Postmodernism
Fate, Synchronicities and Volitionality
Jun 11th
For some strange reason, perhaps because I’ve always lived very close to my dreams and authentic creative impulses, I’m someone who’s become accustomed over time to experiencing synchronicities on a regular and ongoing basis. It’s baffled me at times, thinking that there might be something out there talking to me and telling me what to do, yet over and over again, when I try to follow whatever these messages seem to be telling me, I’m usually left even more confused than when I started when I’m left empty handed in the end. Luckily I’ve developed the maturity and come to a place now where I generally just leave these events alone and let them pass, which is the same position that I cultivate in relationship to my thoughts while meditating (a practice I’ve developed through Andrew Cohen’s teaching of Evolutionary Enlightenment).
You can see the postmodern (individualistic ‘everything is about me’ way of being) conditioning I carry in those earlier responses, when I’ve thought synchronicities seem to be telling me something about myself. Within those interpretations, there’s also a sense that I am the star of a surreal mystery movie and everything that is happening is just part of a film I’m starring in. When I’m constantly faced with the fact that my imagination in relationship to these events simply ran wild into no man’s land, I’m confronted with the fact that everything actually isn’t about me at all, not even these synchronicities.
Read the rest of this entry »
Rebels Without a Cause
Apr 30th
Hipsters have been on my mind lately. Not because I’m particularly interested in the edgy, ironic music and fashion trends that these millennial generation rebels are known for. I’m curious about the deeper cultural predicament that this strange youth movement seems to represent—one that I think has some serious implications for the future of humanity.
So what is a hipster anyway and why should you even care about this back-to-the-future cultural trend? Read the rest of this entry »
Sex and the Media
Apr 7th
Have you ever noticed how many billboards with some kind sexual content or reference we pass every day?
Yesterday, I took the time to count them: 7 in total. But it’s not just billboards, sex seems to be everywhere these days, be it TV commercials, newspaper columns, music videos or just about any other form of media. In fact, it is so omnipresent, that I noticed I wasn’t really paying attention to all the sex in the content. I shut myself down to all the stimulus around me, and apparently I’m not the only one.
Two generations after the sexual revolution and free love, when 11-year-olds walk around in mini-skirts and an 8-year-old sexually abusing a 6-year-old makes the headlines in Switzerland, we’ve reached a point where sex is a public matter. Promiscuity and sexual prowess are highly held values in the minds of many growing up. At least, that’s the image the media conveys.
This leaves our generation with a pretty heterogeneous and confusing picture of sexuality coming from society.
Spiritual Struggle Is Not a Bad Thing
Dec 30th
I was recently reading through the back posts on this blog and was struck by how many of them are about entitlement, narcissism and the need to be making serious effort. Because these topics aren’t talked about too often, the experience of reading all these posts was a little bit like getting yelled at without fully understanding why it was happening. But since I’ve been seeing why it’s so important to understand these issues in my own life recently, I thought I’d try to clarify a bit—because Merge is meant to be an inspiration for taking charge of creating a better future, not just a beat-down of the post-modern Gen Y self 
Life is difficult. In particular, trying to change oneself is extremely challenging. Some societies are very deliberate in emphasizing this fact. In Buddhist countries people are brought being told stories about monks who had to scrub floors and carry water up hills for years on end before they had made enough effort begin the process of spiritual transformation. Read the rest of this entry »
MGMT on The Youth
Dec 12th
Starting as a little-known college band, MGMT made it big when their alternative single, “Kids,” became a pop hit, followed by the even more popular “Electric Feel.” Hailing from hipster-loving Brooklyn and my liberal arts alma mater, Wesleyan University, their super-catchy songs are a great expression of what the most-progressive, well-educated Americans are thinking and singing about right now. Here’s an interesting song that transmits their perspective on the culture and youth of today — I think the mix of irony and optimism is definitely worth some commenting. It’s an interesting contrast with the blog Tom Huston just posted on Lily Allen.
Lily Allen & the Gen-Y Condition
Dec 3rd
Many Americans haven’t heard of the young Gen-Y pop singer Lily Allen, but my British compatriots tell me she’s huge in the UK–right up there with that other poster girl for the state of our generation, Amy Winehouse. I discovered her a few months ago and still find her song, “The Fear,” simultaneously highly catchy and slightly disturbing. See the lyrics here. Check it out below:
Lily Allen – The Fear from Alex Gilbert on Vimeo.
(If you can’t play this vid in your country, try searching your local YouTube affiliate.)
YouTube, MySpace and the future of OurSpace
Nov 12th
I often find myself in a state of awe over the wonders of modern technology—video chatting with friends halfway around the globe, exploring slot canyons in Utah with GoogleMaps and having instant answers to nearly any question on Wikipedia—it’s just amazing! But, with all the increased connection, education and enjoyment that have come with modern media, a lot of challenges have come with it as well.
Chief among them is that modern media has conditioned us to think that we’re a lot better and more important than we actually are. Just think about the psychology induced by youTube. With a webcam, a couple minutes and a few clicks you can get thousands of people to watch you—not because you’re an impressive filmmaker or because you’ve achieved something significant—but merely because you had that webcam, used those minutes and made those clicks. And then there’s Facebook, where you’ve got all your friends on your scoreboard, you’re featured in the news everyday, and you’re constantly being updated when anyone does anything in relation to you. Our interactions with such mediums consciously and unconsciously shape who we are. In the words of NYU professor Thomas de Zengotita (he’s also author of the brilliant book Mediated), modern media has given each of us our own little “MeWorld” in which you are always the star, even if your aren’t one. Read the rest of this entry »
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