Idiocracy

I went to the video store last weekend to rent some movies. I still like the act of going to the video store. There’s something tangible and definitive about the experience. Last weekend I rented the movie “Idiocracy”. The concept here is that an average guy from our time is frozen and 500 years in the future, when thawed, he is now the smartest human alive:

"As the 21st century began, human evolution was at a turning point. Natural selection, a process which had once favored the noblest traits of man, now began to favor different traits. Most science fiction of the day predicted a future that was more civilized and more intelligent. But as time went on, things seemed to be heading in the opposite direction. Evolution does not necessarily reward intelligence. With no natural predators to thin the herd it began to reward those who reproduced the most and left the intelligent to become an endangered species. The years passed, mankind became stupider at a frightening rate. Some had high hopes that genetic engineering would correct this trend in evolution, but sadly the greatest minds and resources were focused on conquering hair loss and prolonging erections.”

One of the cornerstones of this movie is how the idiots of the future speak. The words they use don’t really have any meaning attached to them. The only way these people communicate is with vulgarity or random words that are only vaguely understandable based on the context in which they are being used. People don’t actually know what they mean, but the language is contextual so their general meaning is still conveyed.

Doctor: "Well, I don't wanna sound like a dick or nothin', but, uh, it says on your chart that you're bleeped up. Uh, you talk like a fag, and your shit's all retarded. What I do is just like, like, you know... like, you know what I mean?”

Although I consider it an undeniable fact that we are getting dumber as a result of our breeding patterns, it is the issue of language that concerns me most. You see, we are already there. Our language has already become one of interpretive relativism and contextualization. We are at the point where people don’t actually understand each other. They base their entire ability to communicate on the context they are in. At McDonald’s, they just assume that the other person is talking about fries because the word they used only has one syllable and they are at a McDonald’s and they are currently speaking with a mouthful of fries. Therefore they probably mean “fries”. It’s actually getting to the point where it doesn’t matter what is said, it matters what you mean. How often have you heard someone whose language is being corrected angrily say: “Well you know what I mean!” Yes. I do know what you mean. But that’s not what you said.

It’s not okay to be wrong.

Don’t give me that crap about language being mutable. Words have meaning... specific, defined meaning. That’s what dictionaries are for. If we subscribe to the belief that it’s okay to use whatever words we want in whatever order we want to use them in regardless of their actual literal meaning we’re doomed. And we are. I mean, do I even need to say this? I can't beleive I am actually arguing that words should have, you know... meaning. Watch MTV on a Saturday afternoon or just pay attention to conversations you hear on the street. For that matter, just listen to our President. He’s the fucking President! He’s the best we have to offer the freedom loving peoples of the world. In fact the President from the movie (President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho, porn star and champion wrestler) is more articulate than our current President. If the things these people say were put into written form and removed from context, they would make no sense. No one would be able to understand them.

It’s biblical. We live in Babylon. Our language has become confused and it will rain sulfur upon our cities. Yes. It will rain sulfur. But not from the fiery hand of a vengeful God. It will rain sulfur because a night watchman at the chemical storage company will release a toxic cloud of gas into the atmosphere resulting from his attempt increase the power of the break-room microwave by wiring it to the coolant system so that he can cook burritos faster.