Bob Schwartz

We don’t have to name a condition to know it. The naming is often imprecise, incomplete and misleading, giving us a general idea, but not fully representing the experience or phenomenon. 
Yet we want to name what we see and feel and know, because it allows us to talk about it and in the case of troubles or problems, start solving them. 

Reading one of the many disturbing and unsettling stories in today’s news, I was reminded of a special movie that arrived in 1982. Free of narration, with a haunting soundtrack by Phillip Glass, Koyaanisqatsi is an arresting visual juxtaposition of nature’s world and man’s world in the late 20th century. The title is taken from a Hopi word, meaning chaotic life, corrupted life, life out of balance. The full title of the film is Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance. 

There be no more apt way of describing where we seem to be right now. A name for our condition. It is this simple. Life seems to be out of balance. More so than in 1982, more than earlier times. Not worse, though that may be. Simply out of balance. As if we feel like we are falling over, or about to fall over, and we would like to feel steadier, so we can keep standing up, so we can keep walking straight ahead. 

Humble 

Humble in the morning.
Smart or stupid.
Big or small.
Strong or weak.
Humble in the morning.

What must it be like to wake up in space as an astronaut? You may think: aren’t humans remarkable? We built this spaceship, we escaped the gravity of earth, we propelled ourselves to the planets. 

Then you look out the window. 

“Displays are the secret superstars of CES” says a headline about the ongoing Consumer Electronics Show, the annual world’s fair of our bright digital future. 
It seems that screens with higher resolution, more dimensions and more curves are something we can eagerly await. 

It’s probably a good time to mention the Bible, Plato, Shakespeare, or whatever spiritual, philosophical or literary texts and icons you might consider a little remarkable. 

As a student of media, and an admirer of brilliant media analysts such as Marshall McLuhan who tie evolving messaging to evolving media, I still should mention this. Much of our civilized foundation comes from oral traditions, or when set down, written and published in decidedly low-resolution form. Feathered quill pens managed to convey some very high-resolution thoughts and creativity. 

Yes, I have a 4k TV and other amazing devices with astonishing screens and capabilities. But it was the Romans who gave us the concept of bread and circuses, distractions from the real issues at hand. Of course form and technique of messaging matter and change. But in the long run, our outcomes and lives will depend on the content of communications, whatever the resolution.