The Life Illusion

It was such a simpler time when the general population didn't have a smart phone fused to their faces, it's as if everyone is living their life with a virtual reality headset locked on to their heads. I believe we're literally wearing one from the second we leave the womb. Some people keep them on all their lives and others tear them off because they intuitively feel that something isn't quite right. 

Perceptions are being distorted and warped through addiction to social media and the "short attention span dopamine hit" it provides. This in turn messes with peoples ability to concentrate and really focus on the task at hand. Peoples realties are being shaped by the mindless rot that they're being overloaded with every time they look at their phone screen, watch the TV and read the scum media. Now more than ever I feel like I'm participating in what I call "The Life Illusion", it's hard to know what's real and what's artificial and designed to produce a specific emotional response. The emotional response that the masses radiate will influence government policy and tie us tighter into the slavery system we already live in.

The Life Illusion

One thing that's become very clear to me, when I'm out on the river, in the fields or working, the fake life online isn't anywhere to be seen, the influence it has is everywhere but the barrage of programming we're subjected to has no effect when you lay on the ground looking at the sky or watching the tides of the Thames lap at your feet. Everything that people are trying to achieve with followers, likes and subscribers holds absolutely no significants whatsoever all of that only exists when you give it your attention by switching you'r mobile phone signal on and start looking. Thinking about it in this capacity actually highlights how unimportant and irrelevant it all is, when I live my reality, I like to touch, see, hear and smell the universe as it functions perfectly around me. The only thing that stops the universe functioning with a perfect balance is human intervention.

I believe the plan for mankind is to exist within a synthetic, digital reality and that's one of the main reasons why it has been engineered to become a huge part of our lives. The covid bullshit actually demonstrated this perfectly, people were socialising through a computer screen and were pretty much existing solely in the 'meta-verse' as opposed to the universe. Now with micro chips being implanted into people to help with really difficult tasks like unlocking their front doors and paying for goods, the meshing of man and machine is growing ever closer. Lets us remember that we are becoming more and more reliant on technology to do the thinking for us - Digital Metal Detectors & Digital Fish Finders Anyone? what about asking Alexa on your computer or television about something? Think about it, you're actually talking to a synthetic A.I entity and thinking nothing of it. Can you imagine the conversations people might have in the future ..... Hey .. Do You Remember When We Use To Think?

Back in the 80's when I was growing up there was a sense of magic in the air, youth obviously had a lot to do with this but as I recall, pass times and hobbies weren't oversaturated and rinsed for everything they were worth. People just sort of 'did stuff' for the whole purpose of 'doing', when we built a tree house or made a rope swing we existed within the moment giving it our full attention. Yes ... these things are still done today but there's this incessant need to have to broadcast it to the world. Thinking about society right now, people are basically walking around shouting "LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME EVERYONE, I'M INTERESTING, TALENTED & AMAZING". Let us remember that if you're good at something people usually tell you, you don't go around telling them. 

Before the Internet you needed to have imagination, if you wanted to start up a hobby then it had to be an organic thought that was beamed down into your mind from the ether above. You were attracted to it for the process and "the art of doing", not for what you could get out of it regarding validation and praise. For instance, my dad had a wicked imagination and if it wasn't for him I would never of started metal detecting. One day out of the blue he mentioned to me that it might be interesting and it quickly progressed from there. I've mentioned it a few times in previous blogs but no one was swinging a machine where I grew up. It was unheard of and nearly everyone looked at you as though you were swinging a nuclear weapon. I wanted to find metal in the ground, I couldn't care less what people thought of me doing it or what I looked like. 

Back then machines were very much in their infancy, modern day detector wars didn't exist because, firstly there wasn't an open platform to voice opinions and secondly people were too busy getting out there swinging and enjoying themselves without the egotistical bullshit you get nowadays. Don't get me wrong, there's always twats in every walk of life but they didn't have the platform or voice to make themselves known to a wider audience. I remember when I got my first Fisher, I didn't care about how deep it was or if it unmasked well, I just wanted to get out there and start digging stuff and it didn't matter what that "stuff" was. Today it's really different and the defect deep within human nature has spread like a disease since the invention of the internet and mainly social media. For me personally social media has and is destroying the human condition and in the short time it has been with us there's no turning back from the tsunami of shit it's created.

Back Before The Ego Had Landed

Back when I started out there were millions upon millions of undetected acres concealing endless treasures and hoards, metal detecting was very much a fringe/weirdo thing to be doing. I think metal detectorists were looked upon in the same light as the guys sitting under their green umbrellas fishing in all weathers. They'd usually be perched on the edges of the local river banks waiting for a monster to bite, looking back everything seemed so innocent and people were participating in hobbies and pastimes for the love of it. 

Nowadays things are very different and I lay the blame at the hands of the human condition combined with the internet and social media, years ago only the people at the top of their profession would have a far reaching voice. Sometimes out of nepotism or because they excelled in their chosen career, it just doesn't work like that anymore. Social media has given everyone a platform to spout their bull shit and 9 times out of 10, what's being projected is solely ego driven. It's all about views, likes and subscribers, I see very little substance in anything around me. I'd like to add that not everyone is driven by this but it appears the vast majority are, and they far outweigh the minority that aren't. 

