The Internet: A Blessing Or A Curse?

Personalized internet filters are a great way to provide only the content each individual prefers. This seems very convenient and fairly innocuous concerning somebody's favorite types of movies and music. But what about tailoring an individual's news sources (most of which today is merely opinion and rhetoric) only to those that are preferred? What is bound to stem from this?

People become so identified with their chosen perspectives which only further reinforces the polarity of today's society. How then are we ever to settle life's most pressing issues?

In this regard, though we may exercise our freedom by listening only to those "news" sources that appeal to us, what does this systematically lead to? Enslavement to very narrow-minded perspectives. In this case, our freedom to listen to preferred news sources becomes a paradox in itself: ironically it leads to enslavement.

An interesting corollary to this is that one's perception of reality seems to become more “real” than reality itself, in turn exacerbating the already existing polarity causing more resentment, more hatred, more suspicion and other such destructive thoughts.

A Divine Reflection

In a purely metaphoric sense, I think King Solomon may have “found” God by stumbling upon something seemingly unconscious and hard-wired into the human race. I think he became conscious of the fact that he wanted to want more than he ever wanted to have! This explains why he was never satisfied with all his wealth, jewels, concubines, gold, extravagances, etc.

Once again, reflect on this.....he did not want to have all this stuff, rather, he only wanted to want it all. Might this describe you?

I readily admit this applies to me with many things, especially my relentless pursuit of wisdom. Do not be alarmed or feel ashamed. It is just an unconscious compulsion of the human dysfunction a.k.a. the ego! It is, in my opinion, insanity.

Only awareness of this will ever avoid the dissatisfaction that is bound to stem from this! I believe this is why in Buddhism it is often said that true peace and contentment comes from not wanting.