Participate more? Or drop back ?

[Mashika]

Posted by Mike (here)
I had an intuition about wifi devices long ago, much like Bill did. I didn't even have a cell phone till I was 27 years old. I held out for a long while, and I liked it that way. Back then I would have been pleased if all that tech was destroyed and everyone was forced to communicate thru smoke signals. In 1995 I dropped out of a college course because they wanted me to set up an email address. Emails seemed preposterous to me at the time. I just didn't feel right about any of it.

I had an email address way before i even knew what an email address was It is from around 1999 or so. It's been there forever and i never truly used it until probably the last 6 years or so. But as time passed, it was imported into the new servers and eventually turned out to be a great choice, i have my official name on that email address, which turns out to be something most people can't get anymore. That's great for business and stuff

But I quickly discovered that if I wanted a job - and more importantly if I wanted to hang onto my girlfriend - I'd need both a phone and an email address. For a while I still maintained a distance from this stuff, but when I finally got that first smart phone it totally corrupted me. I imagine it's sort of akin to taking that first hit of crystal mesh, or heroin. Suddenly i was the archetypal converted primitive. Makes me a little sad to think about it.

I got carried away over the years but I'm finally settling into a balance. I operate online in fits n spurts. I'm not on social media (Ive sent exactly 1 tweet in my life...to Stephen King, because I simply had to tell him what a dipsh!t he is. But that's it). The closest thing I have to social media is Avalon, and I try to stagger my participation here lately (few weeks on, few weeks off). I think it's a healthy thing to do.

In Soviet Russia, you don't have Avalon, Avalon has you...

I deactivated my Skype account because I was getting deluged with messages, and I felt a constant and annoying obligation to respond to all of them. It drained me, because I'm a bit of a loner at heart, and I find that people - in general - take from me more than they give to me. That's my fault too. When I find myself in some kind of dialogue with someone - be it voice or text - I feel like they expect me to entertain them in some way, and I will frequently oblige by lapsing into my little performing flea act. It's a terrible flaw and I'm trying my damndest to stop

Mostly just keep walking, like when you find someone crazy on the street warning about the end of the world coming in 2012 and you check your calendar and it's 2021....

I'm getting better finally at establishing my own pace tho. People call me frequently and I just don't pick up anymore. They can call 10 times and I'll ignore the bloody phone 10 times if I don't feel like talking. Even with text messages..I take my sweet time responding. I almost treat them like handwritten notes that get delivered by foot. It might be a while before you hear back from me

Thing is, people begin feeling entitled to your time and energy if you continually give it away. Uncharacteristically, I exchanged a flurry of phone calls and texts with an old friend of mine recently...and now he's angry that I'm not responding. It's amazing. I think he thought we were just going to carry on like that for the rest of our lives

LMAO, why does that happen so often? Why won't you reply! I just sent you a message 2.345 seconds ago!!!!!!

Addiction is the reason

[Mike]

Masha you're so right - it is addiction. I was just telling a good friend that if there is such a thing as sin, then boredom is the greatest sin there is. The spirit can't tolerate it. It will take all kinds of senseless risks to avoid it. It's why people who've had liver transplants go back to drinking. They know what the consequences will be but they've calculated that they can't be as bad as the boredom.

I'm going thru that now. I've had this heart issue for so long, and I'm finally getting healthy. It's actually a pretty dangerous spot to be in, because as my energy has been increasing my tolerance for boredom has dramatically decreased. I want to drink some beers, I want to excessively use wifi devices (alcohol and wifi just cripple my heart) etc. I know what the consequences are (hell!) but it still requires all my willpower to avoid those things. Addiction is a bitch, as they say.

As far as my friend goes, he's much less tolerant of boredom than me. He's like a little kid - he needs to be occupied all the time. And anything that fills that void can quickly become addictive. At the moment the addiction is chatting with me. And it's not because I'm such a wonderful conversationalist..it's because I'm all he's got!

He's called twice in the last 10 minutes. I didn't pick up.. He just texted me and said, "that's not cool". And I'm thinking, what's not cool is you f#cking calling me every 10 minutes when I clearly don't want to talk If I don't pick up the phone on the 7 previous calls, that should be a clue, right? But no, he'll keep calling. It's astounding.

