I could be asking that question of many things, as we are in the midst of a strange time when many things purported to be smart, are turning out to be very dumb indeed. But phones will be getting the spotlight here, although they aren’t really used as such anymore are they, but we had come to know them as Mobile Phones, which I have written about before, so this is follow on from that. But one part of it I would like to elaborate on –

“They have now been with us for a couple of decades, so time has told, and people do not seem happier for it. I find it odd how in a time of information, we seem to know less than we ever did. And in an age of unlimited communication, we have never felt so far apart.”

We were ‘bought together’ under the guise of technology for the greater good, but appears it was a bait and switch routine and has been used instead to separate and isolate people. The elderly bearing the brunt of much of this exclusion, but it is filtering down to all generations and age groups in different ways. Now no longer able to book doctors’ appointments unless you have an app, therefore a smart phone. Or do your banking because the branch has closed, or pay by cash because shops won’t allow you. Seems like small things on the face of it, and people used to just sneer at the people who ‘didn’t keep up’ or were said to not be adaptable to change, and in some cases that may well be true. But it’s all part of the bigger puzzle, wanting you to not want the old ways, or easier method, because it’s old. New does not mean better, as well as has been proven. Children being made to scan in to receive their school lunches, people being herded into systems and procedures, but being excluded if they don’t. That’s how they make you think you choose these things, convincing you that it really is convenient. Then quietly making sure you are then tied in, and cannot decide to not be part of it, my article Convenience or Dependence? looked at that from a wider angle.

But all this ‘Smart’ is starting to wear thin and, like I said, look really quite dumb. Trying to make everyone go electric, but clearly without the infrastructure for it and the cost far outweighing the benefit, in monetary and economic terms. That’s why it seems just a ploy to get everyone to just stand by while the existing infrastructure is dismantled and destroyed right before our eyes. It’s ok, I’ll fix it later they say, while taking it all away. Or saying I’ll save some for you, right up until every last crumb is eaten. At what point do people recognise they are full of shit, and then at what point do people admit it, followed by doing something about it? Too many systems already have tied people up in knots, made their everyday normal life a chore, and a hassle to just be able to navigate what used to be simple processes. Pretending to make things easier, but clearly just trying to bottleneck people into procedures for their utopic ideal of a controlled, medicated and monitored population. And people do keep handing themselves over to them to do this, so I get why it continues – it is a very well laid trap. Like I have said before, it’s like the Hydra, with each head being a branch of ‘society’ which at some point you will inevitably turn to, for education, healthcare, finance or just being allowed to live by way of birth certificate, an issued number and licenses thereafter. If you try and cut off one head and walk away, another has you. Now they want to ‘upgrade’ that system, and scan you, have your biometrics and life data stored. All sounds totally normal doesn’t it?

But as I said, it’s just an upgrade. From our registries of births, marriages and deaths, taxes and census’s wanting your personal information to be manually compiled, we have now moved on to The Digital Doomsday Database. For these new technological times they have ushered in, we will be subject to their ‘SMART’ systems, keep in mind the smart bit isn’t for us, it’s for them. Funny as well that they call the underground bases DUMBS, meaning we get left with the ‘smart’ and they get the ‘dumb’. Don’t forget, words and their meaning really are important. But the whole smart system is to make it easier for them to monitor and manipulate with them accordingly, with no real advantage to people on the ground now it would seem, with their price gouging and greed now out there for everyone to see. It was never about helping people, or looking after the public, or trying to help to create a better life for people at all. The whole time they have been messing with people’s abilities to provide for themselves, restricting and supressing their natural instincts and Holding Us Back. Keeping the industrial revolution wheels turning as they needed them to, with people doing the jobs they needed them to, clearing out the countryside with whatever methods were necessary, and herding people into cities. As they appear to be doing again in certain places, and have done over the decades in various countries, under the guise of politics and progress…

(c) K Wicks

We find ourselves in the midst of a rather unusual crisis, a strange and orchestrated series of events leading us towards what appears to be our doom. With twists and turns, characters and a storyline, it’s being laid on awfully thick, making it an all-consuming barrage of psychological and physical realities to take on board. Well, it’s mostly all consuming, if you let it take over your thoughts, and of course if you are unfortunate enough to be in firing line of the most radical and recently implemented changes. For example, if you have been subject to ‘weather events’, housing or drug crisis, oddly devastating fires seeming to ‘defy nature’ rather than be part of it. Indeed, making it quite an overwhelming situation to take it, and does seem like a trial of our time. Because there have been many that came before us, which we can now look at with fresh eyes knowing what we know now. Piecing together that which didn’t even seem part of the same puzzle before, but now places itself where it has always been. And I can’t help but wonder, was that meant to be part of the plan? That in using the tool of a world wide web to catch everyone, instead had a loop hole, that would mean the ones you are trying to ‘catch’ actually can see it coming? You can’t have one without the other it seems, to have everyone accessible for information, those people need to have information accessible so have been learning on their own time, in their own way.

