I'm Curious About That Speech Last Night and "The Unthinkable"
Yes, I am curious about the President's speech last night.
We all know that for a speech to be effective the attention of the audience has to be led in certain directions and away from other directions. Starting with that premise, and recognizing that discussion is vitally important, I am mulling over the following questions:
1. Just what are the mistakes which the President is taking responsibility for? If we knew what they were, then at least we would know what he is talking about and then the country could compare notes and know if he is referencing the same mistakes which undoubtedly led to certain consequences at the November elections.
2. What are the consequences which are so "unthinkable" that he doesn't make reference to? To my way of understanding the only thing which is unthinkable is something which is not real, something which you can't imagine. By his saying that those consequences would be unthinkable leads people to too quickly say, "uh-oh, we better not think about that / those things which are so unthinkable that we can't even begin to think about what they are." Huh? And, anyway, on the most basic of levels, hasn't a majority of the whole country been thinking about not "staying (that) course?" So it must be something else that is so unthinkable. Well what is that? Let's get that out on the table so we can then take appropriate steps based on that unthinkable thought.
I heard of a research project years ago where a speaker asked the audience what their most horrible fear of dying was. He then asked them to write it down briefly, and not sign it. The papers were collected and to make the story short, he then later gave the papers to a group of mental health professionals along with another group of papers which were written by people suffering from anxiety disorders. The task of the professionals was to distinguish which diagnostic group had written the fearful (unthinkable) thoughts which would then show that it was a reflection of their diagnostic group. (The papers were anonymous, but they were also marked in such a way that the researchers knew which group the responses were coming from, i.e., from the audience of "normals" or from one of the diagnostic groupings. Since the evaluators did not know which group was which, they were "blinded" in a research sense.)
Guess what: the worst fears were worst with all groups. The evaluators couldn't distinguish "normals" from "people with a formal diagnosis" on the basis of their fears! We all have these unthinkable thoughts. To me, even knowing that we all have them, even though mine will be different from yours, is somehow comforting.
(N.B. I heard this story many years ago. I remember thinking afterwards that I would like to have seen the original research study but have never been able to track it down, but in honesty I haven't really tried all that hard. Nevertheless, in this context I believe it speaks to a vitally important issue.)
If it is so unthinkable, it must be so really terrible that we as a nation would be willing to continue contributing to the chaos over there. What is the titular head of this country saying that we have to avoid ... here ... at all costs?
Is it the consequences of peak oil that we can't talk about? Or of peak debt and the consequences of that? Or of rampant diabetes? Or of not being able to go to pixel heaven and buy the next bigger sized plasma TV?
3. I am curious about which "American interests" he is referring to in his speech. I presume he is talking about oil, oil, oil, but maybe he's referring to other interests. As a curious person I really am curious about what those interests are. I am not saying that as a country, a great country, we shouldn't have national interests, but since he was speaking and appealing to the country directly, I feel I would like to have more clear statements so we can make better informed decisions .
Well, I had been wanting to get back to writing about trance induction and television, and about the importance of the food chain and the importance of an unrushed lifestyle, but they will have to come later.
Perhaps I should also end this posting by saying that maybe there should be no comments added to this post since unthinkable things which many are already thinking anyway might be said and then who knows what that would do to the (un)balanced way of life we don't have.
Turning off the TV and not rushing has helped me to think these thoughts. Is that unthinkable for me to have done those two things?
3 comments:
Lots of interesting 'food for thought'. Such questioning reminds me of how education used to be ... in ancient Greece. Not that I know much about it at all, but I seem to recall that questioning, observation, and discourse was a requirement. Does anyone do that anymore?
I, too, have turned off the TV. Not so the books on tape, which entertain while I do menial tasks, but even there, I have slowed down, content with my own thoughts rather than to be filled with the chatter of others. Sometimes I intend to turn on the tape player, but find the task has been completed without the entertainment.
Right brain reverie. I can get lost in that as I used to get lost in the addiction of television. I do hope that the reverie is an improvement over the addiction. Sometimes I wonder as a day will go by without my getting to tasks as I had planned ... "I will Rush when I Need to" must be something I have to work on!
Guess I am commenting both on your post that is as well as the posts to come. :)
Kristen: Thanks for dropping by a and leaving such an interesting comment. There is so much in what you say and maybe I will follow through with a post or two of my own on some of your thoughts.
Given a choice of your own reveries and what can come from them, I think it's hands down a winner over being fed the junk that passes for entertainment on the networks.
One of the reasons I like blogging now is because I can take my thoughts and reveries and put them together in a posting. It's also personally pleasing to see a "work product" across time. When you and others drop by and add your comments then it's like adding gravy.
But it's more than just gravy because it makes for ongoing connections and also gives me food for further thought. I like that.
By the way, that was me who gave a toot toot of my horn when I was driving through Cincinatti last Monday evening aroud 9:15. I was on my way with my daughter to Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Tim
I wish I could say that I was there to hear you, but I am from the other "C" city, Cleveland. I do that all the time ... remember the first letter of something. It is right-brain visual, I think, followed by the left-brain trying to come up with an answer.
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