Re walking: i do walk alot now! I find it to be pretty meditative. It's my last great escape from everything. It's sacred in a way. But If I start murmuring sh!t about the upcoming apocalypse to complete strangers and laughing maniacally at the sun, I'll know it's time to call it a day I think. I got nothin left to do I'm afraid.

[jaybee]

What drives me nuts is that all this technology could be used for good but seems to now be going down the slavery road - from memory didn't Tesla discover free energy a long long time ago but because no one could make a profit from it, it wasn't developed - then he ended up destroyed and alone with only a pigeon to talk to...... and inventors who develop 'free energy' get persecuted, even killed and their inventions buried -

I saw a programme many years ago - one in the UK in a series called Horizon - where they looked at possibilities for the future - I remember being very impressed with one bit where a man was stood holding a cauliflower (think it was a cauliflower) next to this fairly small portable unit - that could grow (create) fruit vegetables in around a day or two - I presume the idea was that all the environmental conditions were replicated and speeded up - and I thought what a brilliant idea - so people could grow their own food in their home very quickly - -

Horn of plenty kind of thing - cornucopia -

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Re my own use of phones - I like to keep it to a minimum - I have a bog standard flip phone - a Senior's one because I like the big numbers on it - haha - I don't really like having a phone conversation and usually it's to wrap up something that's too long for a text - the very few people/friends I'm involved with texting - mainly for brief necessary communication - we finish the exchange quickly with a whole text comprising of a kiss... an X ... and that signals that it's the end and acknowledges that their text has been read...

[Mike Gorman]

From your remarks concerning music, and being directed to 'play lists' I compile my own selections from downloaded MP3 tracks from YouTube, you can make your own selection this way - each video has an audio track which can be separated from the visual data leaving only the audio MP3 - free tools on the Web enables this. At least you can direct your own music library!
This is the big difference, I find, we have been conditioned to remain passive while our behavior is analyzed and an Algorithm tells us what we must do, this paternalistic aspect of the 'Web Life' is the one I resist fiercely,
with Web 1.0 we had much more say in how we 'browsed' the web and what we consumed - it was a much more individualistic approach - in the past 15 years or so we have all been duped into accepting the authority of the new mainstream, Big Tech have swamped our lives and we will consider ourselves Luddites, or very wayward if we do not comply!
The WWW offered a possible choice of direction, we seem to have accepted the DARPA authority option, Tm Berners-Lee wanted us to have free access to publishing and to enhance the intellectual life of people, that is still possible but we have to be conscious and willful, I am noticing that the web has become a new norm, I do not like what I am seeing, and I am supposedly one of the 'high priests' of Tech, I am starting to visualize a rustic retreat, owning land and growing my own food, I am retreating away from tech, it looks very much as if Dystopia has become a reality.

[Pam]

Posted by Gemma13 (here)
I'm also reclusive, only put my little burner phone in a drawer 6mths ago to finally get a smart phone, much to the joy of family and friends because the emojis they send me are no longer a bunch of empty squares. But what has really struck me recently is how little in common I have with those around me.

As many outliers here know that's been a cross to bear most of our lives, but a trip away recently visiting family and friends drove it home even further as I was hoping to find a glimpse of evolution in my local sphere after many years of self exile.

Not so, conversations were painfully bland and stuck in a groundhog day from years ago. When I attempted to raise the bar a bit because the inevitable happened and it was my turn to share with my cousins what I was up to, they all froze and looked at me like deer stuck in headlights. When the cousin I thought would be the smartest in the room came to my rescue, his authoritative translation to everyone was so basic I then looked at the group like a deer stuck in headlights.

I had described a novel I was starting to write that would juxtapose human heart Wi-Fi vs synthetic A.I. Wi-Fi in the evolution of our species. I gave several examples when I saw jaws starting to drop and knew I had to help them along. I kept it fairly low key though with Sophia and her citizenship, transhumanism and spirituality. After the awkward silence the rescue cousin said, with a condescending chuckle, "It's going to be about when you're at work and your phone reminds you it's time to call Mum for her birthday."

