Warm snow, hoar frost and ice... REALLY? Not.

Heat map of snow, frost and ice on Bassett Creek

The picture above of Bassett Creek was modified utilizing a "heat map" feature in Picnik, a recent addition to Picasa's photo software. It was snapped at subzero temps.  You can see this picture in it's original format in yesterday's blog. Isn't it amazing how warm it looks?  Kind of frightening how things can be so radically distorted with a simple click of a button.    

The digital revolution has simplified methods to distorted or "digitally enhance" subjects.  One sad example of this occurred recently when an Indian actor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, had her skin tone lighten for the cover of Elle Magazine. Change.org is leading an awareness campaign about this racially related alteration. They've already had 50,000 signers to request an apology from Elle Magazine.

Painters have enhanced their subject matter for centuries. However with paintings we commonly perceive them to have a subjective quality, were we expect artistic freedom.  We haven't expected this same degree of freedom from photographers.

Certainly pictures aren't the only thing who's reality is suspect. I've long questioned the authenticity of many/most television shows and movies.  "Reality television" is about as fake as fake can be.  At least with movies coming from Hollywood, we knew what to expect; most often glamorized fiction of some sort.

Discerning what is "real" has become a difficult task.  Don't believe everything you read, hear or see!

Electronic construction of reality

I was thinking... dangerous I know... about an existential question, that being "what is real?" I've always believed that "reality television" is anything but. It appears to be staged with beautiful people in contrived situations and carefully constructed outcomes. Pretty bogus, right?

Then I got to thinking about perception being reality. So, if we have viewers who actually watch and believe these shows, doesn't that then become their "reality", as disturbing a thought as that might be?

So much of what we now see on the Internet and commercial television is staged, photo shopped images, and edited to be quick, easy and sexy. This is not at all like most of our realities, which can seem by comparison boring, difficult and mundane.

In nature there is a slow progression of seasons. As any farmer knows, one can't expect to harvest a thing without the considerable work involved in preparing the soil, sowing the seeds, tending to the plants, weeding and harvesting. Without steady commitment and often tedious work, a harvest simply will not come.

It seems we're now living in an artificially constructed world of quick and easy, filled with flash and get rich quick promises. This simply seems out of rhythm with the natural order. While it might be a new "reality" for many, the sustainability of this beguiling electronically reality seems suspect. I bet nature will win out in the long run.