Commentary: No Time to Think!
Two Second Sound Bites
#1349c
Martin G. Collins
Given 05-Nov-16; 8 minutes
description: (hide) Research suggests that, thanks to the media and to our digital lifestyle, human attention span has attenuated to a mere two seconds—much shorter than the attention span of a goldfish. Media, a major contributor to this deficit, shamelessly ruins the attention span further by running competing headlines and switching the camera focus every two seconds, further aggravating this communal attention deficit disorder. Manipulators in the state-controlled media attempt to hypnotize the citizenry to hate Donald Trump and love Hillary, pretending to explain complex situations by two or three second sound-bites, or in the case of the Presidential debates, two generous minutes per complex issue. The media dismisses core problems in favor of slogans, name-calling, and biased 'fact' checking. Hillary Clinton's "private-and-public-side" philosophy allows her to equivocate on every issue. Both candidates have ignored the fundamental cause of our nation's demise—namely that we have turned our back on Almighty God, with the American Supreme Court making the right to commit murder (abortion) and adultery (sodomy) the law of the land. As God's called-out ones, and ambassadors of an emergent Kingdom, we need to remove ourselves from the cacophony of the media matrix, reclaiming our thinking abilities, allowing God to sort things out according to His purpose.
transcript:
In his October 2016 newsletter, Strategic Intelligence, Jim Rickards points out the effects of a plague that is affecting this nation. He calls it the "Two Second Attention Span." He writes,
The next time you’re watching television, count silently to yourself every time the camera “cuts” to another scene. When you see the cut, think “one, two three…” until the next cut. What you’ll discover is that film and TV directors cut the image about every two seconds. That’s how attention spans are being conditioned.
Watch a Millennial or Gen Z member using her smart phone or other portable device. They’ll tap the screen for action or a new image about every two seconds. That’s the equivalent of a TV director cutting the scene just as frequently.
We’re overwhelmed with information and digital input. Our financial TV channels are no different. They’ll show you ten price tickers, a scrolling headline chryon, digital swooshes, sound effects, and live interviews all at once. It’s designed to totally absorb your senses while leaving you no time to think.
The result of all this cutting, clicking, and swooshing is pure entertainment (or hypnosis). It’s as far removed from serious analysis and long-term thinking as you can get. Market participants suffer from what I call “the plague of the two-second attention span.” Our culture seems to have lost the ability to view markets holistically and see powerful trends even when they’re staring us in the face.
During the current election process, which we have been forced to endure, the two-second rule has been used to deflect our attention from the real foundational issues, and causes us to focus on shallow surface disputes.
Using two-second sound bites we’ve been programmed to dislike Donald Trump more than to dislike Hillary Clinton. It’s not my purpose in this commentary to judge which one is the lesser of the evils, because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” However, there is something we should notice (as Christians) about the rhetoric of the presidential candidates, and in reality, all the candidates for leadership positions in the world. They don’t have a clue to the solution for this nation’s woes, or they purposely avoid stating the true problems facing this nation and by extension the world.
The real issue is the decadent character of the citizens and of their leadership. Generally, people have become so corrupt and immoral they can’t even recognize political liars, tramps, and thieves. If a presidential candidate were to express his or her concern about the morality of the people, he or she would not be tolerated for more than a moment in time. His or her candidacy would end before it even began.
It’s interesting and significant to notice that:
NONE have made the real core problems of the nation an issue.
No candidate has said we must change by keeping God’s commandments.
No candidate has said he or she will ban the abortive murder of our children.
No candidate has said we must stop killing one another.
No candidate has said he or she will help people to be more moral.
No candidate has said he or she will bring back decency and civility.
No candidate has said we must stop lying to one another.
...and the list goes on and on of the important things they neglect to mention or even bring up.
The people complain that the candidates don’t explain in detail specifically what they will do to (in the motto of Hillary Clinton) make us “Stronger Together,” or (in the motto of Donald Trump), “Make America Great Again.”
Compared to the two-second sound bites of election commercials, the presidential debate moderators gave the candidates a “generous” two minutes to explain their position on what he or she would do on any of the issues brought up if elected President. The questions were usually shallow and controversial for the purpose of raising TV ratings. And they were designed to shield one candidate and destroy the other.
How much detail can a candidate for the most powerful position on earth get into in two minutes? Did it really matter anyway since the people are used to two-second (not two-minute) sound bites? Even if a political candidate brought up the issue of morality, you can’t promote morality in two minutes, much less in two seconds. All we see in this world and its political system is chaos and confusion by design. We don’t know for sure what the candidates really think or what they would do if elected President.
According to Politico.com, “Hillary Clinton defended a private statement she made that politicians need to have ‘both a public and a private’ negotiating position.” In other words, they talk out of both sides of their mouths. So are you worried about who will win the election?
At this point, I ask that you close your eyes—take a deep breath—clear your mind, while maintaining control of it. Now that you have reset your mind, like rebooting a computer...
True Christians should know that "God is not the author of confusion but of peace.” Therefore, none of this political chaos has anything to do with our life in Christ, and we should have nothing to do with it. It is a matter of faith. So, why worry about it?
We must remember that our spiritual citizenship is in heaven and we are ambassadors for Christ; therefore, we are only observers. Our responsibility is to pray that God’s will will be done on earth as it in heaven. If you are not clear on whether a Christian should vote for one of the candidates, please read and study the last three Forerunner Bible Studies, titled, “Would Jesus Christ Vote?”
To have anything whatever to do with the politics of this present evil world, or in any man-made form of government that is doomed very soon to be destroyed and replaced by the benevolent government of the Kingdom of God, is not the responsibility of an ambassador of Christ. We are in the world but not of the world. Our mission—as advance emissaries of His Kingdom—is to give a true witness of God’s way of life and to warn the world of its predicament and present danger, and to proclaim to all nations the good news of the coming Kingdom of God.
In chapter 2 of the book of Daniel, Daniel reveals that the God of heaven “removes kings and raises up kings.” God is the one who takes care of that and does that. So if you vote for one candidate and God chooses the other, you vote against God, and we certainly want to avoid that situation. So, only cast your vote for the Sovereign God who sets up leaders and removes them according to His will. Let Him decide what and who is best for this nation and the world. He is the only One who can solve the world’s problems and make us “Stronger Together” and “Great Again.”
We know that the strength and greatness of a nation begins with the morality of its people who have a clear, reverential fear of God.
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