Many people are aware of a mind-body connection when it comes to their personal health, but few apply this important wisdom to our mind-body health as a society. Just as mental habits impact the physical health of individuals, our collective mental habits -- manifested through the mass media -- impact every aspect of our social health.
The mass media -- particularly television -- offers the most direct and visible expression of our social mind or collective mental functioning. In the U.S., 98 percent of all homes have a TV set, and the average person watches nearly four hours per day. Like it or not, television has become the central nervous system of modern society, serving as our primary window onto the world and the mirror in which we see ourselves. We all swim in this electronic ocean, and it has a powerful influence on our collective self-image and well-being.
At this pivotal time in human evolution, it is vitally important that messages in the mass media serve our psychological and spiritual health and not distort our collective intelligence, imagination and evolution. However, the collective mind of our consumer society is currently dominated by profit-making and, as a consequence, the American dream celebrated through advertising is fast becoming the world's nightmare.
The bottom line: A sustainable and thriving future requires changes in our social mindset and the messages and images of "success" and the "good life" that are portrayed through the mass media.
Here are four different ways of framing the issue of the mass media and the mental health of society:
Transforming the relationship between our social body and social mind via the mass media is far more than a matter of taste; it is essential for the health and well-being of our endangered societies. We cannot consciously build a positive future that we have not first collectively imagined. We are a visual species. When we can see it, we can create it. By bringing inspiring stories and hopeful visions of the future to television, we simultaneously bring those healing visions into the collective mind of our civilization.
The most basic challenge we face is with ourselves as citizens. Most citizens are ignorant of the fact that, in the U.S., television broadcasters that use the public's airwaves (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX) have a strict legal responsibility to serve the public interest of the community before their own profits. People complain about the media, not recognizing that we citizens have the legal right and the affirmative obligation to hold the mass media that uses our public airwaves accountable for serving the public interest and the health of our collective mind. However, with a non-partisan media politics, we could mobilize electronic town meetings and other forms of dialogue to come together as communities and transform the heart of the media --broadcast television.
Duane Elgin is a speaker, author and non-partisan activist for media accountability. He is the author of "Voluntary Simplicity," "The Living Universe," "Promise Ahead," and other books. Please visit his website, www.DuaneElgin.com for free articles and videos on thriving in these challenging times. Your comments and suggestions are much appreciated.
Follow Duane Elgin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DuaneElgin
Bill Brioux: Elwy Yost 1925 - 2011
Daniel Donahoo: Social Media and Anxiety
Tony Horton: Pleasure From Pleasure vs. Pleasure From Pain
It is not just television that broadcasts negative and unsustainable messaging. If you live in a city it is everywhere you go. Perhaps we need to respond more radically by ‘Culture Jamming’?
Reclaim Your Mind:
http://www.ecohustler.co.uk/2011/05/11/reclaim-your-mind/
I am interested in how media reflects the place and age it's made in, though. I think back to one of my favorite shows of the mid-late 90s, "Touched by an Angel." - Very cheesey, but did its best to be uplifting and had a message of love. Such a show would never get green-lighted today. That show came along with the whole "angel fad" of the era and in a time when CBS was into "inspirational" programming. Today is just too cynical for a show like that to be made again.
There is some hope, though - when I was a child, the cartoons/kids shows were basically half-hour toy commericals. Due to the popularity of anime and other factors, it seems like more youth programming is made "for the art." Compare "Avatar: the Last Airbender" to any early 80s "action" cartoon. Media pretty much reflects the age and mindset of its people.
"serving as our primary window onto the world and the mirror in which we see ourselves. We all swim in this electronic ocean, and it has a powerful influence on our collective self-image and well-being"
We do NOT al swim in this this, and there is no way that this has a powerful influence on me.
My sense of self comes firstly with knowing who l am, and then with my interactions with my family, my friends and the world around me, as well as my thoughts and feelings, and by what l do in my life, and l can honestly say that tv has no influence or part in this, it is part fantasy, part reality, as in the news, and l recognise it for what it is.
