In the future, everyone will continue
to use words even though they will have forgotten their meaning. This will be thanks
to innovations like Facebook and superficial people taking over
culture and and things like that. It's already beginning to happen.
People are using words without knowing what they really mean. Take
the word 'awesome' for example. 'Awesome' used to refer to things
that inspired a feeling of awe, like seeing an eighty tonne
blue whale surface next to your boat or watching the aurora borealis
streak and shimmer across the night sky. These days however, the word
'awesome' is employed as an expression of approval, often mild, as
in:
Man: 'There's a two for one on bottles
of ketchup in Lidl until the end of the week.'
Woman: 'Awesome.'
'Like' is another example. Instead of
being something you feel, 'like' is now something you do. You do it
on your computer. It just takes a fraction of a second. It's a thing
you do to oblige others in the hopes that they will oblige you in
return by 'liking' something of yours. It's a kind of conditional
quid pro quo transaction. You contribute 'likes' and collect 'likes'.
It's similar to philately, only less interesting. Liking things, on
an emotional level, is no longer relevant. 'Liking' is now an
activity. Everyone is gradually forgetting what it actually is to like
something but no one has forgotten that it is important to be
'liked'.
Despite the excellence of the above
examples, you still mightn't think that people have forgotten what
some words mean. You mightn't have noticed because, despite having
forgotten what certain words mean, people still remember the facial
expressions and mannerisms that go with these words. Take 'happy' for
example. 'Happy' has the smiley emoticon face. Likewise, 'angry' has
a frowning emoticon. People use these emoticons when they are online
and facially imitate them in the offline world. The protocol
associated with certain words is retained but the actual meaning of
them, the feeling of them, what they represent on an emotional or
visceral level, is long gone.
Now that I've pointed it out, you'll
notice this phenomenon more and more. You'll get that 'in the uncanny
valley' sensation. It's the feeling you get when you see a creepy
mannequin or android that is just about
lifelike but not quite. Near human but inhuman. Seemingly alive but
obviously dead. It looks happy. It looks sad. It smiles at you. There
is something deeply chilling and repulsive about the attempted
emulation. You'll get this same feeling when you notice people using
words they no longer know the meaning of – a deeply chilling
repulsion.
Has a psychopath ever told you that
they love you? If this happened you would know that the psychopath
does not love you. You would know that the psychopath just needs you
for some reason and that is why the psychopath is claiming to love
you. The psychopath says they love you in the hopes that you will
love them back. Like anyone, the psychopath needs love but, unlike
almost everyone, the psychopath cannot return the love. The
psychopath does not want the love of someone the psychopath loves,
no, the psychopath wants the love of someone the psychopath needs –
so they can feel validated, or progress in some way, or survive, or
maybe even destroy. The psychopath is an ego without real emotions.
The psychopath knows the protocols but has no real idea what they
represent. The psychopath is just making use of these things. The
psychopath is leading the way. Don't forget to give the psychopath
'likes'. You should subscribe to the psychopath's channel. Why not
follow the psychopath on Twitter @psychopath #pretending.
No comments:
Post a Comment