Violence In Our Culture

Click this for beautiful instant background music by John McLaughlin

Comment From A Conscientious Brain Explorer

"Neil, I just wanted to pass along my sincere and most humble condolences. We feel the grief and the anguish of Littleton, but we are much more removed than you are.

I know you must be feeling it to the nth degree. All my compassion, positive thoughts, and prayers go out to you and to your community.

Sincerely, C. L. Anderson


Neil Responds:

I pass your sympathies along to all of those who are suffering from the pain of loss from senseless violence, not only in Littleton, but everywhere. (My frontal lobes have protected me from any personal emotional drain in this instance.) However, routine slaughter occurs daily across the globe. Pure cold blooded emotionless reptilian brain destructive energy. This week, it was in our backyard.

Yet, every hour of every day across America, people are killed in violent fashion, in stores, in their homes, on the street, everywhere. The other day was different in that the kids with guns have become more efficient. Yes it is horrible. But it is nothing very new. It is just more reptile brain rage, concentrated like a magnifying glass on a single focused spot.

Every hour on television, in every movie theatre, on records and rap CD's, Americans more than any other nation, bathes itself in images of violence as entertainment. Life imitates art. This should come as no surprise.

Although obviously most everyone who views graphic images of violent human behavior will not imitate it, an almost insignificant percentage will take the ideas and images of violence to heart, and act on it, and create next week's headlines. As a society, we accept violence, and as time passes, we further perfect methods of graphically displaying it. Years ago, this was not the case. But like a drug addict that needs a bigger fix, our cultural appetite for more detailed and prolonged depiction of graphic violence has risen over recent decades.

And the excuse/rationalization is: "It helps to tell a story and make a point, it doesn't hurt. It's good when done well."

We accept it, long for it, create it for profit. Violence in news and entertainment thrills us and livens up bored to death dormant brains. It's a great diversion.

Enlightened beings know this, and have for millennia: Active and happy creative brains keep their exposure to violence, representational or not, to a minimum, and maintain inner peace of mind. Deliberate and unecessary mental stimulation from violence disrupts peace of mind and clarity of thought. One needs to be careful about what goes into the swimming pool of the mind.

The homicide rate in the U.S. (primarily from handguns) is hundreds of times higher than in any nation on Earth. I believe this is a result of the combination of constant media content and exposure, the easy availability and the relentless profitable manufacturing of handguns in this country that allows any kid to get his hands on a weapon from either the closet in the hall or the dealer in the alley (Guns don't kill people. People with guns kill people.), and the lack of self-control and respect for others that is a part of our society. America is a wilder West than it has ever been. Whooopeee!

Within a couple of weeks, the furor will settle down after Columbine High School. Life will return to normal for most of us.

With a few months, we will hear about the next public massacre.

Not until it becomes fashionable in our entire society to use our CREATIVE/COOPERATIVE frontal lobes, instead of continuing to perpetually dwell in our KILL/GREED/EGO reptile brain, will things change.

It's up to you and YOUR Brain Revolution.


Life is suffering. And it is unavoidable. So have said the sages from thousands of years ago. It is as true today as it has ever been.

In many cases we can lessen our suffering as humans by applying all the resources we have of compassion, intelligence, intuition, and logic. By such use of our minds we can often completely avoid suffering and live in great happiness and satisfaction. Yet, in other cases, we cannot, such is our state of humanity and evolution. "Bad" things do happen to "good" people. Or so it seems.

The universe is made of contrasting forces, yin and yang, in all it's ten trillion trillion manifestations. You cannot have one without the other. Black exists solely on the basis of white. Chaos must exist alongside order.

Frequently it is exactly this contrasting of forms that allows us to make the distinction of one from the other. And in this way, as painful as it may be, we are led, sometimes screaming, to greater awareness. Eventually our species we may avoid self manufactured horror. For now, Earth is School.

As we witness tragedy as we have seen in these past few weeks, locally and globally, we are forced to question the nature of reality, and are likely perplexed by the insistence of chaos in our world as innocent people are victimized by circumstances beyond their control. Although we may try to use as much of our intellect, and cooperative intelligence, and love as possible, we are all eventually caught in the storm at some point. Our best course of action is to aid those in need of help in what ways we can, while at the same time growing from the experience.

Eventually, we all meet the same fate, and life and death are inseparable. The molecules of every individual, every planet, every solar system, and every universe will disintegrate and vanish.

It is a wonder it all ever existed at all.

- Neil

Back to The Library From Another Dimension
Back to Neil Slade's AMAZING Brain Music Adventure