Growing Tired of This Yet?

Growing tired of something - or someone - means we've had it. We'd prefer it or they just go away, leave us alone.

This "getting tired" can be the result of our intellect, or our emotions, or both. As is the general way of human beings, both is more common. 

Sometime emotions take the lead. In that case, it can be something not particularly rational. Boredom can fit the bill here. And in our current age, it seems that many of us are easily bored. We're hooked into media that flows images and sounds into our eyes and ears. And we want something new, something fresh all the time. Otherwise, we get bored. 

How else explain the proliferation of Instagram, Tik-Tok, even Youtube where folks constantly put up "content" (whatever that might mean). To be "successful" in these media, you need content, and it's got to be constant. Can't sit on your laurels, even when something goes "viral." A new day arrives and...well, whatta you got for me? Nothing? OK. Time to move on and find my fix somewhere else.

Doesn't this seem dysfunctional? No? Well, good luck with that. But if yes, then maybe there's at least a hair's breath of sanity left. As for the No contingent, they'll look perfectly normal to most of us these days. It's a good example of how the insane can magically morph into what looks quite sane and reasonable.

One more example: music. It's been "dysfunctioned" by streaming services. Can you see this?

Back in the day, folks bought albums. They intentionally carved out time to listen - to the whole thing. The album was put together to provide a dedicated chunk creative, artistic input. Listening brought some concentrated experience whether calming or stimulating, thought-provoking or simply pleasurable. 

Is this how we take in streaming music? Isn't it more like what we used to call "elevator music"? This was stuff created by a company called Muzak that would drone in elevators. No one really paid any attention to it. It was just part of the sound of zipping from one floor to another.

At least that's one man's view of what streaming has done to music - for the most part.

But let's get to something more specific, the original intent of this post. It's got to do with stuff that some of us may very well be getting tired of - to say the least.

Here's a fresh addition: The recent announcement of "Economic D-Day" for Iran and its backers by you-know-who. Now, if this strategy - whatever the specifics - lead to an end to conflict, well, we must rejoice, right? But let's set that aside for a moment.

What's tiring is the hyperbole. And it's only the most recent hyperbolic declaration from the Big Orange Guy whom we might now dub King of Hyperbole. For the readers embued with "literate lite" out their, hyperbole means exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally.

Of course, if confronted, we suspect we'd be told this "Economic D-Day" is intended to be taken literally. Fair enough. Time will tell. But when reminded of that previous plan to obliterate Iran's thousands of years of "civilization" or the firm commitment to a "short" war (weeks, perhaps a month or two, but certainly now these last six months), or the statement that the Strait of Hormuz was filled with ships flowing through it (remember that one?), it does tend to fall into a pattern, doesn't it?

Okay, we'll stop picking on the current gang in the White House, for those of you who remain devoted followers. Instead, let's turn to AI.

As most of us know, it's not the most popular topic amongst many younger folks. Didn't take them long to not simply grow tired of hearing how it was going to "tranform" their lives, but to turn on AI with great hostility. Was this a first crack in the armor of the grand AI story? Perhaps.

Then again, if we're all feeling a bit tired of hearing about all the trumpets blaring about AI, the comparisons to the dramatic change wrought by the Industrial Age, or the technological revolution brought about by the railroads in the 19th century, or tech in the 20th, that may be hint of something greater: that the whole AI push will prove to be a BIG DUD.

Without the knowledge necessary to parse through this view, not gaining some momentum, all we can say is that if there's a grain of truth in it, it might be one reason that the feeling of growing tired of the constant feed from virtually every media source about how the world as we know it will change dramatically - and for the better - for all of us.

Again, time will tell, but if the doubters are on to something here, it won't take much time before the truth emerges.

Until it does, like any story beaten to death for weeks, months, on end, don't be surprised at the feeling of simply growing tired of hearing it. 

Meanwhile, the Beatle's John Lennon captured some of this feeling particularly well .