Lately I’ve been fascinated with the ability of fellow human beings and I to forget. I don’t mean a simple forgetting of the location of the ever-elusive car keys, either. I brought it up in a few posts in the last couple months in various ways, but I’d like to simply focus on it for once and see what other people think.

The forgetful tendency I’m talking about is what allows us to forget that the state of the world hasn’t always been what it is today, it won’t remain this way, and it doesn’t have to get worse. At the most inopportune times, we forget reality and fall prey to being manipulated by false information. We forget the significance of what is happening in the present, why it is happening, and even why it is important not to let these things slip from our mind.

Recently I had to interview my grandparents about how they grew up. During the interviews I found myself shocked at all the changes that have happened in the last 60 years. I was more shocked at how very little I think of it in the course of my life. Even though I know how they lived, hearing about it was still like a new experience. I know that the television isn’t gain popularity until the 1950’s, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is commonplace to see a household with 3 televisions. So many of the things we do now we take for granted. We don’t realize that things change as much as they do.

I mentioned in an earlier post about our tendency to sugar coat the past for future consumption. Some people feel these lies and omissions to be essential in bringing up loyal, productive, and conforming citizens. We profess the importance of learning from our past while giving the masses only the information that is felt to be important while leaving out anything considered to be too liberal, harsh, or radical in our past unless in has worked in the favor of our country. In the end, it is like hiring an accountant and only giving him the numbers you want him to see. The result looks nice on paper, but it is neither accurate nor useful. I don’t think the process is always direct. The revisions happen through various counsels and from the textbook selection process that out the undesirables.

I then brought this up again after reading Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell. In that book, in case you have read neither my amateur review nor the actual book, history is constantly being brought up to speed with the present. If something is said in the past the contradicts the way the present is, there are revisions to be made at the Ministry of Truth, which is, by the terms of doublethink, a branch of the government that deals in lies, propaganda, and such. It is evident in our own society as well is a lesser degree. Our country doesn’t need to change every detail of the past, it merely needs to change the way they currently talk about the past. Regardless of a wealth of knowledge that still exists, few people actually take the time to look at it. Therefore, you see the trend that people tend to believe what they are told whether or not it is true.

The Schiavo controversy is the result of the forgetfulness I’m talking about. I’ve changed my position recently on the case of Terri Schiavo several times. I became frustrated with the conflicting information I was receiving from the opposing sides. Initially I heard she was in a coma, then I heard a vegetative state, and I heard many people questioning whether she was brain-dead or not. I read up on it a bit and realized that I was falling prey to the proponents of ignorance. I’m not calling anyone stupid, but I’m definitely commenting on the ability of people to ignore facts and listen to whatever people tell them. I did it, and I don’t usually consider myself unintelligent.

I felt rather stupid as I read about the facts of Terri Schiavo’s condition, though. I was always sure that pulling the tube out was as humane as making her live. I think that as a parent Terri’s condition would be very heart wrenching. But I’m not her parent and I don’t look at Terri and see my daughter. It is my position that with or without the feeding tube, Terri is starving to death. Her higher brain functions are inoperative. She cannot process information; she will never make another decision for herself. She will never act like the old Terri, nor does she remember being different than she is. In fact, there is no memory. She is most likely not aware of her self. The part of her brain that houses the things that make us sentient, aware, and represent the things we think of as human are no longer active. What are active are her lower brain functions, which accounts for the blinking, smiling, the tears, and so on.

Yet, because she blinks and she looks like she’s frowning and smiling at people we can be deceived by anyone who comes along. I want to say that I do believe Terri deserves to live. We all deserve to live after those nine months in a womb, but living is more than breathing. Terri has been starving to death since she went into a coma. Not physically, but in terms of what we think we need to live. Terri will never do anything at all that you associate with being alive aside from her body functions. The emotional pleas of the parents are touching, but if they would be honest with themselves, the parents would realize that they aren’t looking out for Terri, but attempting to assuage the guilt they have over not being able to help their daughter to get better, now and before she went into a coma. I think that no one should have to go through what her parents want her to go through.

But yes, I found myself flipping and flopping like a politician. Forget that scores of doctors agree that her condition is hopeless. I was swayed by people who have no idea of the reality of her situation. Lawyers and politicians with no medical backgrounds, with no contact at all with the situation other than the news and word of mouth are not people to take at face value. Terri has been examined by more doctors than most people see in their lifetime and the ones that weren’t hired by the lawyers agree with each other. I’m not trying to advocate taking the word of authority as truth, but if you can read an MRI, I’m sure you could double check the results.

Everyday we are being pushed and pulled by the same sorts of arguments. We forget to question the motives of people in authority. We know that the media has motives. They need to get ratings just like any one else. They need to attract attention to whatever is deemed important. The media isn’t bad in itself, but it isn’t hard to imagine why it has became what it is today. It was bent, shaped, and prodded until it is what you see now. That is the influence of advertising, government, and corporations. They show you what they want you to see, and what they think you want to keep tuning in to see. Like high profile court cases, missing children, and special interest stories that make the news seem like the Lifetime Network.

In the end, though, the result is disinterest. We’ve heard it all before so now we can ignore what happens next. Don’t worry about dealing with problems because these problems have been around forever. No need to talk about them because it’s commonplace.

But there is a need, my friends, because once we let things out of focus they become subject to the manipulation that comes with sugar coating the past and pretending that things have always been bad, will always stay the same, and can never get significantly better. We let the human condition degrade and stay the same all because of our forgetfulness. If only we had a better memory….