Caitlín R. Kiernan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
greygirlbeast) wrote2008-10-03 11:39 am
greygirlbeast) wrote2008-10-03 11:39 am
Entry tags:
Howard Hughes and the Culture of Distraction
Trying to get back into The Red Tree, I spent yesterday reading (and proofreading) Chapter Three. There's no escaping the fact (and I say this again) that this novel needs several more months. Be that as it may, I have this month to finish it. And that's all the time I have to find THE END of The Red Tree. Yesterday, mostly, I was looking for loose threads that I do not wish to remain loose. The murders of 1922-1925, for example, or Sarah's having contacted someone at URI about taking Dr. Harvey's unfinished ms. off her hands. That sort of thing. I sat in a chair in the front parlour while I read, and the sun made me very, very sleepy, and made my eyes burn.
Later, Spooky cajoled me into getting dressed and go with her to the market on the Eastside (to get stuff for chili), then to the Dexter Training Ground to pick up our weekly CSA produce bag. It was chilly and windy out, but not unpleasant. The trees are looking more autumnal. So, yes, I left the house yesterday.
Later still, we watched Rob Minkoff's The Forbidden Kingdom, which we both found quite entirely delightful. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the film comes off a bit like a retelling of The Wizard of Oz, only instead of Oz, we get a mythic version of Medieval China. Jet Li and Jackie Chan are great. Yifei Liu (Golden Sparrow) and Bingbing Li (Ni Chang) are great and hot. Michael Angarano even managed to make a pretty good Dorothy Gale. As Spooky said, "It's a very sweet movie, and there aren't enough sweet movies these days." Indeed. Later, there was World of Warcrack, of course, and Shaharrazad made it to Lvl 14, while Mithwen struggles though the first part of Lvl 23. I am beginning to fear that WoW may actually force players to form groups, in order to advance, and that it's very, very hard to get anywhere as a loner. Which would suck.
Please have a look at the current eBay auctions, which will be ending late this afternoon. Bids are appreciated.
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So, there's this whole revelation I've had about the Culture of Distraction, as it pertains to the life of an author. It's a very painfully obvious sort of revelation, the sort that I should have had long ago. But I can be slow about these things. We are deluged, as a society, and probably as a planet, with distraction. With the means of easy distraction, easy entertainment, and endless forms of socializing. It pours in via our computers, TVs, cellphones, PlayStations, X-Boxes, iPods, and what have you. There is easily enough here to drown anyone. As it stands, no one ever has to exist in a moment of silence. Solitude is easier to avoid than to find. That greatest of all human fears, greater even than the fear of death —— the fear of being alone —— can be avoided. Oh, everyone is still alone, at the end of the day, but the ceaseless noise is there to make it seem otherwise. There's almost an expectation that one has a duty to engage in electronic social multi-tasking every moment of the day. And how can anyone be alone when you can simultaneously talk on your cellphone, and text talk, and IM, and Twitter (gagh), and yammer on LJ and MySpace and Tribe and Facebook and Skype and what the hell ever? Can't find RL friends or lovers? Well, there's always SL, or cyber on WoW (or so I am told), and aren't surrogates better than nothing at all?
Point is, as an author, I must have solitude. Even though, mostly, it frightens me. I hate the sound of my own mind in the absence of all other sound. It is a dreadful roar. And so, especially over the last year and a half, I have fled into the arms of this plethora of services that help to dampen the noise. It's not so very different than the trouble I've had, on and off, my whole life with pills and alcohol. Something to take the sharp, gleaming edge off being alone with myself. When, in truth, being alone with myself a little more often is exactly what I need. It's what any author must have. It's no good to have a room of one's own, if you then fill it up with unending interaction with Others. Looking at it all now, it sort of horrifies me. This constant need I see for interaction, for contact, for "peer to peer" reassurance. So, I'm withdrawing from the Distraction, and yeah, that was one of many reasons that I bowed out of the Howards End sim (and SL, in general). I'll keep the LJ (and the MySpace account, which is only there to function as a mirror of this journal). I'll play genuine games, like WoW, but I will a) never forget they are only games, and b) I will play them in moderation.
For better or worse, this is what I am, a writer. And so I must sometimes —— often, really —— just sit and stare out the window at the wide carnivorous sky. Or walk along the shore and hear the sea. Or read a book. Or listen to Spooky reading to me. Or stare at the woodgrain of the floor while daydreaming. Or listen to music. Or drift for half an hour in a tub of hot water. Sometimes, I must go for days without any significant contact with other people. I must seek out friends in the "real world," when I have need of the company of friends. "Networking" is a thing I do when I cannot avoid it. I must watch people, whether I like them or not. I must unplug far more often. I must be content with the noise in my head, and stop trying to drown it with the Noise of the World.