Thank you for your reply. Naturally l, or my friends are not isolated from the world, in fact we are very much in it, but it is the so called " real" world, which, as you know, is composed of A. actions ( eg, l am in Germany at the moment trying to sort out a flat for myself and settings things up, interesting and nice but also stressful as there are lots of things to see too and not much time to organise it all) B. Thoughts, and C Feelings. Of course l get involved in soaps, or documentaries,( which l enjoy) or the news, l wouldn`t be human if l didn`t.
But my sense of identity doesn`t come from those things, and l actually HATE anything to do with celebrities, l find that all very shallow and fickle.
My sense of identity comes from my upbringing mainly, and my life experiences,which have been many, not all of them pleasant! NOT from the TV, and l actually feel sorry for those who are influenced a lot by it, l think they should concentrate more on themselves, and their innermost feelings to see what they can discover, in an honest way.
Maybe l`m just unusual, but l`m glad l`m the way l am
All we need is an audience who will actively support them.
We're currently finishing a feature documentary entitled "We Want The Airwaves" which was shot over a period of 6 years. The film follows the story of a group of filmmakers who actually set out to change television from it's current consumer oriented structure, to a format which actually celebrates real people.
The filmmakers in the story created the first TV series, "Manifesto!" (documentary based) to chronicle the work of activists across the globe. Everyday people doing great things. Celebrations of human spirit, sacrifice & accomplishment.
The road they traveled down including filming the show and countless attempts to get it on the air. With an Emmy Award winning team, amazing stories & high production values, it sounds like a no-brainer, huh?
Here's what networks constantly said about the show they pitched, "Manifesto!" "It's too worthy" or how does it work? These are weak - of course conflict is on only a second away during the journeys of activists.
When the filmmakers finally did get a deal at a network, the execs floundered with excuses before the show was even in development.
The fact remains that huge multinational corporations own these networks & these corporations play a significant role in what ends up on the air. The CEO's of the networks are essentially the whipping boys of the board of directors of the parent corporation.
I know it would be better in many if people were spending more time socializing, exercising, and reading. But the reality for the majority of suburban Americans is that anything besides watching TV or interacting with the computer requires driving a car, and therefore using fossil fuels. Even seemingly benign activities like gardening are pursued with an array of trimmers, tillers, mowers, and require trips to the store. From a strictly ecological perspective, the more time people spend engaged with monitors and TVs, the less damage they are doing to the planet. The content makes no material difference in the short run, especially because there is very little evidence that watching more TV makes people buy more stuff. A planet of couch potatoes is unfortunately more sustainable than one full of active and mobile nature-lovers, and that is a reality we have to face.
Regarding driving and the use of fossil fuels, the world is running out of cheap oil, so the era of driving everywhere without thinking about the cost is already gone for many people. So, how about creative television programming that explores lifestyles of sustainable prosperity? How about innovative programs that explore how we can thrive and have happy lives without resorting to mindless consumption?
It's not that I disagree with the author's wishful thinking - it would be LOVELY if mass media were what he calls for. Wonderful.
But mass media is a for-profit, commercial undertaking, run everywhere as a business seeking to cut expenses and expand revenues by offering popular choices to consumers. And so long as the consumers get what they want and will pay for, there's no reason for mass media to ever offer up anything different.
It's a business. WHY would mass media begin offering what the author urges? Why, when that is clearly now what the consumers want?
Back this essay way up, and start instead by examining why the American masses consume the media they do, why they make the choices they do.
And don't come back with any If Only Media Were Rainbows and Puppies essays until one can describe exactly what mechanisms are going to cause the American masses to make very different choices in what they want and what they consume.
One the one side we have a value system that values people over property, (liberal) and on the other side we have a system that values property over people. (Conservative.) We know what happens when the latter system is in effect and it is very, very bad. The more we value property over people, the worse things get for all but a handful of very rich people.
The predominant value system in politics is the latter, so if you are in the middle, you are solidly in their camp. That is to say, the middle typically favors the dominate system.
Given that you're an unusually sane person, why would you choose this?
(Thanks for another great article by the way!)
"During this struggle to create a civilization and not only a marketplace, we are creating a schizophrenic civilization, divided against itself."
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” – R. Buckminster Fuller
With the way our society functions, the average individual tends not to become involved unless the solution is spoon fed to them in a "push this red button," sort of way.