Now as much as this response could factor in, the gap between a phone calendar and The Matrix was disheartening. I looked at my plate of food, praised the cook, nodded and smiled like a robot to all the chatter that started up again whilst retreating into another world inside with a stark reminder of why I spend so much time on my own.

But the point of this was not the fact that they didn't have a clue about what I was talking about, I never expected that, it was the lack of curiosity to even ask just one question. Not one! If someone started talking about a world or topic I didn't know much about I would have to zip my mouth up from time to time to give them time to respond to the million questions I would love them to answer.

It is the lack of curiosity, let alone imagination, that I think is one of our biggest hurdles.

My dear Gemma, I so enjoyed and totally understood your story. You really are good at telling a story, and I for one will love to read your book!!! And the part about the lack of curiosity is so very true. As far as anyone I know except for my son, it seems to have left the planet. No desire to even mildly debate anything. I find that strange. I don't think I would have much enjoyment without curiosity.

[Ernie Nemeth]

I also have to comment on that post Gemma.

It is the lack of curiosity that astounds me also. How is it that they have no curiosity? What occupies their minds? Are there huge gaps of time when they are not thinking at all? Do they go blank and not even realize it? Do they spend their time fantasizing about being rich, famous, important? Or do they imagine sex with their favourite actor/actress? Are they immersed in someone else's life on twitter? What do they occupy their time with?

The other thing that makes me wonder is, how can an uninformed drone, which is the average person in this society in my estimation, have opinions on every manner of thing but know nothing about those things beyond their opinion about it?

Makes me shake my head.

[thepainterdoug]

gemma
i was going to get to responding to your very relatable story but got distracted.

i just finished after 7 years of work, my musical hypnotta. at thanksgiving, not one person asked me about it, not one person ever asks me about anything. I ask them, they dont ask me.

they dont want to be reminded of who they no longer are , of the vibrancy , curiosity and excitement they have lost. they are all good people but they have let the world beat them down to a diminished shell of themselves.

gemma, you are a threat to them , as I am to mine. i guess thats why we are all here.

[Heart to heart]

Bill, I truly believe the simpler one’s life becomes the more intuitive and intelligent one becomes. You are an icon of an exemplar for us all ❤️🌟🙏

[thepainterdoug]

Heart to Heart, WELL SAID! It comes from the top.

Reminds me of the saying , dont listen to what someone says, watch what they do.

[Arcturian108]

I meditate twice a day, which does a good job of erasing most of the stresses of modernity, plus my husband (he stood over me just now to add that bit). Then I do a yearly cleanse, by going into complete silence for the first week of the New Year. Having been doing that for about 20 years. Does a real good job of putting things back into perspective, and reviving deep recesses of untapped energies. It makes it crystal clear how much energy we use to talk at all.

[SpookyMulder]

All true that, that people's future has been taken away from them only to be sold back to them at a higher price with many more restrictions and limitations, basically for a lot less value that it was originaly worth. In the last 12 months or so, I have personally lost of my so called friends or people who pretended to be.

I have no desire to become a human 2.0

Apart from a very, very few remaining people around me, I am accepting the fact that basically Avalon is somehow the last place where I and others can hold the light for the ongoing fight we are all facing, and to support each other in times of need.

Thank you to Bill for having established this "Village" years ago and thnk you to all of you who populate it.

[DaveToo]

*** Post alert. This will likely turn into a rant!
There is a tie-in between this thread and a topic from the latest
Corbett Report New World Next Week series where they discuss
a news item from the U.K.

I noticed a long long time ago that we make many technological devices not be because we need/want them, but rather because we simply can make them.

Someone dreams up new devices, sometimes at a domestic level, sometimes at a military level etc.
And then it’s as if we must put the devices to use, regardless if they are really needed or not.
Of courses there’s always the financial incentive to create new tech devices. But society will more often than not accept almost anything new that comes their way, with open arms.

There are so many tech gadgets built into new cars these days, that are no longer options. Every car will have them. As far as I’m concerned most are unnecessary and even annoying (especially the beeping ones). Have any of you been aurally assaulted as you were leaving/entering your car by a deafening car horn honk? Did you notice that almost all the people who activated the honk are far clear of their vehicle when they do it?