Later, Spooky cajoled me into getting dressed and go with her to the market on the Eastside (to get stuff for chili), then to the Dexter Training Ground to pick up our weekly CSA produce bag. It was chilly and windy out, but not unpleasant. The trees are looking more autumnal. So, yes, I left the house yesterday.
Later still, we watched Rob Minkoff's The Forbidden Kingdom, which we both found quite entirely delightful. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the film comes off a bit like a retelling of The Wizard of Oz, only instead of Oz, we get a mythic version of Medieval China. Jet Li and Jackie Chan are great. Yifei Liu (Golden Sparrow) and Bingbing Li (Ni Chang) are great and hot. Michael Angarano even managed to make a pretty good Dorothy Gale. As Spooky said, "It's a very sweet movie, and there aren't enough sweet movies these days." Indeed. Later, there was World of Warcrack, of course, and Shaharrazad made it to Lvl 14, while Mithwen struggles though the first part of Lvl 23. I am beginning to fear that WoW may actually force players to form groups, in order to advance, and that it's very, very hard to get anywhere as a loner. Which would suck.
Please have a look at the current eBay auctions, which will be ending late this afternoon. Bids are appreciated.
---
So, there's this whole revelation I've had about the Culture of Distraction, as it pertains to the life of an author. It's a very painfully obvious sort of revelation, the sort that I should have had long ago. But I can be slow about these things. We are deluged, as a society, and probably as a planet, with distraction. With the means of easy distraction, easy entertainment, and endless forms of socializing. It pours in via our computers, TVs, cellphones, PlayStations, X-Boxes, iPods, and what have you. There is easily enough here to drown anyone. As it stands, no one ever has to exist in a moment of silence. Solitude is easier to avoid than to find. That greatest of all human fears, greater even than the fear of death —— the fear of being alone —— can be avoided. Oh, everyone is still alone, at the end of the day, but the ceaseless noise is there to make it seem otherwise. There's almost an expectation that one has a duty to engage in electronic social multi-tasking every moment of the day. And how can anyone be alone when you can simultaneously talk on your cellphone, and text talk, and IM, and Twitter (gagh), and yammer on LJ and MySpace and Tribe and Facebook and Skype and what the hell ever? Can't find RL friends or lovers? Well, there's always SL, or cyber on WoW (or so I am told), and aren't surrogates better than nothing at all?
Point is, as an author, I must have solitude. Even though, mostly, it frightens me. I hate the sound of my own mind in the absence of all other sound. It is a dreadful roar. And so, especially over the last year and a half, I have fled into the arms of this plethora of services that help to dampen the noise. It's not so very different than the trouble I've had, on and off, my whole life with pills and alcohol. Something to take the sharp, gleaming edge off being alone with myself. When, in truth, being alone with myself a little more often is exactly what I need. It's what any author must have. It's no good to have a room of one's own, if you then fill it up with unending interaction with Others. Looking at it all now, it sort of horrifies me. This constant need I see for interaction, for contact, for "peer to peer" reassurance. So, I'm withdrawing from the Distraction, and yeah, that was one of many reasons that I bowed out of the Howards End sim (and SL, in general). I'll keep the LJ (and the MySpace account, which is only there to function as a mirror of this journal). I'll play genuine games, like WoW, but I will a) never forget they are only games, and b) I will play them in moderation.
For better or worse, this is what I am, a writer. And so I must sometimes —— often, really —— just sit and stare out the window at the wide carnivorous sky. Or walk along the shore and hear the sea. Or read a book. Or listen to Spooky reading to me. Or stare at the woodgrain of the floor while daydreaming. Or listen to music. Or drift for half an hour in a tub of hot water. Sometimes, I must go for days without any significant contact with other people. I must seek out friends in the "real world," when I have need of the company of friends. "Networking" is a thing I do when I cannot avoid it. I must watch people, whether I like them or not. I must unplug far more often. I must be content with the noise in my head, and stop trying to drown it with the Noise of the World.
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The Forbidden Kingdom is essentially a good kids' movie, and there isn't enough of that these days either (at least not in live-action).
Agreed. I kept thinking of The Princess Bride, also.
