I just finished watching the George Clooney movie Up in the Air. It is the story of an isolated man who flies around the country firing people for a living. Both the writing and acting were good quality.

The dialog was insightful, but I think the overall theme is what made it interesting. While the movie obviously reflects on whether living in self-banishment can be fulfilling, I think the story is really a study in selfishness. We are shown selfish companies cutting their employees lose; selfish bosses who don’t have the heart to terminate their own staff; the selfish embrace of technology to dehumanize; a selfish man who lives in isolated luxury; a selfish woman who wants to live in two worlds; a young couple struggling with the idea of “till death due us part.” What’s surprising is this movie was normal. There was nothing shocking about the people or circumstances depicted. We all know, or are, these people. Just like with Percy’s novels, all this movie did was strip away the layers to hint at what is really going on.

This makes me wonder if our present-day consumer-obsessed culture of “me” is really the culmination of Western thought. Is our society going through a selfish phase, or is it hurtling along an immutable trajectory? God help us.

Tags: modernity, selfishness, Up in the Air

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I’m curious how Percy would respond to our current societal fascination with Facebook, Twitter and blogging in general. I suspect his reaction would be complex. This is a man who feared the demise of modern man, yet spent hours watching soap operas. Perhaps he enjoyed watching the train wreck.

I think our ability to broadcast our personal thoughts and life events has shrunk the world. It no longer matters if my friends are half the world away; we exchange life’s little moments in a way that reminds us that we are not alone. Yes, it is frivolous and pedestrian, but it is better than loneliness. Besides, most daily interactions rarely rise beyond this level.

Admittedly, it does seem like a poor substitute for actual face to face interaction, but it is better than allowing oneself to slip away altogether.

Tags: modernity, technology, writing

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Let’s get things started with a lecture.

Maybe this is a boring way to launch this site, but I recently stumbled across a lecture that ably describes the philosophical foundation of Walker Percy’s dire diagnosis of modern man.  By contrasting Percy’s Lost in the Cosmos with C.S. Lewis’s Abolition of Man, Professor Peter Kreeft reveals that Percy’s work reflects a world that refused to heed Lewis’s message.

Listen to this, and then we’ll get down to business.

Peter Kreeft – Lost in the Cosmos

Tags: C.S. Lewis, modernity, Peter Kreeft

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