Participate more? Or drop back?

When cell phones first started to come on the scene 20+ years ago I sensed there was something
sinister about them. This was way before they started to become ‘smart’.
I remember being in a pharmacy with my brother and he got a call from his wife on his cell phone.
He handed me his phone to talk with her. This was the very first time I held a cell phone in my hand.
I recall bringing the phone to my ear and immediately feeling a strong tingling in my hand and tension in
my temples. I wanted to have nothing whatsoever to do with that device and handed it back to my brother as quickly as I could.

And then as the years passed I kept seeing more and more people walking along sidewalks either staring
down into their phones or busily chatting on them. I could see into the future. It was so easy.

When I was young and I would walk along a sidewalk on a busy street I could make eye contact
with dozens and dozens of people. It was the natural, human thing to do. Today that’s virtually impossible. More than 50% of people walking along a sidewalk today are totally immersed with their cellphones. Anyone else walking along is a blur, a distraction. And they will continue through intersections totally preoccupied with their phones at great danger to their safety.

Participate more? Or drop back?
And how about forced participation?

How about being forced to participate in unnecessary technology?
Like almost every time you try to make a call to a business or government agency etc.?
Isn’t it so much fun to be forced to push buttons for 5 minutes or more before you are granted
the privilege to possibly speak with someone? It’s more than likely that after that period of time
(and pushing many buttons) you will simply be placed in a cue waiting for someone to pick up the phone.

How about the latest trend at big box stores of being forced to become an unpaid ‘employee’ of the store?
Yes I’m talking about the trend of cutting down on cashiers in favor of installing self-checkout
kiosks. It has come to the point where you are practically forced to use these machines if you don’t want to wait up to 15 minutes or more in line for the privilege of having a human being serve you.

You are expected to learn, on-the-fly, how to operate the self-checkout machines so that you can help the businesses save money by cutting down on employees. Brilliant!

And how about the latest vax pass technology coming to a store, restaurant or pub near you?
Don’t you feel simply thrilled to be able to whip out your phone and comply in order to gain entrance
to a venue that never used to screen patrons? Ahhh.. isn’t technology a wonderful thing?

So what was that tie-in that I mentioned at the top of my post?
This one has to be one of the sickest, disgusting uses of technology I have
heard of to date.

The U.K. government is mandating the microchipping of all pet cats!
Anyone failing to comply will be forced to pay £500.

You can read all about it here:

Cat microchipping to be made mandatory
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/c...made-mandatory

[Delight]

It has occurred to me that if we had a massive CME, we might wipe out all the technocracy. I have been contemplating this with glee. It would be a serious trial and I would not have the internet any longer but IMO it might be for the best. I am not a good prepper and I am a senior citizen. Probably I will be extinct soon but I would like to see the end of the technocracy happen. That would make me happy.

In the meantime, I do love the internet and I actually feel that I have a "communing" relationship with ideas and the people I hear. Probably I spend way too much time online.

[Gemma13]

DaveToo: Every car will have them. As far as I’m concerned most are unnecessary and even annoying (especially the beeping ones).

Agree. As much as technology is significantly useful, there are lots of useful idiots inventing ridiculous add-ons that more useful idiots pay to have installed.

The car beeping thing is my pet hate. I can no longer sit with my door open listening to songs because I get abused repeatedly with "Hey idiot, you have your door open".

Bloody Sophia the robot probably came up with this idea to help out her mates waiting in line to start driving cars for us, followed by a "robots must be smarter" imbecile having a genius, lightbulb moment of how important it must be to tell humans they are too stupid to be allowed to make this simple choice ever again.

[ExomatrixTV]

Posted by thepainterdoug (here)
emails problem

Maybe if you both use a different & separate email for the soul-purpose: in case of emergencies within family & close friends network ... Same applies to making new (different) private social media accounts make something exclusive for a limited group and your problem is (partially) solved.

• I know it takes some extra effort ... I do it for years and it pays off.