But in a time before, we are led to believe it took a certain amount of time to get ‘news’ to where they wanted it, had to print papers, distribute them, get people talking about things and working on division and confusion in a much slower format. Now we seem to be in the super highway version of that, where people can consume and move on before there is even time to discuss it, digest it or even understand it, forgetting about yesterday and last week in the blink of an eye. Or so it would seem. Not all forget, and although computers are quite useful in their field, the human brain and its capacity for adaptability and strategy is unique. And is indeed able to process a vast amount of information and give it nuanced thought and application. I can see why they might want to infiltrate it and assimilate it with computers, and can even imagine what it is they think they might create, which is why I am not a fan of the whole idea. For now, we are analogue and manual creatures, trying to be forced into a digital extreme, which outside of the obvious hooks of ‘convenience’ and creating an orderly society, it’s detrimental to our health, on many levels. Which is how they convinced people I believe to think they need help, and handouts and medications to get through life. For there to be an overseer who doesn’t just check in on you from time to time with a medical checkup, or a census, oh no, this one wants to be in your head, literally. And with you for every breath, step and thought of your daily life. Like a digital stalker but who is actually your shadow rather than an external entity trying to get to you, one that is inbuilt and is always there to mentally sit alongside and inside your physical presence. Sounds completely normal doesn’t it?

It’s kind of outrageous when you think it all through, what is happening, what has happened, and speculating on what is going to happen. It seems as though the gloves are off and all is trying to be achieved at once, thinking that if people are overloaded with worry, fear and confusion they will just roll over and step aside. And allow the brazen cull and poisoning of life as we know it, not just allow it, but they are actively getting people to take part in it. Like continually pouring water on someone while telling them they will dry off in a minute, and they believe you and then offer to hold the hose for you and do it to themselves. It seems madness, which is why I do accept that some people aren’t coping, or have critical thinking skills, or just general awareness to fully comprehend the situation that is unfolding. How it is a complex, rather far-reaching project spanning quite a number of decades and ideals. And the planning that goes into creating the chaos that is needed for those ideals should not be understated, but they do have a weak point, as a plan or system always does. And the weak point is people, as at the moment it relies on people, to do the dirty work and help to enslave your own, after a certain time it seems, we will no longer be at the mercy of us, because machinery will take over. Can’t reason with or manipulate a machine, only reprogramme or destroy, so the game changes somewhat. And that weakness disappears from the system, making it stronger.

It’s hard to know if they do really want everybody enslaved, or dead, or just as needy subjects they can pump medications into and drip feed ‘entertainment’ to power their future. Or if we are all now surplus to requirement, as they have all their super computers and fancy houses now, land and all the money, so what do they really need all these ‘extras’ hanging around for? Well, my article Perhaps speculated on a certain need there might be by those types for people, and as they treat people with contempt ever further, we certainly know they aren’t actually looking out for anyone’s health, safety or future. In fact, actively doing everything they can do damage those things while saying the opposite. Like I said above, why don’t you hold the hose for them? And that’s where many unwittingly have, by going along with the insane requests, that meant the game was on, and even those not playing get dragged in, because it’s one that can’t just be stopped once it’s begun…

(c) K Wicks

They say doorways are a type of portal, which change your state of mind when you walk through them, possibly leading to why people can instantly forget what they wanted when walking into a room. Because your mind has gone from one reality into another, although your physical self did not. Perhaps. They seem just like a practical way to separate rooms, and for purposes of warmth and privacy, doors were added.

But what if that particular composition is actually a mathematically important set up. Think of Ghostbusters, and the big building with its whole design being specific to be a huge portal. Mostly in films they are represented as round, steering the mind away from the average rectangle we see every day. A whole building being one gives a good angle for thinking big rather than small, and is a good side point. But for this we are looking at smaller, doorway like set ups.

Monsters Inc – the whole film was based around doorways being the portals to access children. A very watchable but creepy movie to be honest, but doors to different places, from another existence that is separate from ours, but can access it.

Portal – another film about alien portals appearing as doorways, haven’t seen it so can only bring it to the table as a basic premise, but it seems to fit.

Doors – a film about lots of alien doorways that appear on earth, not watched this one either but it seems relevant.

Shazam – a scene in this film shows a cave full of doors leading to all sorts of different realities.