I get the impression some fanboys wanted it to be the baddest-ass thing that ever bad-assed because Jackie Chan and Jet Li are in it, but it was just them doing something goofy and fun and all-ages. Not everything has to be bad-ass. I enjoyed it.
I managed to avoid all the reviews and such, so I wasn't aware how it had been received. But I can certainly see that "bad-assness" expectation forming.
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The Culture of Distraction you identify is a huge problem, and one that prompted me to abandon my own blog (see "Final Entry" of June 5th, 2008).
Before resigning from teaching high-school, I noted a general degredation in the attention spans of my students. It was already bad when I started teaching in '96. But, where the proportion of "special needs" kids making up a class had been perhaps 10%, by the time I left education, it had risen to the point where perhaps 75% of my pupils had trouble focusing for longer than 2 or 3 minutes at a time, required "special" interventions, kid glove treatment, frequent parent conferences, etc. That, combined with the in-class use of laptops and cell-phones (and a tendency toward "glib" communication), made teaching them anything damn near impossible. I attribute all of this to the proliferation of the Culture of Distraction.
A nurse friend of mine noted that she didn't believe in Attention Deficit Disorder. "It's just an adaptation mechanism," she said. "The young are adjusting to a world with more stimulii than the one in which you and I were raised." Fair enough. But it leads to problems for humans accustomed to a certain level of introspection, solitude or a work environment in which Deep Thought can occur.
Booze and drugs are, I think, often an attempt to "create space" for ourselves in a crowded world via artificially-induced oblivion. There are no easy answers. You have my complete understanding and sympathy on this one.
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Before resigning from teaching high-school, I noted a general degredation in the attention spans of my students. It was already bad when I started teaching in '96. But, where the proportion of "special needs" kids making up a class had been perhaps 10%, by the time I left education, it had risen to the point where perhaps 75% of my pupils had trouble focusing for longer than 2 or 3 minutes at a time, required "special" interventions, kid glove treatment, frequent parent conferences, etc. That, combined with the in-class use of laptops and cell-phones (and a tendency toward "glib" communication), made teaching them anything damn near impossible. I attribute all of this to the proliferation of the Culture of Distraction.
Yes. However, many will argue until they are blue in the face that it's simply that before we were unable to recognize ADD, etc., which is, of course, hooey.
A nurse friend of mine noted that she didn't believe in Attention Deficit Disorder. "It's just an adaptation mechanism," she said. "The young are adjusting to a world with more stimulii than the one in which you and I were raised." Fair enough. But it leads to problems for humans accustomed to a certain level of introspection, solitude or a work environment in which Deep Thought can occur.
Well, I don't really "believe" in ADD, at least not as anything more than a condition created by external forces (disruptive home life, sugar and other stimulants, etc). I think there's something to the proposition that we are seeing adaptation to the flood of stimuli. But yes, the end result is a lot of kids (and adults) incapable of reflection and deep thought and articulate conversation. And the answer is not drugs, as some psychiatrists would have us think, but less stimulation of the white noise variety.
Booze and drugs are, I think, often an attempt to "create space" for ourselves in a crowded world via artificially-induced oblivion. There are no easy answers. You have my complete understanding and sympathy on this one.
You might have misunderstood what I was saying. I'm not sure. But my addictions have often resulted from a desire to drown out my own thoughts, not to drown out the noise of the world. Not me trying to create space for myself, but, rather, trying to obliterate any sense of self.
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"You might have misunderstood what I was saying. I'm not sure ... my addictions ..."
First off, apologies ... I would never presume to editorialize on YOUR use of booze, drugs, etc. My comment was intended more as a general statement. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that.
"I think there's something to the proposition that we are seeing adaptation to the flood of stimuli. But yes, the end result is a lot of kids (and adults) incapable of reflection and deep thought and articulate conversation."
This, I'm convinced, will be the death of us as a civilization.
"And the answer is not drugs, as some psychiatrists would have us think, but less stimulation of the white noise variety."
I recently saw a web documentary ("webumentary"?) about college students and the difficulties they face finding enough time to study. One observation noted that they "have" to read the equivalent of 500 FaceBook pages per week. No one, it seemed, had tumbled to the simple solution of waiting until they were finished with their homework before logging on. Simple common sense, it seems, is another casualty of the Culture of Distraction.
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First off, apologies ... I would never presume to editorialize on YOUR use of booze, drugs, etc. My comment was intended more as a general statement. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that.
No need to apolgise. Just wanted to make myself clear.
This, I'm convinced, will be the death of us as a civilization.