(Almost) everything in life can be a (smarter or dumber) choice ... and I certainly do not mean this judgemental ... as I am far far from perfect ... I speak in general terms, me included.

cheers,
John

[SoulValor]

These technologies are not evil or bad - but how you implement them (the frequencies being used for instance) and how you use them (social media addiciton for instance) may be. Just like money isn't bad or evil - but the way it gets used by some (blackmailing, dependencies) may be. Or how it is horded, distributed etc (banks) may be. So it is all up to one self how you use it and how you set it up and maintain it (the cell phone, the PC - only have necessary programs, run a good firewall and anti-virus program, adblockers, don't allow popups or push messages etc). And also if you care to protect yourself against their frequencies and EMF. In other words, do your homework.

If you do take proper care, the internet and even social media can be a blessing. Think about this forum here....without the internet/computers, it wouldn't be here and all these people wouldn't be here either. Without the internet we wouldn't have been able to meet so many like minded people (and converse) with them over the years. Sometimes even switching over to real life with them! And isn't it kind of an advantage to get to know a person only online first? You can do a lot more filtering before deciding to really let that person into your physical space (aura).

When the internet started around 93/94 here I immediately saw the advantages of it and jumped onto it. Best decision of my life! However, I did not go with the cell phone craze (which started around the same time). I felt completely different there. I did not own a cell phone until a few years back - and that's only because I have to. I cannot pay my bills/do my banking anymore without a cell phone. So once a month I use a cell phone now. And once a month - due to this - I also have to switch on my wireless. Afterwards I immediately turn it off again. It's all kind of absurd....

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had cell phones and cell towers that would operate on human/nature friendly frequencies, even promoting health? Such frequencies exist as you know and it would totally be doable. Same with the EMFs. All decives could be done in such a way that the EMFs would not be harmful but even life enhancing. So I've come full circle with my post. Here's to hoping!

[Patient]

Hey Doug! One the best things that you can do to start with is to bring this conversation to the table - which you have done - thank you!

Reading through the posts, it seems that we can all control how much we really need to use the tech that is around us.

Technology continues to advance quicker and quicker. But we do not have to advance with it - at least not in all aspects of our lives. I have struggled with this throughout my career. At one point in my life I had approximately 22 mobile phones on my desk and the tech was moving so fast that it was necessary to commit at least 4 hours of work time just focusing on educating one's self in an attempt to keep pace.

At the same time, I didn't want to have a facebook account or put my info on Linked-In. I would go directly to people to speak to them in person rather than email if that was possible. I was obviously the odd duck in the building in that regards.

At the time, I did what was necessary for me to provide for my family. That is the crutch of the problem. Many people are in positions where they have to use certain tools as part of their job. Now I use the tech as little as I have to with my work to get the job done. Lucky for me I found a way to work from home and still be able to provide. Yes I have to use my phone and computer but I rarely answer my phone (depending on who it is that is calling) and I can get up and walk away from my desk anytime I want to.

I am worried about my kids. They have grown up in this mess and so much of their life is communicating with other kids online - I hope this pandemic crap will be over soon so I can get them involved in more activities outside with other kids.

In the meantime, it seems that being aware of this tech issue and limiting the use of it when you can is all anyone can do.

So again, thank you for starting this thread and we should keep it busy so that more people might take a moment to rethink some of the things that they do and how they are living their lives.

There is a really good movie that often comes into my thoughts. "Transcendence" with Johnny Depp. If you have not seen it, it is about this very topic.

Maybe one day the sun will hit the earth with enough energy to knock out our electronics. Of course that could be very problematic, but depending upon the severity it might help humanity to change course a bit.

Or we could use another larger "hippy movement".

Free energy would really change the landscape - maybe one day!!

[Mari]

Posted by Gemma13 (here)
I'm also reclusive, only put my little burner phone in a drawer 6mths ago to finally get a smart phone, much to the joy of family and friends because the emojis they send me are no longer a bunch of empty squares. But what has really struck me recently is how little in common I have with those around me.

As many outliers here know that's been a cross to bear most of our lives, but a trip away recently visiting family and friends drove it home even further as I was hoping to find a glimpse of evolution in my local sphere after many years of self exile.

