The Necessity of Objectivity

I am more and more convinced that developing an objective perspective, while it might not be everything, is of prime importance right now. We all develop biases over time that we are unaware of, and it might never be possible to be truly objective, but the necessity of the pursuit of objectivity simply can’t be overstated. Unfortunately, and rather apocalyptically, objectivity is becoming increasingly replaced with what social media algorithms and entertainment “news” media programming choose to show us.

Don’t be fooled. It’s all based on what will ensure our undivided engagement. This engagement and the data collected to achieve it is then sold at a premium to assemble the most detailed and extensive advertising database that has ever existed. Have you ever wondered why there’s never been a fee or a charge to join social media platforms? It’s not because the powers that be want to provide a free service to humanity. It’s because you and your digital footprint are part of the product. Your attention is being sold to the highest bidder and you will be shown whatever will hold that attention, whether it’s affirming your ideology, or luring you with content designed to trigger you into a constant state of fight or flight. What develops as a result is one of the most powerful addictions humans have ever encountered.

Meanwhile, cultivating objectivity takes effort, intelligence, patience, and a willingness to be wrong. These algorithmic overlords effortlessly coddle us with a tailor made reality which insulates us. We barely have to lift a finger, use a brain cell, wait any time at all, or think about anything but how right we are and how wrong those other people are.

It’s hard to believe and admit, but there is a real-world possibility that all of us are suffering from a lack of objectivity the likes of which society has never known. Sources of unbiased, non-commentaried news are scarce and becoming few and far in-between. The potential for societal manipulation and coercion has perhaps never been higher because of an impersonal technology that only cares about it’s prime directive…more engagement.

Those who benefit from this technology are driven by a bottom line that is unfathomable. It goes far beyond the frame of monetary wealth into societal domination and narrative control. It feels crazy to write that, but I can’t seem to find any other way to explain how vast groups of people can see the same tragic and violent situation play out for years on end and have such opposing interpretations. Objectivity demands we consider the possibility that we are all, on any side of an issue, severely handicapped simply because we are being shown what will keep our attention. Objectivity is drowning in an echo chamber of addiction to personal preference which firmly holds our gaze as we are coopted as commodities. This does not sound like freedom to me.

I don’t know the answer to this problem, and I can admit that it scares me more than most things. I find some hope in the idea that it is possible to put down our phones and turn off our TVs and spend time with each other. I honestly believe the situation can change for the better, but I have to be honest and say that it is equally possible that the situation will get worse. Addiction is a cycle that takes work and persistence to break, and it cannot be done in isolation. One of the most evil aspects of this entire web of apocalyptic confusion is that it separates us from our true nature which I believe is rooted in love. This makes it far easier for us to separate ourselves from each other. Once we cease to be able to recognize ourselves as humans who are part of each other, there is no end to the atrocities that history shows us are possible.

So... maybe put down your phone. Go outside and touch grass. Hang out with some friends (or strangers) over dinner. Watch the sunset. Share a kiss with your lover. Sit on a porch till late in the evening with some wine and listen to the cicadas as the summer fades away. That is the world that holds our shared future…the only future we have. That is the world where we all become more real, to ourselves, and to each other. That is the world where objectivity, and more importantly love, becomes possible.

Art = Moonlit Pines, Deborah Paris

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