Solace
When stone paths and
tree rings,
and bones cast about
dark fissures
form the signs and
distant signals;
when information
flows
like lava spills to
the sea,
and calls to errant
gods
are carried on
yesterday’s wind,
it’s then that
whispers
or a glance
may sometimes
suffice.
I ALWAYS KIND OF LIKED THIS ONE. It’s fairly old—early aughts I guess,
during the Rise of the InterNet.
We’ve all seen that movie, and we’d
be bored out of our gourds with it by now, except our brains have mostly turned
to mush with all the dazzling digital delights coming out of this
soon-to-pass—what? Lifestyle? Service? Porn delivery system? So, I guess I was
thinking, in part, about all the signals we receive—from our machines, from
nature, from other people, from our imaginations and from god, and how we send
and receive information.
I’m not quite sure what I
mean by ‘information’. Do I mean knowledge, facts, truths? I think I focus on
signals other than simply ‘raw data’: that mass of unfocused sensory ‘uploads’
we then filter through our brains and somehow bring order and understanding to
it all. I do focus on the
human-to-human transmission of whatever it is we “signal” to each other, and,
obviously, I was thinking of the ancientness of such an activity—from parsing
the entrails of birds (or people!) to the latest app (though I don’t use
references to modern technology).
I’m suggesting caution is
needed when receiving “information” because the volume of it can overwhelm us
if we’re not careful. I like the image of information flowing like “lava” to
the sea (where all that heated text or whatever meets the water in an explosive
and spectacular manner). The image suggests the potential danger of information
that, at times, can be wild and out of our control. Another cooler image is one
of prayers or supplications we send to our absent or delinquent deities
(“errant gods”), that have been offered in the past (“yesterday’s winds”)
without reply.
Maybe the thought here is
that whatever technology we use to transmit our feelings, hopes, fears, life
lessons—whatever—can be flawed or inadequate or eventually outdated. I’m sure
future archaeologists a couple thousand years from now will be scratching their
heads and wondering what a com-putt-er
was. (I think some of us today are beginning to ask the same question.) And I
think technology, here, includes the social norms, customs, practices, etc.
that humans have developed over millennia to communicate with each other.
In the deafening din of
today’s fast-paced world, with all our platforms of communication and
information transmission, we may find it necessary to return to the more
intimate and personal forms of communication—for clarity’s sake, if not for our
sanity. That’s what I mean by “whispers or a glance”. Pretty simple, really.
Grok?
In the end it comes down to people and
what they share and how they share with each other. It's ultimately for them to
decide. (Make that for us to decide.)
*Besides being a whacky and totally fun flick to
watch, there is an early version of internet porn that is used by the
inhabitants in the film. Check it out, man. It's cool! The title refers to the
tattoo worn by everyone--they have no names, only numbers. And I couldn't
resist putting in a pic of the movie's final scene where, alone, his lover
killed and 'recycled' by the authorities, Duvall escapes the underground city,
and steps for the first time above ground. His future is problematic of course,
but then again, so is all of ours. 
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