The Seeding Of Reality

Nowadays you don't have to have an original thought or come around to the idea of doing something yourself, now you simply log on to the internet and watch YouTube and then you make your decision based on what you're watching at the time. "Ohhhhh this guy has found a gold coin metal detecting, I'm going to do that as well and start my own YouTube channel", and so the cycle continues. Due to both ego and narcissism there are no secrets left, everyone is broadcasting their bollocks and instead of keeping a good thing quiet where 'said activity' can retain its credibility and peace, every single solitary point is broadcast and rinsed to death. This doesn't just happen with metal detecting, it's happening right across the board with everything.  

It's All That Matters

I saw the same thing happen with Carp Angling, instant anglers that had been fishing for 5 minutes suddenly became overnight experts and used their YouTube channels to get bait and tackle sponsorships where they were given a cheap packet of hooks and some cake mix as bait free of charge. Then they'd whore themselves for everything they were worth to sell this shit, all of a sudden a 20IB carp wasn't big enough, it had to be 30IB or 40IB otherwise no one was interested. Major strokes are now getting pulled on all waters to catch the biggest fish which in turn will give the "said twat" instant validation from a bunch of strangers on the internet and Facebook. It matters not relishing the journey, this now means nothing, people just want the end result with as little effort as possible to get to it. 

I'm An Instant Expert

Then the mob appeared, beautiful and picturesque waters were flooded with loads of instant anglers making videos, flying drones and broadcasting their actions. All these lakes with secret monster suddenly weren't secrets anymore. Clubs and private Syndicates now have 10 year waiting lists because everyone wants to be a professional 'carp fisherman' and stick a hook in the mouth of the prized and named fish. What other hobby can you sit on your fat fucking arse doing nothing for days with the chance of a massive ego boost in a shape of a big carp taking your bait? I've fished for carp for over 35 years and the ONLY reason I still do it is because I'm on a set of really hard lakes where you actually need to know what you're doing. Using metal detecting lingo, they aren't "group dig waters" they're very much "private permissions" loaded with huge iron on every swing.

Moving back to metal detecting and social media, realistic hunts don't seem to be desired by the viewer anymore. You have to be digging silver, gold, Roman and Saxon whilst swinging the latest overpriced digital detectors. All of the above combined sets you up as an expert who will notch up the likes and subscribers pretty quickly. Am I Being A Hypocrite? no I'm not, yes I make videos but I have very few subscribers, I mainly dig trash and I use a load of machines that literally no one gives a shit about. If I was in it for the ego bullshit both my channel and actions would be a lot different, basically I make videos that cut through the bull shit, using old and "outdated machines". Those two elements combined pretty much turn a YouTube channel into a digital tumble weed quickly because no one wants to watch it. Does This Bother Me? no it really doesn't, trying to be a YouTube celebrity isn't high on my agenda, actually it falls into the "fucking Sad" filing cabernet of my mind. 

I Promote Outdated Technology No-One Wants To Know About

When I first started digging an old coin was magic, it felt surreal and like a connection to past lives that once lived on the same earth as me. The thought of digging gold and silver, Roman or Saxon was just a dream. If you were lucky enough to find any of the above then there really was no other feeling like it. Nowadays it's actually expected and if people go to Rallies and Group Digs and don't come away with any of what I've mentioned then they throw their proverbial toys out the pram. I can't believe beautiful historic items which hold so much history within in them have been demoted to both YouTube shorts and Tik Tok videos. The actual item appears to mean nothing BUT the attention you get from finding that item appears to be where it's at nowadays. It all falls back to the human condition and the ego that dwells within it.

So Where Are We At Now? 

The way I see it, we have an oversaturated and over-commercialised hobby full of instant experts, stroke pullers and glory seekers. Snuggled in-between them are the good people that actually want to do it for the right reasons. In regards to land and permissions .. GOOD LUCK !! due to the amount of people now taking to metal detecting, land is few and far between and farmers are sick to death of twats like us knocking on their doors asking if we can dig up their land. Due to the massive amount of new comers who don't understand the concept of digging plugs correctly and respecting the land that they're on by keeping everything tidy and taking all the rubbish they find home with them.  We find ourselves with way too many 'detectorists' and not enough land and in years to come due to group digs and rallies there won't be anything left to find anyway. It's exactly the same with carp fishing, there's too many so called "fisherman" and not enough waters or fish to go around.

These Are Gifts Not Givens

To Conclude

To be honest I don't actually know why I even started writing a blog with this type of subject matter, maybe I'm just moaning my arse off for no reason. But with everyday that passes I'm getting more and more disillusioned and disconnected with the world outside my window and the people living it. When I was a drummer being in bands and making music was my way of dealing with the everyday nothingness. Without that I find myself stranded in this kind of 'nowhere land' that makes everything feel totally out of synch. I try to escape through metal detecting but it just isn't the same, there's far too many idiots doing it. Music and drumming was a creative outlet, it was my life and it served my soul but it was something I had to walk away from. Now I just feel like a fucking fading voice slipping between the cracks of a dystopian, automated, non thinking world that's slowly melting away down the gutter, at this point I might just let myself slide down with it, the future just doesn't appear to be bright. 

Me & My Boy