Our nation is about to have a nervous breakdown.
Not because of real problems. We've always had problems. Since the beginning of time we've had problems. Within ten seconds of humanity's existence we've had the same problems. Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."
We've always had corrupt politicians. We've always had violence. We've always had discord in politics. We've always had problems in our communities. There is nothing new under the sun.
Our nation is about to have a nervous breakdown because now, unlike other times in the past, we have a media machine whose sole purpose is to keep us whipped up into an emotional frenzy. News thrives on adrenalin and outrage. It thrives on conflict and insults and overreaction. It's the only way it can survive.
We have a structure in our brains known as the Reticular Activating System (RAS). It is the gatekeeper to everything that gets our attention. All day long our senses are bombarded with stimuli. Our senses are incredibly keen and they pick up everything. If every stimuli of sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell made it into our brains, we would shut down in a sobbing heap. Our brains can't handle it. Therefore, the RAS acts as a gatekeeper to keep most stimuli out. The things that the RAS allows into our brains are things that are 1) scary, 2) new, and 3) interesting.
Anything that doesn't match the RAS criteria doesn't make it into our conscience. As I am typing this, I am sitting in a chair. I haven't noticed the feel of the chair nor of my shoes nor of the feel of my jeans on my legs, even though technically I am "feeling" them. Why? Because my RAS has determined that those stimuli are not important and therefore don't need my attention. Same with a million other stimuli that happen every second.
Thus ends the biology lesson. Why am I talking about the RAS?
Because the news media knows about your RAS. They realize that there is a brutal, no-holds-barred, uncompromising gatekeeper/bouncer standing at the entrance of your brain that will weed out 98% of the stuff thrown at it. Because the news media NEEDS your attention, it has to get past your RAS.
Therefore, it taps into the first criteria the RAS looks for- it sends news stories your way that are SCARY.
If you notice, practically every news story that is thrown your way deals with the destruction of something that you hold dear. Whether it is a value you hold, an institution you value, a belief you have, or something else integral to your being, news stories are tailored to be threatening to the things you hold dear. Christians hear news stories of atheists trying to remove crosses and monuments of the ten commandments. Black Americans hear stories of white supremacists. Democrats hear stories of Republicans working to destroy their political agenda. Republicans hear stories of Democrats doing the same thing.
These stories are designed not to inform you or make your life better but simply to make it past your RAS into your conscience so it will get your attention. They don't particularly care what effect these stories have on the world, on our communities, on our relationships, or on us. They simply want to get into your conscience, so they will say whatever it takes to get past the RAS gatekeeper.
The news media NEEDS you to be perpetually outraged. It needs you to be perpetually scared. That's the only way it can exist. Normal stories of goodwill, normal stories of everyday life, normal stories of non-threatening news get stopped at the door of your conscience. No one would pay attention to those stories. Your biology won't allow you to notice them.
We must realize that the news media knows our biology better than we do. We don't realize we are being played for suckers by people who simply want their stories to lodge themselves in our brains. We aren't smart enough to realize that what we are reading and hearing isn't news because of some great happening or event; it is "news" because it is scary, new, or interesting.
So instead of giving us thought-provoking, wisdom-generating, beneficial stories, the news media gives us emotional one-sided threatening over-the-top overreaction sensationalism designed to keep you in a perpetual state of outrage, opening your RAS to everything it has to say.
Realize that this is what is going on. Realize the biological manipulation being played on you, people. The media understands your biology better than you do. They pay consultants that are experts on psychology millions of dollars to understand what will get your attention and what won't. The purpose of the news media is no longer to inform. It's purpose is to upset.
The news media also understands another thing about psychology and the human being.
Human beings are probably the most adaptable creatures on the planet. We can adapt to any environment, any place, any time. We can also adapt to stimuli. What used to threaten us simply becomes normal. What used to excite us becomes routine. What used to anger us becomes okay.
Because of this, what used to get past the RAS no longer does. So, the news media has to constantly find new outrages, new threats, and new hysteria to throw our way. What used to outrage people twenty years ago doesn't outrage us, so they have to give us new, stronger, and more dangerous stories to keep getting past our RAS into our conscience.
If this keeps up, our nation will have a nervous breakdown. We may be there already. We simply cannot live in a perpetual state of emotional frenzy. We weren't designed to. Something has to give. I'm calling the American people to wake up and realize what the news media is doing. Quit reacting. Quit thinking that the world is coming to an end. Quit thinking that somehow what is happening now is different than what has happened before. It's not.
The Bible says there is nothing new under the sun. That's very true. So stop acting like what we are dealing with is unprecedented. Chill out. Stop the emotional hysteria. Stop the name calling and the insulting and the fear and the paranoia. You're being played for fools by a media that understands your biology more than you do.
Instead let the peace of God rule in your heart.
Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Colossians 3:15 says, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."
Let the peace of God rule in your heart. He's got this. Stop with the perpetual outrage. Stop with the emotional overreactions. Stop letting the media keep you in a perpetual stew. Let the peace of God rule in your heart.
