“Today I know that all things are watching, that nothing goes unseen, that even wallpaper has a better memory than human beings.”
― Günter Grass, The Tin Drum
Can’t you see it? Can’t you feel it? Can’t you hear it? It surrounds us, the exaltation of childishness. Welcome to the anti-adulthood society, where one is conditioned to remain in a state of permanent need of mental urgent care.
The irresistible pull of instant gratification and the comforting echo of our own biases—everything is carefully crafted to soothe the mind and anesthetize the heart. As if, to live, one must avoid oneself. We are slipping into a world sanitized of objectionable thoughts and transgressions.
Constantly lulled by entertainment, we turn away from introspection. Only curated perceptions seem to matter. Life has become unbearable without constant distractions and 24/7 evasions. Meditation studios multiply not to foster self-reflection, but because we are increasingly discouraged from staring into ourselves, from being still, from finding peace in silent rooms. As Montaigne said: “The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.”
As technological progress advances, revolutionizing medicine and simplifying daily tasks, it also transforms not just how we live, but how we perceive life itself.
You don’t have to be a reactionary to see that we are becoming increasingly averse to challenges—whether physical or emotional. Even journalists have caught on. They’re no longer tasked with presenting facts and information as they are, but with making them as digestible as possible. Adults are treated like capricious children.
It’s not that the men and women of the past were superior, nor that life in the Middle Ages was more attractive, but we must admit that the hypermodern adult of the 21st century bears an unsettling resemblance to a newborn—constantly in need of soothing distractions, endlessly waiting for the next source of comfort.
The rise of therapeutic businesses, mental health apps that monitor our emotional states, and the shift from substances that once fueled destructive impulses to pacifying ones like marijuana—makes me wonder, what would Sigmund Freud have made of this?
What are we becoming? It’s hard to say. But one thing is certain: "suffering" and "pain" have taken on new meanings, perhaps even more intense than Dostoevsky’s vivid depictions of agony.
In a world where people are increasingly detached, disconnected, and alienated, when real suffering confronts them, they find themselves unprepared to face it, often spiraling into confusion or total madness.
It is, perhaps, the first time in human history that we have achieved such remarkable progress—not only meeting our basic needs but also offering unprecedented comfort. Yet, paradoxically, this very superficial comfort may be leading us toward our devolution.
Pervasive progressivist ideology reduces freedom to a limitless but narrow range of choice, i.e. perpetual adolescence, where true freedom requires the embrace of limits, e.g. commitments made & promises kept, the obligations that bind us in honor & faith, i.e. maturity. The question is, whose interests are served by promoting the former and suppressing the latter?
Appreciate your work. You might take a look at this ancient book "Culture of Complaint." Touches upon the same themes...
Regards
https://www.beyondintractability.org/bksum/hughes-culture