Background Noise

The human body is an amazing machine. Take the nervous system for example. The nervous system is our lifeline to the world we inhabit. It is constantly communicating within us - very often in ways we are not even conscious of. Our nervous system is also incredibly dynamic. Our sensory system--which provides us our sense of taste and touch, light and sound--is hardly static. Long enough exposure to a given stimulus causes many sensory systems in our body to undergo what is called 'receptor adaptation'. Our senses adapt to the information our body is constantly receiving in order to tune our senses onto the differences. When it comes to survival, it is often those differences, those changes in the environment, that are must critical to be aware of.

But I wonder, can we not undergo the same process mentally? Our minds are bombarded with loads of information: emotions, desires, fears, doubts. If our bodies tune out the background noise in order to be more sensitive to our surroundings, is it not equally valid to tune out the background noise in our minds?

The world is a shitty place for many people. Thousands die of simple, curable diseases every day; children starve, women are sold into sexual slavery, fathers fight and die for the greed of others. The information age has brought hell into our family rooms, onto our computer screens. Those of us living in our comfort are swamped daily by the barrage of pain the rest of the world experiences. It can get overbearing, it has for me.

If I decide to shut it out, and try to live my life, will I let the human race down? More importantly, will I let God down? The pain and the guilt--nothing more than the luck of being born in the right place at the right time--tears my soul apart sometimes. I don't want to turn a blind eye to the world, but at the same time I don't want to be disabled by it.

Perhaps I should take a page out of evolution's playbook.