Not so, conversations were painfully bland and stuck in a groundhog day from years ago. When I attempted to raise the bar a bit because the inevitable happened and it was my turn to share with my cousins what I was up to, they all froze and looked at me like deer stuck in headlights. When the cousin I thought would be the smartest in the room came to my rescue, his authoritative translation to everyone was so basic I then looked at the group like a deer stuck in headlights.

I had described a novel I was starting to write that would juxtapose human heart Wi-Fi vs synthetic A.I. Wi-Fi in the evolution of our species. I gave several examples when I saw jaws starting to drop and knew I had to help them along. I kept it fairly low key though with Sophia and her citizenship, transhumanism and spirituality. After the awkward silence the rescue cousin said, with a condescending chuckle, "It's going to be about when you're at work and your phone reminds you it's time to call Mum for her birthday."

Now as much as this response could factor in, the gap between a phone calendar and The Matrix was disheartening. I looked at my plate of food, praised the cook, nodded and smiled like a robot to all the chatter that started up again whilst retreating into another world inside with a stark reminder of why I spend so much time on my own.

But the point of this was not the fact that they didn't have a clue about what I was talking about, I never expected that, it was the lack of curiosity to even ask just one question. Not one! If someone started talking about a world or topic I didn't know much about I would have to zip my mouth up from time to time to give them time to respond to the million questions I would love them to answer.

It is the lack of curiosity, let alone imagination, that I think is one of our biggest hurdles.

I resonate with that so well! I had a similar experience when speaking to the family (dutifully) on xmas day. Now, while I'm able to downgrade my conversation to their basic level, I found that they simply weren't interested in anything I was getting up to, and nothing of my ideas would ever penetrate. They just don't inhabit my world and are simply not up for any subject which is out of the little Box of their thinking. Yes, total lack of curiosity, imagination and anything which smacks of original thinking.. It became rather strained, pretty quickly and we respectively hung up with sighs of relief.

The schism was bought home to me when some relatives visited a year ago. Straight off a long journey by train, they were hungry and we treated them to lunch in our local Wetherspoons pub. Now bearing in mind that we hadn't seen each other for about 20 years, you would think that there would be a lot of catching up to do. Hell no! Coming back from the bar with a tray-load of drinks, I staggered to the table and saw all 5 of them simultaneously looking down at their smartphones, totally absorbed, and indeed, all through the lunch, kept on checking the bloody things, as they 'pinged' away like a pinball machine. It IS an addiction, to be sure.

Needless to say, my husband, son (who lives with us) and I, have never had smartphones, just basic matchbox-sized ones, no social media accounts with big tech, and basic email. We are happy and contented with that, and our 'excitement' if you will, comes from nature, as Bill wonderfully describes. I guess they see us as hillbillys. We wouldn't swap our simple uncomplicated world with theirs for anything. We WILL have the last laugh, however, as it becomes very clear that big tech is for nothing more than tracking, social control and conformity. I warned said relatives about this, but just got blank looks and a hurried change of conversation.

[Mari]

'Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had cell phones and cell towers that would operate on human/nature friendly frequencies, even promoting health? Such frequencies exist as you know and it would totally be doable. Same with the EMFs. All decives could be done in such a way that the EMFs would not be harmful but even life enhancing. So I've come full circle with my post. Here's to hoping! '



SoulValor, this will be the norm in future. As the frequency of the planet rises and humanity with it, the old stale technology of control will die. We have everything to hang on for.

[Mari]

Posted by Delight (here)
It has occurred to me that if we had a massive CME, we might wipe out all the technocracy. I have been contemplating this with glee. It would be a serious trial and I would not have the internet any longer but IMO it might be for the best. I am not a good prepper and I am a senior citizen. Probably I will be extinct soon but I would like to see the end of the technocracy happen. That would make me happy.

In the meantime, I do love the internet and I actually feel that I have a "communing" relationship with ideas and the people I hear. Probably I spend way too much time online.

I have had a feeling for a long time that mother nature will do her bit to (ultimately) bring us back to our true Human senses. A huge CME may well do that.