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The Watchman's avatar

Good read, Todd. I think I'm still zigzagging through life, even at 70. Linking as usual @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/

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Todd Hayen, PhD, RP's avatar

Yep...we are the same age!

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The Watchman's avatar

Actually, I'll be 72 in a few months. God willing.

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janet's avatar

Sadly, you have described my grandchildren (all in their 20's) perfectly. Thank you for putting into words - so succinctly - what I am feeling about the way they are living and shaping their lives.

It would be easy to blame their parents and some of the ridiculous ideas about raising children that went on 20 years ago, eg: never say 'no' and everyone wins. But I raised one of those grandchildren and I most certainly raised her the same way I raised her mother, so what is different here? Social media? Mind control on levels we cannot begin to comprehend?

Of course, I worry for them, and all their friends. They seem to be only half alive. Has the other half already been consumed by the 'machine'? Will life itself wake them up? One can only hope.

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Todd Hayen, PhD, RP's avatar

A lot of it, of course, has to do with parents...but the parents too are driven by the agenda, so what can you say? Even good parenting is often futile considering the social contagion out there...it is all a result of the agenda's efforts...and even if there is no agenda, there is some sort of egregore energy out there (the devil??) that is pushing the culture in the direction it is getting pushed. (Emergent property? OK, but how and why?)

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FortheLoveofFreedom's avatar

Yes, I totally see many parents all driven by the same craziness as the kids are. I also believe it is the agenda being driven, making people less human. 'They' see that most people are more in touch with their phones etc than they are with other people creating a society asleep at the wheel.

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Todd Hayen, PhD, RP's avatar

Yes, the "less human" part is a very important attribute...transhumanism is not just found in the robot/AI labs, but in the effort to eradicate the soul...which is being done in a variety of ways, through psychotropics drugs (SSRIs, Benzos, mood stabilizers), through other pharmaceuticals, particularly vaccines, and of course through the usual "non chemical" interventions like brainwashing, educational and media manipulation etc. Of course, none of us has proof how all of this is happening...but personally, I am convinced it is.

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FortheLoveofFreedom's avatar

Well Todd you have written a doozie today. Where does one start? Today, many youth lack passion. In fact many people lack passion. The plandemic has done some serious damage (in many ways) and this period of time has beaten people down. It is almost like the spirit has been broken. Some are like walking zombies and others with attitudes of, "What's the point?" Those young people coming to you for help is a positive step. Maybe they will discover themselves, what is important to them, and what can feed their soul.

I have witnessed in the past that high school guidance counsellors push kids into areas that they have no interest but areas that are capable of making a lot of money. I have always disagreed with this. Why not ask young people what excites you? What are you good at? What interests you? Today social media and you tube show some young people making loads of money off some daft idea and having thousands, even millions of followers.

Parents also encourage kids to go to university to get well-paid jobs but not necessarily doing something you love. I see it today too - kids wanting the easy path with lots of money and little effort or accountability. Everything seems easier today, yet we have more mental illness, confusion, addiction, apathy and unhappiness. I love your last sentence, "Here’s hoping a few more dare to stray, to scribble outside the lines, and rediscover the messy, marvelous chaos of a life less ordinary." I do too.

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Todd Hayen, PhD, RP's avatar

Right on on every count. Lack of passion is exactly it, but why? Being pushed into things they don't want or have no interest in: I often ask what they are interested in, typical answer: "I don't know"...I honestly think kids stop being aware of interests after they turn five...and up until then, and after, all their interests are consists of staring at a screen and playing video games. ...on and on...

Thank you for your comment...

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FortheLoveofFreedom's avatar

Many children have grown up not freely playing. They are entertained so therefore it is hard to know anything about yourself when it is all scripted for you.

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Todd Hayen, PhD, RP's avatar

"Free play" is HUGELY important, and is all but entirely missing in Western culture (and probably everywhere else). Read "The Anxious Generation" by Jonathan Haidt for more on that...

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ree.eric@google.com's avatar

I agree with everything you have said -

I believe, going forward, things do not look bright, at least not as bright as it looked in our time (we are of the same vintage), and perhaps the kids are somehow intuitively aware of that. Certainly the under-30s, programmed through said algorithms since old enough to hold a 'device', are a scary, unpredictable bunch to me - how far will they go, what will they do if, say, the power goes down for 1 hour, 1 day, 1 month, and they cannot connect with the only (online) life they know. Those controlling the agenda probably have a pretty good idea of the response and are counting on it to further things along.

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Todd Hayen, PhD, RP's avatar

"Forgive them; for they know not what they do"

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FortheLoveofFreedom's avatar

Ree.eric, if the power goes out they freak out. Even if they have physical friends, the online thing is so bizarre. It is definitely like a drug. I laugh inwardly when someone says they have 300 friends online. Yeah right! Where will they be if you needed one?

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Gwaihir's avatar

Thanks for verifying what I thought, but could not prove. When I see fishermen on our lake in Halliburton, I sometimes worry about the amount of food for the loons, herons, etc., especially because I never see a frog or a crayfish like I did when I was young. I mentioned this to a couple of ten year olds and they just looked at me in silence. No opinion given, just inarticulate Midwich Cuckoo type stares. “Uninterested in noble pursuits” indeed.

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Todd Hayen, PhD, RP's avatar

This is due to a variety of things...not the least being our consumer mindset (see my article on Consumerasaurus...which I know you have.)

Lots of reason for the consumer mindset as well. It is a mess.

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FortheLoveofFreedom's avatar

The children most likely don't have their own thoughts about these things Gwaihir. Children aren't natural explorers anymore (there are some exceptions of course). They are told what to think, how to think. Unlike my time when curiosity was part and parcel to daily life.

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Todd Hayen, PhD, RP's avatar

Yes...but their explorer instinct will flair up if money or fame is at the other end of the exploration...as long as it is easy.

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FortheLoveofFreedom's avatar

Only if it is easy..........

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