning before spring turns into summer, and summer makes me want to do everything but clean, even on and between those dusty interwebs.

So, how have you been doing lately - she asks - casually. Are you OK? Have you been shaken by the various crises of this earth or did you just stop caring? I mean, seriously. Horrific news, every day. We are being sold, our private lives being spied upon, our data being inflationary goods for intelligence worker drones and the nations that employ them. They doodle on our love letters, and draw funny faces on our porn collection. The guy with the mustache got an even bigger mustache. Funny stuff. They rated our naked holiday pictures from 1 to 10. If there has ever been a moment to uprise, that moment is here, staring us in the face. Unfortunately, we let it pass. We just shake our heads in disagreement if we're not too busy having insignificant thoughts about nothing. We're all fresh out of disappointmental energy. And anger is that much harder to come by. We feel as though we're the smallest link in the celestial alignment of our existence. We're just too damn unimportant. I have to ask this of me, of everyone: are we? Are we the insignificant ant in this equation? Let's see: human - check. All limbs and brains intact - check. Human Rights being beaten with a stick - ding ding ding, jackpot! Hey there, you with the sad eyes, we do have some power. Confidence, please. We have all the power. It's not us and them. It's only us, and we control what we do. This idea of big nobs separate from us, it is an illusion.

You could hold the view that we had it coming. We got lazy, we let things run into the ground. But I'd like to think there is a slight ticking noise going on in the background, and it gets a little louder every day. At some point, there'll be an explosion. It's what happens when people are undermined, cornered. People and wolves. It's what needs to happen, so we can be free for a while. Until the next election, take-over takes place, coup, whatever you want to call it. Because wolves will remain wolves, and the balance between freedom and security will always be fragile and fleeting. And nature will catch up with itself eventually.

Barely Political Lolcats

As writers, we do what we are supposed to do, at least most of the time. We write stuff. Oftentimes we get sidetracked, and do other things instead, like eye-googling the internet, watching Youtube, getting lost somewhere on the sidebars between music videos and TED. I love all that! No one expects us to be in razor-sharp focus all the time - after all, we are not journalists. We do want to deliberately entertain, te-hee! 

And although I do suspect there is a very fine line between bloggers, columnists and journalism people in general, there is one tiny distinction, that makes all the difference. As a writer of fiction and a blogger I shall be solely entertaining, because that is the job description.

Bloggers are split in different categories, they can be a) the extremely informative kind or b) the entertaining kind. You have to chose one side to be enjoyed and tolerated by the masses, you can't ever be both. If you are an extremely informative blogger, you may set out to write an (informative) book, and, chances are good, your book will be read by the people who also read your blog. You can make a joke, or two in the book, but don't overdo it; you are not Robin Williams, after all.

For someone like me, set out to do a fun little blog with rants, and reviews every now and again, plus snippets from my writing, it would be a serious mistake to be all too political. Being informative, I dare say, being political, scares fun-loving people too much, to respond positively or respond at all. Their job - their reputation is on the line, being openly affiliated with a person of such-and-such political values. And we all know that the Reps hate it, too. You have to play out your ideals in private, not where everyone else can see them. 

Thanks to social media we have become closeted again, hiding our true selves, because of what is and is not accepted. It started with people sharing the same things on Facebook, over and over again. Positive things, things that are indisputable. "Life is good." "Cats are funny." "Enjoy yourself." That's fine, I do that myself, because I don't have to think about the consequences.

The problem is that is has gotten to a point where even the attempt at dispute itself is frowned upon. No one dares to say anything that goes against the prevailing opinion. Righty, lefty. It's seems OK to be openly religious, because you get the vote of the majority that way. It's still not OK, not to believe in God. People think you're weird or a psychopath. People only dare to speak up in their like-minded circles about their collective dirty little secrets. You lose readers that way, being openly diverse, not playing towards the rules of the swirling consensus. It is simply unaccepted.

People give their thumbs up only for things that they themselves do, are and stand behind. And the choice for that is what everyone else does or does not like. We are like a swarm of bees. People like to see their own life choices confirmed. As a writer, I would need to mirror that for bonus points, and then I'd definitely get the friendly nod of approval. Quid pro quo. I find that disgusting. 

It's the end of free speech as we (may never have) known it. It's Germany, in 1938. It starts out with silent disapproval and it ends with pogrom and persecution. Nowadays, people lose jobs, because they openly share their political opinions at work. Your boss can't differentiate being a boss and being human at the same time - all the time - and unfortunately the same dynamics apply there as they do on the internet. You are what you say, not what you do. A big mouth attached to a suit. It means you will get fired if you say something he doesn't agree with. The rules of conformity nearly demand it.

Lately, I feel the same way here on my blog, gagged, curtailed. I don't get paid for my writing, which makes it even worse. I worry about possibly not getting paid in the future for saying what I think right now. I can't write like that, I can't live like that. This goes against the freedom of thought as much as it goes against free speech. Solution a) would be to play by the rule, solution b) would be to change the rule. I say, change the rule. I know full well, that by saying this, it may very well be the last post you ever want to read from me. That's unfortunate. But it doesn't mean I shouldn't take the chance to speak up, as long as I still can.