If I say, "And good riddance," does that make me a "bad person"?
ne observation noted that they "have" to read the equivalent of 500 FaceBook pages per week.
I read this over about three or for times to be sure I understood what you're saying. Jesus fuck...
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Nah - just the Caitlin R. Kiernan we've all come to know and love ... :-)
It's an Aldous Huxley world, I tell ya' ... (And by the way - I've found judicious doses of meditation - actual real, live, structured meditation - to be helpful. Just FYI ...)
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A nurse friend of mine noted that she didn't believe in Attention Deficit Disorder. "It's just an adaptation mechanism," she said. "The young are adjusting to a world with more stimulii than the one in which you and I were raised." Fair enough. But it leads to problems for humans accustomed to a certain level of introspection, solitude or a work environment in which Deep Thought can occur."
I fought, probably much to my son's detriment, that he didn't have emotional and mental disorders and they weren't affecting his academic and other developments. Oh How I wish disorders were just simple distractions. That said, it's the most abused diagnosis in the world. So, that those who truly have their brains wired oddly, are grouped with those whose parents are looking for an excuse. It's really an strange world to have to navigate indeed. But, I work with my son's teachers, commending them on any additional efforts and strides they make. And he fully understands that at the end of the day, we can only help him with guidance, instruction, support and (in my case love). The rest is up to him.
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I heard similar reports from a friend of mine who began his career as an art teacher at the middle school level, and then went on to guidance - I think because trying to teach was making him angry, and he decided to nip that in the bud and move on to one-on-one interactions with the kids. He began teaching a little before you did, I think.
He's moved on to a trade school, again in the capacity of guidance, and absolutely loves it. These are kids who may get bad grades in English, but at least are able to focus on learning how to fix a car or build a house, and have a genuine interest in doing so.
I cannot even imagine how difficult it must be to teach, or be a student who is actually interested in learning, these days. It was bad enough when I was in High School and the teachers had to spend 10 minutes making everyone settle down and unplug from their headphones, and interrupt note passing.
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Seriously.
I would begin each class with a trance induction disguised as "administrative" classroom business (attendance, equipment check, homework delivery, etc). It took about ten or fifteen minutes, but by the time I was done, they were focused. I then got about half-an-hour's solid work out of them. I would then reward them with a short class discussion filled with a good deal of joking around and broad sarcasm. (FYI, my sense of humor tends toward the surreal and Monty-Python-esque ... My pupils ate it up ... until about 2005 or so. The problem came when they were no longer able to comprehend the jokes or understand what sarcasm was ...)
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I had a teacher in High School whose methods seem quite similar to what you did. Except he'd get all of our attention with some crazy story for the first 5 minutes of class or so, I think even before he did attendance. But everyone was focused on him for the whole time. Perhaps arranging the seats in a circle had something to do with that as well. Nowhere to hide ;)
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On the subject of distractions, I can relate quite a bit. I unplugged a while back and it felt wonderful. I've since allowed some small things back into my life, a little televison and such, but I was able to really get my head straight and appreciate the whole world around me, and most times without me ranting about the other people who inhabit it. I've given up drinking and some other things for the very reason you stated - because I was feeling as if I was slipping into an abyss where I couldn't even stand to be alone with myself anymore without some kind of distraction. Anyway, I'm glad you've come to this revelation and I hope it brings some inner peace, good writing, and happiness.
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Anyway, I'm glad you've come to this revelation and I hope it brings some inner peace, good writing, and happiness.
More and more, I find the trick is not realizing a thing, but, having realized it, acting upon that knowledge.
Distractions
The long commutes I have to make are an important, though increasingly expensive time for me to concentrate and create space. I do a horrendous amount of composing in the car, I wish it were not so wasteful a space, but that's what I have.
Re: Distractions
Either you're on it or you never tried it.
Quite so.
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Is it okay to link to it, or post a snippet? The final para is very moving.
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Is it okay to link to it, or post a snippet? The final para is very moving.
Sure. Please do.
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I am to understand that this is very much the case after a certain point, which is the overwhelming rationale for starting and joining guilds.
After for Distraction and Contemplation, I was generally surprised that you managed to kick out all the hard work that you do on a daily basis and still had presence of mind to do any sort of RP or world building or just anything but stick your head into a bowl of mutton and groan.
But, perhaps, a writer cannot afford to sink completely inside her own world, but should rather continue to expose herself or at least keep both feet in that outside world. That, unfortunately, may be an issue of the Craft of writing.
no pun intended there, by the by.
