We are living in a visually saturated world. A world where media - print, TV, Internet dominates our thinking. It shapes our thinking in ways that we cannot imagine. All of this is largely becoming visual. There is a decreasing emphasis on the spoken or written word and an increasing emphasis on the visual element.
We are making decision largely on how a thing is packaged, how it is presented before us and what we make of it in the first few seconds - long before we can even rationalise it and make an informed choice. TV channels ( mainly news) are becoming crisper, capturing news of profound importance in a few sound-byes; where earlier it used to take minutes if not hours to reach conclusions.
We seem to be moving towards an age of super-fast information and knowledge dissemination. An age where no one has the patience nor the inclination to think about anything. We are looking for packaged opinions, packaged products and packaged people - be it they movie stars or politicians.
Are words losing their meaning ? This is the first danger that i see from this sort of over-emphasis on the visual component of thinking and observing the world. Isnt it true that what one sees is usually only half the truth ? Noone can deny the sensationalisation of the media - Advertising, TV are the chief examples. Unless it has shock value, it is not news and in the case of Advertising; it is a case of offering "insights" or an alternate perspective which makes an ad stand out. The main danger of this is the dumbing down of the senses. Relying too much on the visual means no time to really absorb what one is seeing and making decisions based on superficially observable facts.
Is there a danger of becoming zombies with this process of dumbing down of the senses ??? Perhaps only time will tell....
