Postmodern culture Pt 2

More thoughts on contemporary postmodern culture....

12. Spirituality is important, though remains undefined. Spirituality must not require commitment. Want experiences. usefulness of eastern religions, though superficial engagement with them.

13. Globalization – freedom to travel, immigrants, aspirations to see world, feel small

14, Media and information culture. Increased access to information via internet, but also information overload from massive number of sources. Lots of advertising, lots of ideas. "What can I do about it?" Massively literate culture.Visual, stories/values connected to that. Massive influence on people’s thinking. Speed. Image more important. Truth unclear. Emphasis on surface, appearance.

15. Experience – emphasis upon experiential confirmation. Feelings are key. We want to be moved. Aesthetics are very important i.e. beauty is truth. Importance of art, poetry, story. Reaction to the scientific – seen as cold, remote and not solving humanity's problems.

16. Socially mobile – old differences not so marked, though new differences emerging in relation to urban poor and socially disenfranchised.

17. Consumer culture – choice is key. Self-realization through buying. Lifestyle, identity connected to things. Leads to a culture of debt – debt is big issue. View myself as customer who can make demands. If not like sth else can go somewhere else.

18. Emphasis on the now, present – present is an ever shorter period of time. Fashions, vogues pass very quickly. Ideas need to be manufactured.

19. Strong pragmatic bent – relevance is key to everything! Listen and do things not cos of tradition or cos think should, but cos seems relevant. Truth is demonstrated pragmatically.

20. Scepticism about language – language has no real meaning in and of itself and can easily be a mask to hide the truth. Words are superficial, they must be demonstrated in action.