Coraline – it’s a small door that leads to an alternative reality once active.

Beetlejuice – to get to the netherworld on demand, a doorway was to be drawn, to create access.

Poltergeist – it was the walk-in wardrobe that seemed to be a portal point when it all got crazy, but the doorway was important there too. And again, that was the other side deciding to step through to this realm.

And that seems to be a running theme throughout these concepts, that it isn’t always activated. But when it is, some weird stuff occurs.

Narnia – another doorway/wardrobe, but this one obviously leading to a rather fantastical land with adventures and perils aplenty. But still another realm being accessed via a doorway.

Mr Ben – a great and fun cartoon of putting on a different costume and stepping through a doorway to the place of that costume. So, a portal directly to that place with no ‘travel time’ involved.

Time Bandits – the initial contact for the crazy and wonderful adventure that followed was through his wardrobe, even though they didn’t go into it, something came out.

I also think about wardrobes and the fear that some have of them, and wonder if it because of films and stories, or because it’s a feeling you get about it. And that’s how the stories started in the first place perhaps, along with others of the boogie man, and the things that hide under your bed kind of thing. But I guess with all of these things and ideas, it isn’t just that there is another world through it, or something lurking on the other side that seems to be what is so uncomfortable or unnerving for some. It’s the idea that it can open the door whenever it wants to and step through into our world, uninvited and with unknown intent. And sometimes we might unknowingly open one of those doors without knowing quite what’s on the other side, and sometimes, just now and again, maybe we do…

(c) K Wicks

A little joy of our time. The video shop. It was a big part of many people’s leisure experience growing up, if you were born in a certain time of course. And that colour scheme we have recently become familiar with again, but for slightly different reasons. It was a special thing to be able to watch videos, remembered well by me as we didn’t have a VHS player until I was nine I think – so most of the 80’s were only watching normal TV, films at Christmas and very occasionally going to the cinema as an extra special treat. Then we had one, and of course no videos to watch as they were expensive, so you rent them, from Blockbusters. And along the way you learnt to buy blank videos so you could start recording programs, same with music tapes, but if you wanted to keep up with films that’s where you went. Seeing the ones rated out of your age range, trying to find someone to blag to rent them for you, Friday night hanging around waiting for someone to bring back a tape.

Completely different to these days, but I can’t deny I wanted the change to happen. I used to dream of having a ‘video store’ within the TV, and at just the push of a button you could pick any film you wanted and watch it in your own time, at your own leisure with no hurrying to get it back before you get charged a fine. Then we had sky, cable, save for later, amazon and netflix, all providing the efficient system of stored digital copies of all the things you could ever want to watch. No waiting, there at your fingertips all the time. Sounds great doesn’t? And it was, until you realise what it is you are actually doing. Giving up your real life, to spend your time watching pretend people, living a scripted and well arranged ‘life’ instead. It seemed so buckled once I realised, even though I was aware that it took you away and tapered off my viewing once I hit adulthood, I wasn’t really aware at how others were engaging with it. Video games will also be included here, because back in the day you could rent those too from the video store, and they have gained more attention for ‘influencing’ behaviour in recent years.

And although I have defended both in the past, I now think I was wrong. Films, TV and games can heavily influence some people, can desensitise, distract and confuse people. About themselves, other people, situations and reactions and responses they should employ in certain situations. ‘Learning’ from a completely fabricated and exaggerated version of an ‘experience’, and then basing real life on that, or your expectation of life of it. Reinforced over and over by repeated watching, or binge watching as its now a thing, and not by accident. They know drip feeding is effective, so one episode a week used to keep you hooked. But takes time. So, to make it all available at once means some can give themselves an extreme dose, which they do.

Previously with a TV schedule, it would be known what people were consuming, because they decided what and when. Now people dictate their own consumption, which seems like choice on the face of it, but is it? It is if you choose to not watch anything, but allowing a programming schedule to be given your time is an odd one. I would take it that your real life needs more in it if you have enough time for how many hours are spent watching. But that’s just my opinion, others may not want a real life, and instead find comfort and company in watching others have one instead. Even if it is a fake or scripted one.

And sometimes I think it’s nostalgia that makes people keep watching, because of a memory of enjoying the engagement and of being entertained. As well as the overall anticipation and socialising that often went with it. And that’s where I thought Britain is starting to feel like Netflix, where there’s too much, it’s tainted and not what it thought it was going to be. But you keep thinking of it like Blockbusters, with a feeling of how it used to be and how good it was back then. But as with the boarded up and changed venues now long gone, I get the impression that Britain as we knew it is as well…

(c) K Wicks