Anxiety.

B

blissblogger

Well-known member
smells like teen dispirit

a lot of my kids's contemporaries are on meds

one place it comes through is in the Shout-lessness of contemporary pop music

lots of whispery and whiny vocals... that hallmark style of singing with the "broken vowels" and the wispy texture, it speaks to a fragility
see also the etherealized boy-men of mumble rap

the lack of confidence and generational uncertainty comes through at the level of texture and voice-production, even when the lyrics are saying something else
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
Trillhouse said:
This is why we need Jesus. Alternatively, some of the newer cults are built around this premise. Which is obviously a form of anxiety thinking itself. Nobody can know the future, yet it's easy to forecast impending catastrophe and easy to believe in such forecasts. But obviously the only true statement is "nobody can know the future".
Click to expand...

We can all know a variety of possible potential futures which branch off in various directions from the present moment. A lot of them at the moment end up somewhere horrifying.
 
droid

droid

Well-known member
Trillhouse said:
IMHO general anxiety about the 'state of the world' or whatever, and some form of diagnosable anxiety disorder are obviously two seperate things that it's not always useful to conflate. But as usual I only have about 40% of an idea of wtf it is these threads are about.


These days..

The world is more peaceful than it's been in recorded history.

You're way less likely to die of infectious diseases (especially if you live in the West).

Advances in modern medicine continue to improve and prolong our lives to record levels.

In general people are having to work way less hours.

The numbers of people living in poverty & extreme poverty have been on a downward trajectory for decades and look to continue that decline.

Homicide rates have never been better.

The world is becoming more democratic.

Modern technology & amenities have improved standards of living to unprecedented levels.



None of that can save you from the irrefutable fact that one day we will all die, disappearing into an infinite void of nothingness.
Click to expand...

We're 100 seconds from midnight.

All of this progress (and much of it is disputed at best) is built on sand and was accomplished through a system that kills millions every year, destroys the environment and physically and psychologically degrades even the most privileged.

The next decade will tell if we can advance beyond societal adolescence or choke on our own planetary vomit.
 
droid

droid

Well-known member
The doomsday cults are the fossil, chemicals and food industries who are knowingly cutting down the tree of life, and politicians who subvert democracy by supporting them.
 
V

version

Well-known member
Yeah, I've seen that before. Do they actually believe it though? We're all going to die, but a lot of us don't really know or believe it. It's very hard to get your head around. I was under the impression a doomsday cult was a group literally seeking out and willing on a potential doomsday. I don't think that's what drives these people and companies. Their ideal seems to be to live and accumulate wealth forever.
 
droid

droid

Well-known member
If you are aware that your actions will bring about doomsday but don't care as long as you make money, is that really any better than taking those actions to deliberately bring about doomsday?

The only difference I can see is that the latter position has integrity.
 
V

version

Well-known member
That isn't what I'm talking about. I'm talking specifically about the definition of a doomsday cult.
 
droid

droid

Well-known member
Youre talking about the difference between a Jim Jones and a Marshall Applewhite.

Im saying it doesn't matter - the outcome is the same - in fact the true believers can even end up causing less damage.
 
D

DannyL

Wild Horses
blissblogger said:
smells like teen dispirit

a lot of my kids's contemporaries are on meds

one place it comes through is in the Shout-lessness of contemporary pop music

lots of whispery and whiny vocals... that hallmark style of singing with the "broken vowels" and the wispy texture, it speaks to a fragility
see also the etherealized boy-men of mumble rap

the lack of confidence and generational uncertainty comes through at the level of texture and voice-production, even when the lyrics are saying something else
Click to expand...

Mental health dysfunction has gone up roughly x4 in teens since I started teaching (and no, it's not my fault). Something fucked is happening.
 
T

thirdform

pass the sick bucket
embrace the paranoia, go further into it.


this is the only way you can win. pop music has not significantly innovated in any form for the past 10 years. all we ever talk about on dissensus are minor tweaks known to initiates, something that would have been horrifying (and I'm not excluding myself here) to all of us in 2004.

reclaim that emotion, convert the intolerable loudness of silence into pure noise.
 
B

blissblogger

Well-known member
DannyL said:
Mental health dysfunction has gone up roughly x4 in teens since I started teaching (and no, it's not my fault). Something fucked is happening.
Click to expand...

it might be a question of illness or other types of disorder (attention deficit, dyslexia etc) getting identified quicker or named where before a kid was just deemed disruptive or "a bad kid", or withdrawn, introverted, etc

and doctors possibly being quicker to prescribe drugs as a solution

at the same time, kids do seem to be a lot more anxious about everything

i mean, i remember being worried, nervous, cripplingly shy etc as a teenager - it's a traumatic time - but not to the point of dysfunction or self-harm.

but that kind of thing - self-harm, suicide attempts (and the odd actual suicide), kids seeing therapists etc - seems to be rife among the age group of my kids.

again perhaps it's something to do with the helicopter-style over-parenting that both makes kids less able to cope by themselves, but also encourages parents to fret, cough up money for therapy, etc

but i don't think it's entirely that - it's the culture, it's phones and social media, it's the lack of positive images of the future, ambient fear

well my generation had the nuclear bomb - and already in the 1970s worries about overpopulation, resources depletion, pollution, etc

but it all seems a lot more urgent and imminent, the impending cataclysm
 
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