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| "Great-Great-Granddaughter" |
"Great-Great-Granddaughter"
It's not hard to imagine how far from us the future generations will be. With all the additional environmental factors, plus a governing perspective on parenting that is far from even that of the 1950s, we're looking at an all new kind of human being. Already within the understanding between the present co-existing generations, there is an enormous distance in perceptions and ideals, the consideration of what the meaning of living is, and what the given motivations and ambitions for life really are.
in anthropological terms, it is said that the difference in language in only four generations is so great, that no one would be able to have a conversation with their great-great-great-grandparents. This is at any time in human history, not just the modern world. It may have something to do with why we don't live that long, because once a person is separated from a world they can't communicate with, they lose the will to live.
Novelty, innovation, re-invention, are all normal in human society, but it isn't until a generation reaches middle age that they start to realise that they are being written out of life by the succeeding generation. Every new generation thinks they are the first to do something - quite often they are - but every previous generation fails to be the first to adapt as quickly to the new, to stay relevant to the present. Sometimes the change required is so great, it would mean the decimation of not only personal identity, but the soul.
To become something entirely other than anything you have been before.
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| "Distinctions"
The other new work that has been completed is a freeform abstraction titled "Distinctions"
- a description of the fashion in which we layer and compose definitions of life in our minds. As finite beings, we need boundaries for understanding, function and co-operation, but they are rarely perceived as the same idea by even two people.
What we use then is evaluation and judgement, often leading us astray from the truth, and defining our world through our imaginings, rather than concrete and specific truths. We gauge each other and the world around us through the illusions that we create, and then argue the details, seeking not only confirmation of our truths, but their domination. Even in the presence of a lie being proven false, the need for control and security of a mentally composed reality is the strongest element of the human psyche - Belief has no basis in reality, yet it has the power to create the symptomatic result of its premise, regardless of the source.
We fuss, and spout cliches, and align our minds with comforting platitudes, all of which release us to the responsibilities of a world designed in our heads, and not the world as it is.
But then, if we were true realists, the sheer weight of our responsibilities would overwhelm us.
Which is why belief becomes such a necessity. Which is why judgement and assumption are more comfortable than discovering the truth, and why living in a self-created delusion is of greater satisfaction than living in peace and harmony with a collective reality.
We define, we distinguish, we believe we're in control of the facts. Whether or not that's true is bound by what you believe.
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