I swear it didn’t used to be like this. I don’t remember thinking everything I looked at wasn’t real, but instead some sort of grossly manufactured “perfection.”
That’s how it is now, the world we are allowed to see is largely fake, and as technology masters the art of deception, it will only get worse.
Of course, we can blame a lot of things for this, first on that list is AI. But now not just AI art, but AI video, AI news, AI novels, AI everything. We can also obviously blame marketing and advertising for much of this fakery that hits us in the face every day.
Commercial marketing has always done that, certainly since the days of Bernays, the psychological wizard-mind of brainwashing and propaganda. A relative of Sigmund Freud no less.
But it isn’t only in the areas we have always understood to be spun. But also in nearly everything else. And not only that, we are much more apt to believe it now, because we really do not have anything to compare it to anymore.
At least back in the day watching a TV commercial expounding upon the miracle of the power of Mr. Clean on your linoleum floors, we had common sense we could rely on as to whether the cleanser met up to its advertised sensation. Now we take everything for granted to do what we are told it will do.
And if it doesn’t, well, what can you say? Complain? Forget that.
Reality is now defined by the spin. Our senses, and our reasoning mind, no longer have much to do with defining reality. For example, media tells us that many young women now aspire to have huge breasts, and big butts, and gaudy eye makeup, and, if of the appropriate elder age, Botox lips and eyes. And if they don’t, they are not sexy, or even pretty.
Sure, some people continue to hold onto old ways, and say, “Hell no! That isn’t what makes a woman beautiful!” But if you are one of these people you are probably in a minority—or at least the agenda says you are. And if you are said to be in the minority, then fat chance anyone will pay attention to anything that you have to say—unless the agenda wants it.
Remember back in the ‘60s? Very few women were as well endowed (breast-wise) as they are now. The hottest women in film were not. They were average, and average was certainly sexy enough. So, in an effort not to appear sexist, same thing goes for the men. But the commercial world doesn’t make as much money from exploiting sexy men, so male exploitation is not as prevalent. But it is still there.
The emphasis on six-pack abs, massive biceps, and impressive deltoids, has reached heights only dreamed of several decades ago. Sure, it is good to be healthy, but is being healthy only about building muscles so you look massive? Size is everything, right? Wrong. What happened to being attractive through character? Intelligence? Knowledge? Skills? Artistry? That’s not on the agenda’s agenda. That’s not part of the reality they want to define.
Think about it. Everything that we confront in our modern life is spun to look better, feel better, be more this or that thing that stimulates the senses. Every action movie that comes out has more CGI, more special effects, more explosions, more death-defying feats.
Every star in every movie looks better, is more attractive, is less plain. Of course, now we are being told to embrace the not-so-fortunate when it comes to physical looks—primarily the overweight actress. But she is still pretty. And usually female. I still don’t see many nerdy, ugly, fat, dumpy males getting starring roles out there.
This deception is obviously not limited to people and the way they look. But to nearly everything else—food, cars, electronic products, clothes. Of course, we see it in travel, hotels, resorts, any vacation destination. Needless to say, we see it in entertainment, movies, TV series, concerts, video games, bars, nightclubs.
Everything now is so flashy, so beyond imagination, so deceptive when compared to true reality. Is all this a product of advanced technology? Certainly, technology has had a part in the spin, but it isn’t the reason for the spin. The reason is to pull us away from true reality. It is a form of transhumanism—trans-realism. And it is just as dangerous, if not more so.
I remember years ago reading a book titled The Disney Version. Obviously, the book was about the Walt Disney Empire, but it focused on Disney’s et al. effort to sanitize nature in their parks and venues. I remember being really taken aback by this idea, as it seemed so foreign at the time (now it doesn’t at all). Disney’s sanitized experiences, river cruises on the Amazon with no bugs and fake “safe” alligators, fake mountains to ski down, submarine dives amongst plastic fish. All controlled, all meant to deceive. It appears Disney can be blamed for getting trans-realism a good head start.
I also remember reading a few complaints from hikers about spraying the backwoods with insecticides to kill the black flies that make hiking and camping so uncomfortable at certain times of the year (this wasn’t Disney’s idea, although it is something I doubt if he would have opposed!). “Hell, no! Leave nature alone!” was the prevailing mantra coming from these nature lovers. Again, I was young, and had to think a bit before I was chanting along with them. I don’t like black flies any more than the next guy, but I don’t like spraying the outdoors with insecticide even more.
See what I am getting at?
The deception here is not to make things “better” but to actually change things to be something they are not, so they appeal to our overly sensitive senses. Like a drug that excites the nervous system to an unnatural degree, so we lose sight of what it feels like to be “normal”—a “normal” that includes down times as well as up times—comfortable moments as well as uncomfortable ones—a stinging fly amidst the wonders of nature. A “normal” that is satisfied with what it’s got, and isn’t constantly looking for instant, and over-the-top, stimulation from the “fake” world.
Remember “safe and effective”?
“Take this vaccine and you won’t get Covid.” Another obvious deception. How many other examples of this deception can you see out there in the world today?
How about the wars in Europe and Israel/Palestine?
How about Climate Change?
How about nearly everything the medical establishment taunts us with—disease, treatments, drugs?
Again, every time we turn around, we are faced with this fake reality (sometimes the “fake” part is the carrot, sometimes it is the stick to scare us into compliance). Advertising, media, politician’s speeches, fast food, grocery stores, the doctor’s office, hospitals.
We can’t even look up into the sky without seeing it being painted with white streaks, or Musk’s Starlink satellites at night. It’s all fake, it all obscures the true reality of a beautiful (albeit sometimes challenging) God-created world.
The underlying mantra is “be safe,” “do not suffer.” Do not be normal. Do not live the life you were given in the world you were given. Demand something “better.” Believe in the agenda’s version of reality.
This is the reality that the agenda controls, and control is their primary incentive for creating “The Truman Show.” They have their fingers on the switches and knobs of the Holodeck, and can bring on the ecstasy, or take it away.
Whatever, and whenever, works best for them.