I have a thought I’ve been repeating for probably over a decade now, “We got so educated, we educated ourselves right out of reality.” I don’t recall the exact circumstances it first occurred to me, but I think it every time I read or hear a new headline about the latest scientific proof of some current hot research topic or the latest discovery that will revolutionize our lives. It seems any statement of reality demands a scientific study behind it.
When I was growing up in the 1980s, I perceived science as a tool to help me understand reality – this amazingly intricate, wonderful and beautiful world I’m a part of, a world I observe carefully, with respect and awe, in order that I can participate in it fully with joy and satisfaction.
Today, it seems, everything is dissected and analyzed in the most meticulous way in order that we can manipulate reality to our advantage and our purposes. The outside world has become dangerous and threatening, and we feel compelled to control it. (After more than 20 years of subscribing to National Geographic magazine, I cancelled because I felt depressed after reading it.)
We may have the most comfortable physical existence in the history of humanity and the longest life span due to our medical advances, but it appears that has come at the expense of our mental and emotional health and stability. We got so good at analyzing and evaluating and taking apart, that we forgot how to interact with other humans and living creatures outside of a lab or a psychiatrist’s couch.
In my opinion, art has suffered similar fate. Instead of leading us into a wonderful, beautiful and intricate world to participate in, it has broken down into meaninglessness and formulaic repetition.
Recently I’ve become more and more aware that human behavior does not form and change by proofs, logic and explanation, but by observation and participation. I believe art has a great role as a guiding presence in emotional development, and to play that role again, it has to renew back to its roots, to something I think we have lost.
