Noise Pollution and The Celestine Prophecy
My stepdad is in the other room, watching some movie about a boat taken hostage and things being blown up, and honestly, I have never, ever heard him crank the volume up this loud. This isn’t just a phenomenon in my family; the only sound systems selling anymore are those specifically designed to be heard outside the four walls of a house, and send any sensible household pet running for cover. Is this noise craze simply an extension of our current obsession with violence, just another sensual element to increase the experience? What are we trying to drown out? Utne Reader did a special an issue ago about noise pollution; when I read it, it seemed like a bunch of whiny liberals (of which I am one, don’t get me wrong, but as that is my own nature I am particularly sensitive to the whining of others) trying to find something to get worked up about, but the more I’ve thought about it, the more it does seem like cause for concern. What strikes me most now is what I guess one would call the economic noise divide; that is, those without means suffer the greatest from the high concentration of noise in urban areas while those who can afford to move to areas with less concentration. I am positive that this kind of intense noise pollution contributes to the mental and physical health of those subjected to it.
Anyway, on to other things.
I finished The Celestine Prophecy today, a preposterous book with some veiled insight not nearly worth the time to finish the book. On a side note -- when the New Age craze hit, and all those authors in the late 80’s to late 90’s wrote their books, why were they all so hooked on the millennium? Reading those books now, as 2005 draws to a close, I can’t help but imagine both the authors of these books and their readers are disappointed by the lack of social and spiritual change they had anticipated.
Anyway. The Celestine Prophecies is about a man from America hunting for 9 Insights in Peru (which are meant to show the way to human spiritual evolution) while fighting violent resistance from the Peruvian government and church. Though the insights are indeed insightful, seemingly graceful propositions, the context in which their presented nearly spoils the entire message. Why does Redfield choose to wrap them up in a silly, strangely unfolding adventure novel when a much simpler approach would have easily sufficed? Even if the story were true (a detail which is neither resolutely confirmed nor denied anywhere within the book, soooo fiction), a book which simply detailed and laid out the ideas presented in the insights would’ve been so much easier to digest!
Grumbly grumbly grumbly, I know. I’m workin’ on it.
In better news, I got the Yoga Shatki DVD in the mail today and it is incredible – the scenery is incredible, the amazing posture matrix revolutionary, the poses are complex, it includes balance postures, pranayama exercises… I can’t wait to get through the whole thing!
Anyway, on to other things.
I finished The Celestine Prophecy today, a preposterous book with some veiled insight not nearly worth the time to finish the book. On a side note -- when the New Age craze hit, and all those authors in the late 80’s to late 90’s wrote their books, why were they all so hooked on the millennium? Reading those books now, as 2005 draws to a close, I can’t help but imagine both the authors of these books and their readers are disappointed by the lack of social and spiritual change they had anticipated.
Anyway. The Celestine Prophecies is about a man from America hunting for 9 Insights in Peru (which are meant to show the way to human spiritual evolution) while fighting violent resistance from the Peruvian government and church. Though the insights are indeed insightful, seemingly graceful propositions, the context in which their presented nearly spoils the entire message. Why does Redfield choose to wrap them up in a silly, strangely unfolding adventure novel when a much simpler approach would have easily sufficed? Even if the story were true (a detail which is neither resolutely confirmed nor denied anywhere within the book, soooo fiction), a book which simply detailed and laid out the ideas presented in the insights would’ve been so much easier to digest!
Grumbly grumbly grumbly, I know. I’m workin’ on it.
In better news, I got the Yoga Shatki DVD in the mail today and it is incredible – the scenery is incredible, the amazing posture matrix revolutionary, the poses are complex, it includes balance postures, pranayama exercises… I can’t wait to get through the whole thing!
posted by Ashley at 4:46 AM
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