Ultra-High Definition Resolutions

New Year trends to bring in a lot of resolve.   A lot of resolutions.  And a lot of quitting.  Usually the good kind.  But there are other kinds of quitting.  Where we tend to swear off something completely.  If you look at life like binaries, it’s shutting off one avenue completely, which could lead to near-infinite more possibilities.  In many cases it is justified.  There is logic and rationale behind it.  In some cases, a little more evaluation is required.

We tend to shut things off completely.  Out of anger, outrage, indignation, or it’s vocal and vehement support by opposing ideologies.  The more rabble-rousing done in favor of something particular, the more vehement is the opposition for it, by those who oppose the rabble-rousers themselves (Think about it, the shriller the alarm clock, the more likely we are to clock it with a sledgehammer).  And so we let other fools decide our paths for us (much like we let RottenTomatoes dictate our movie viewing).

We need to take a more informed call.  Not the ill-informed one we tend to make.  Learn about something before swearing it off completely.  We don’t need to burn ourselves to know that we need to avoid fire.  I don’t believe in the experience everything once mantra.  But we sure as hell need to know what the deal with Fire is.  Like when you googled to find out what the deal with Arcade Fire was (I know you did).

Here's a Little Tip

2017 was a year the world collectively stumbled.  In my opinion.  The stumble was probably a collective over-tipping.  A lot of things reached a tipping point, and then toppled over.  Crossing the tipping point, in socioeconomic terms has always assumed to be a good thing.  Thanks for nothing, Malcom Gladwell.  Tipping over, if physics has taught us anything, can be a frustrating phenomenon.  Specially when the key is moderation.  And Balance.  You don’t hear of shoes branded as New Tipping-Over.  Tipping over also occurs in innovation and gravitas, in movements and revolutions.  Rebellion when overdone, becomes whining.  Opinions, when overstated become trolling.  Not every gap needs to be filled.  We aren’t motorcycle riders in Hyderabad after all.  Silence and moments to absorb are essential.  As Claude Debussy (no clue, just googled his name) stated:  Music is the silence between the notes.  A constant cacophony like tinnitus ringing in your ears will eventually get tuned out.  

This leads to supposed “improvement” where things didn’t need them.  Moviepasses, higher resolution on tinier screens (a perfect metaphor for the digital age ego), Juicero, sleeping tents with legs etc.  The collective cyclic redundancy in shiny packaging was as if the world itself was a simulation sponsored by Apple.

The point of it all being, treat things like you’re making a smoothie.  Know what to add, know when to crank it up, but also know when to stop.  Not everything needs an over-saturated filter.  Flavor over spice.  Lucknowi Biryani over Hyderabadi Biryani.  Seasoning over dousing.  Stepping onto the treadmill is an important step.  But know when to get off, so you can go through the day and come back to step on again.  We need to remember not to let the things driving a better life to become or overtake life itself.  If we just took some time to step back and take in the larger view, there are other things that deserve some attention compared to the laser-like focus we tend to give a few particular things.  In 2018, be like a little master, a little Jack.

Lazo-pallooza

Laziness can inspire great inventions they say.  Shortcuts around mundane tasks, routes previously unimaginable and what not.  Great inventions that benefit everyone in the long run.  But not everyone has a Eureka! moment.  Some people just jump out in the privacy of their own bathroom, keeping their lightbulb idea to themselves.  The 'selfish' inspiration.  The kind that has given rise to a new kind of economy.

This kind of laziness hinges on the laziness of others.  It capitalizes on the herd mentality that brings people into the same cattle ranch, like good cattle (good behavior good, not beef good obviously!) who will stay there as long as they get something even absolutely bland, banal, mundane and milquetoast to munch on.

And so this trend of mediocre "entertainment" via lazy videos, memes, reviews, even reactions.  Yes, reactions to products, services and even other videos.  Their unsolicited inexpert stamp of approval.  And the only criteria to success is view count and eyeballs.  Like lazy toads we are fed one mediocre video, short enough to hold our attention, after the other.  They thrive because we are too lazy to navigate away to another attempt at potential mediocrity.  Or at best, average and mediocre stuff sandwiched between passable stuff stretched too far apart like some record setting sandwich with breads like estranged cousins.  Or like the subprime debts sandwiched between a few good ones to form a hideous imitation of a Collateralized Debt Obligation (smartypant reference, FTW!)

This entertainment constantly keeps setting the entry barrier lower and lower, and keeps our expectations grounded (always a good lesson for the real world).  No wonder then, we all turn into cynics.  This is a service industry based on entertainment and not joy.  Contrary to what we may have thought, joy and entertainment are not synonymous.  Delivering joy is a parameter and benchmark for the highest echelons of service providing industry.  Entertainment, well you could put Akshay Kumar and a dog together for 2.5 hours and call it that.  Literally.

That's what happens when you turn something to a 24 hour cycle.  Be it work, news, food or entertainment.  If it has to be non stop, the quality will suffer.  So in our vulnerable state after an extended work day, we have our guard down and laziness up for sub quality entertainment and sub quality food, occasionally flipping through "news" while completely unaware of and unaffected by important EVENTS.