Artificial People Living Artificial Lives - Message Series

ARTIFICIAL PEOPLE LIVING ARTIFICIAL LIVES - MESSAGE

[A]. EXPOSING ARTIFICIALITY

I have just seen one of these documentaries set in a very exclusive English Hotel rated with 5 stars. It is popular with some of royalty and film stars and other high profile people. It is very expensive with rooms upwards of 1300 pounds a night. £1300

It was most disappointing that the program tended to concentrate on a homosexual couple getting married there, but the part that caught my attention was that this Hotel is sometimes frequented by Bloggers. Bloggers are people who have blogs that are Internet channels or sites such as on Facebook, etc. They detail all facts about themselves, all the gossip, what they do, where they go and what they wear and . . . well, everything.

One blogger couple was featured and they were frequently taking videos with commentary, and of themselves – very much of themselves - and all this was going to be placed on a blog. What really caught my attention was the way they were discussing their blogs and how many “likes” they were receiving which is when a person ticks a thumbs up. Most of this was being recorded on mobile/cell phones. They were greatly motivated by viewer response. It was so vain.

As I watched them doing their thing, I thought, “How artificial is all that.” A couple was living for “likes” and that was their whole life. I think a lot of Facebook is like that. It is so superficial, so detached from the real world that is a difficult one. That is what the bloggers are like with a craving to demonstrate themselves for likes that they see as a measure of popularity and acceptance.

Also what does it say about those who are watching these blogs and religiously following the bloggers. They are living vicarious lives. It is like role playing. They are so bored, the viewers and followers are living their lives out through the blogs they follow. It all seems so meaningless.

The people I have discussed above fall into the snob arena. I would not get the time of day at that Hotel except shown the front door. These people who are living these lives are snobs, elitists, social climbers, pretenders, conceited and egotistical. It is a life full of artificiality, a house of straw with as much weight as a soap bubble.

I am no follower of the Oscar awards or the Grammy awards but have seen bits of it now and again. All is show and pretence, all detached from the real world. These people, actors and producers live empty lives in loneliness and fulfillment. So too do those who wait for hours, even days, to get to see such events – awards, society functions with all the glamour and glitz and high society magazines and publicity. They are artificial people living artificial lives. Artificiality is no better seen than in Hollywood where actors can play the part of moral characters but their lives are based on immorality and emptiness. They don’t live in the “real world” but one of froth and bubbles. That is what artificial is related to – to self-delusion and tragic emptiness.

Solomon wrote “Vanity of vanities. All is vanity.” Latin is Vanitas Vanitatum. Here is the concluding stanza of a long poem of mine with the same name.

[[“Vanitas Vanitatum - vanity and futility.

We have laid out here wisdom, and the state of the world we know.

There is a distinct difference between wisdom and folly.

The world pursues both folly and vanity; in strength they grow.

Men are chasing after the wind for they reject righteousness.

Vanitas Vanitatum! All is vanity - man’s own choice.

Let us choose the path of wisdom found in the bible alone;

Reject folly and embrace righteousness. Then you will rejoice.”]]

The world is full of vanity and artificial people. A friend of mine has a friend who told her that she has thousands of friends, those who follow her on Facebook. When it all boils down, those thousands do not know her; they are simply subscribed and don’t really care. The are not friends. Personally I think the Internet (and especially phones) are responsible for the collapse in personal one to one communications and personal, true friendships.

Nothing is more artificial than many of our politicians, those who live false lives and promote conscienceless politics. We can see right through their lives but they are not even aware of the fact.

When I was about 16 or something in the late 1950s in Brisbane, Australia, I came upon a street vendor in full voice selling these remarkable watches. These were “genuine watches” and he was selling them for 5 or 10 shillings which was a sizable amount then. They were glitzy ones, and as most artificial things do, they had a certain appeal. Well I actually bought one and later took it to a watchmaker. It was so fake and useless. It was as nothing.