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After for Distraction and Contemplation, I was generally surprised that you managed to kick out all the hard work that you do on a daily basis and still had presence of mind to do any sort of RP or world building or just anything but stick your head into a bowl of mutton and groan.
I admit that I am surprised, looking back, that my sixteen month thing with SL had no negative effect on my writing and productivity. It did, however, leave my nerves frazzled and only made my insomnia worse. Oh, and made me dislike people more than I already do.
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More importantly, lovely thoughts in your post, quite rich with interesting details.
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My new thing is pretending to pretend. I play video games inside my own head with no controls or gaming systems. It rocks.
I wonder if this technique could be marketed. Virtual virtual reality.
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I know what you mean about distraction. I don't know if it is because I am a relic of an earlier generation or what but the whole mobile phone, ipod, computer, television thing gets on my nerves occasionally. I have to go hide in the back of the flat for a while when my husband is home on the weekends to get a dose of quiet since he is one of those people who turns on the TV and the computer as soon as he gets up while I tend not to turn anything on until evening. You tend to get where you enjoy the quiet after a while.
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The resident gamer says you probably won't need to join a group until you reach level 70 when the game starts to focus more on raid instances though your general levelling will require skill equal to your level to keep the game interesting.
Well, that's generally encouraging. And it's not hard to get into a decent guild (at only lvl 14, Shah already has), but I prefer to play alone, or just group with Spooky, and keep the chat channels switch off.
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I hear the chat channels are annoying.
Worse than annoying. Often filled with homophobic, sexist crap and vulgarities.
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As far as I know a good bit of that kind of thing is supposed to be against the rules of chat but I suppose there is only so much the moderators can do.
Yeah, I quickly got the impression that reporting it was a waste of time. I mean, there are 10,000,000 players or so, and you figure a tiny number of GMs...
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That is beautifully stated.
Also, that is what the sea is for.
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Also, that is what the sea is for.
Yes.
this so spoke to me...
thank you for sharing, as always....goes off to stare at the trees in the yard.
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Also, good luck with writing and unplugging. Personally, I love nothing more than sitting and staring off into space as long as time permits. Just me and the cats. Always have, always will.
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WoW does require grouping to get ahead (I find it much easier to solo in Everquest 2), so why don't we -- someone reading your blog -- start an Alliance guild on Cenarion Circle? I would, but I don't have enough gold. Sigh. Hopefully, you'll find help, if you want it, with Flaming Fist.
Yep. I've been planning to start a guild, and I have the gold and all, but I as waiting until I got to a decent level...which I suppose I'm at. Trick will be getting signatures from people I don't mind being around. ;-)
Any idea where one goes to get a guild charter for the Alliance. I found the appropriate office in Silvermoon City, but that hardly helps us.
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Craftsmen's Terrace, Darnassus NightElf female, Lysheana
Next, try to get everyone on your friends list (like moi) to meet and sign the charter. You'll have to pick out a tabard design too, so we can all wear one.
www.wowwiki.com/Guild#Starting_a_Guild
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Craftsmen's Terrace, Darnassus NightElf female, Lysheana
Got it. Thanks.
Next, try to get everyone on your friends list (like moi) to meet and sign the charter. You'll have to pick out a tabard design too, so we can all wear one.
Right now, I think that comes to maybe six people.
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What you've said about the Culture of Distraction and related is something I needed to hear, not just for me, but because it pertains to a character (who has been solitary, and is shoved back into the clamorous, unquiet world). I add it so I do not forget, but I'd rather not tread on your toes, if it bothers you. Thank you for saying it.
Forbidden Kingdom was a lovely story. It was rather like a kung-fu version of Wizard of Oz, and that thought made me smile a bit.
In my wanderings through games, I've found that Warcraft does force players to group in order to advance, especially at the higher levels. While this is great for socializing, it's also very frustrating if you end up with a pug (pick-up group) of ... well.. jerks. To be fair, I've had a few pugs that were quite enjoyable, but the potential for disaster is pretty high.
If you're ever interested in it, Warhammer Online is quite geared to the solitary adventurer, with well-done alternatives to forced-group instances. But I mention it only in case you haven't heard of it, not to persuade you to switch games.
If you'll take it, good luck in finding the end of The Red . I hope it springs upon you when you most need it, and that it gives you enough time to poke it with a stick before it's due (no pun intended).
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I hope you don't mind that I'm adding this to my memories. I'll take it off if you like.
That's cool. I don't mind at all.