--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <vajradhatu@...> wrote: > > > On May 6, 2012, at 9:58 AM, Susan wrote: > > > > Yep. The increasingly sedentary lifestyle since the 60's we can probably > > > vouch for ourselves, being raised in the generations that went from kids > > > playing in yards after school and on weekends to cable cartoons after > > > school and Saturday morning cartoons. Scouting around neighborhoods > > > today, you see few children ever outside, despite neighborhoods filled > > > with kids. Of course video games, computers (and computers in cell > > > phones) and the web has just accelerated these inwardly-drawn, > > > self-absorbed dweebs, fed on commercials and TV and their "inner" lives. > > > > I see today's kids are having lots of connections with others, but not face > > to face. I think they have too many connections and too much input and are > > stressed greatly by all the different expectations of the different people. > > Probably better for young people to have just the number of connections and > > interactions you could have face to face and in real life. These kids are > > the transition from the old style to the new, and our systems have not > > grown to be able to handle it - yet. > > Maine has a good number of lower income families, so an interesting piece of > this puzzle is that there are still generations here who grow up living and > playing and hunting outside simply because their parents don't have the money > to hook them to the web or whatever. But - all Maine 7th graders in Maine get > an Apple laptop, have for years. This way you make sure the poorer families > don't become part of a technological underclass. > > > > > > > There's some speculation that in response to these changes a transitional > > > being may be being born. These are the numerous, many probably as yet > > > unknown, levels of the autistic spectrum child. > > > > Do you mean this in a spiritual way? If so, I doubt that. Altho I do think > > that our tech culture has allowed techy, introverted people who are mildly > > on the spectrum to thrive and marry and produce offspring who also are on > > the spectrum, only more so. So it is being passed down more these days. I > > bet that within a few decades, science will allow us to bolster and repair > > that part of the autistic spectrum brain that is different to the point of > > dysfunction. > > What I'm saying is if digital introspection is part of a disease process, > it's only natural that this could or would have a ripple effect for future > generations. If we pathologically dissociate from the world we live in, we'll > develop nervous systems that are modified accordingly. So this raises the > further question: people who spent large parts of their life meditatively > cultivating an introspective lifestyle, are there also negative adaptive > mechanisms that kick in there? Meditative texts are filled with lists of the > side effects of such meditations, what if there's something to them?
Re digital introspection - I wonder how long it takes for such brain changes to be established to the point they could be passed on to offspring. I would guess it will take a few generations for us to see the full (possibly horrid) impact of this major tech shift. A bunch of people who can't think deeply about anything? Who can't focus for more than a few seconds? Multi tasking is something I find annoying - in colleagues at work it is AWFUL. And I do it too, sometimes, and feel odd as a result. The tech revolution might also have some great effects, too. As to the consequences of spending so many hours with eyes closed? I never thought of that - someone should research that. Twenty minutes twice a day seems at worst benign and at best very beneficial; a full TM program every single day, year after year, who knows? > > > > > Vaj: But no one really knows what it all means. It makes me wonder IF > > pathologic introversion does cause this in humans, what does compulsive > > meditative introversion do to meditators children? Vedic Village of the > > Damned? :-) > > > > > > > Trying to raise children while having a demanding spiritual practice like > > TM/TM sidhis must be a challenge, unless you have the funds to hire loads > > of good help. And even then, the hours spent with eyes closed and not > > interacting with the kids, having time to hang out........ I would not call > > it compulsive meditative introversion - at least not for most Dome going > > parents. They were caught up in a bad dynamic - trying to be householders > > with children to raise while really devoting time to making a living and > > then doing their program (not a householder thing, really). There was a lot > > of pressure to make doing the program the top priority. For most, I hope > > that common sense trumped the expectation to do an extended full program > > twice a day. It did mean having to buck the system and what you thought MMY > > wanted you to do. Thinking back, there should have been special > > instructions for parents, special programs to acknowledge the time > > constraints, an honoring of their efforts to cut meditation short to spend > > time with the kids. From what I heard and saw, there were some who made a > > mess of caring for the kids. These days, are there young couples in > > Fairfield who have kids and go to the Domes? I think of the Domes as filled > > with mostly older people. > > Yeah it seems to be coming a geriatric crowd, supplemented by outsourced > Indians. >
