EXPLORING THE UNIVERSE

Flow is a tool we can seek out to improve our lives. It is a mindset to help us boost productivity, conquer challenging tasks, and lean into our creativity. The promise of being able to turn off the outside world and turn on the most positive parts of our inner world is alluring and something to strive for. But as soon as we get too fixated on achieving these feelings, we might lose what flow is really about. 

If a tree falls down in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? How do you know? Taking it one step further, if you hear the tree hit the ground but don’t see it, why do you trust your sense of hearing? This might seem like a ridiculous question but the truth is that despite our total reliance on them, our senses deceive us all the time. We can’t truly know anything, but even what we think we know breaks down upon investigation.

In a previous Aperture episode, we looked at the mental health effects of TikTok. But it seems as though the self-inflicted risks directly linked to the app are more far-reaching and have greater consequences than we could have ever imagined. From health and safety to privacy and security, given the long list of problems that TikTok seems to pose to the general public, what do we do? What can we do? Can we “fix” TikTok? Or should we just ban the app entirely?

Dreams are confusing. Some people believe they can tell the future, others feel they are just a way for our brains to remember our past. Whatever you think about them, dreams shouldn’t be that confusing, right? I mean, after all, our brains are the ones creating them. So why are they also simultaneously being surprised, entertained, confused and scared by them? Like one half of your brain is creating a short film for the other half to watch.

Death can only be interpreted by people who are alive, yet since no one who is alive can simultaneously experience what it's like to be dead, who then does death actually concern? This logic is oddly reassuring. Even so, if my doctor were to call me up right now and tell me that I would die in 12 hours, I would still likely spend all that time in a state of debilitating fear and anxiety. Just thinking about this possibility makes me realize that whether I like it or not, death terrifies me right now, even as a person who is fortunate enough to be in good health.

Money. How does that word make you feel? Is it a rush of adrenaline, dollar signs running through your head like a slot machine? Perhaps you feel motivated, ready to send those work emails you’ve been putting off, or spend an extra hour writing that movie script that you’re certain will be a hit. But maybe you don’t feel so good when you hear that word. Maybe the mere mention of money causes your hands to go clammy, your heart rate to rise and your brain to start doing somersaults around all the ways in which you don’t have, need more, want more, money.