The World At Armchair’s Reach
The grass is always greener if you just block out the dirt.
All of a sudden everything became crystal clear: the openings were obvious, the errors were evident, and the answers were available. Of course, nothing about me changed in the 10 seconds it took me to jog off the court of those high school basketball games, exchange high-5’s with my teammates, grab a cup of water, and sit down — my crossover didn’t get any better, my jumper didn’t become any more accurate, nor did I magically master my defense; yet, everything abruptly became noticeable and digestible from my new vantage point. Of course, this situation isn’t unique to those on the court or field, as sports fans across the world regularly operate in a similar scenario when they — with one hand on a bag of chips and the other on a Bud Heavy — scream, curse, and insult those on their TV screens. The moral of the story is simple: it’s easy to play quarterback, point guard, and pitcher when watching from the safety of the sidelines or sinking into a comfortable couch.
“It’s so hard when you look at the rest of the world, and you see these horrific conditions, and you see warlords in power, and you see atrocities being committed, and we’re sitting over here…in The Valley, watching it on internet, and drinking Starbucks.” - Joe Rogan describing the disconnect between Americans and the rest of the world.
Although the armchair quarterback scenario is the most famous, people of all different fields and backgrounds have described this principle in their own words. For example, ultimate frisbee players use the phrase, “everybody is a hero down-wind.”; whereas, former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt utilized his famous Man In the Arena analogy to describe that, “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better…[but] the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood." Regardless of what phrases, words, noises, or gestures you use, the focal point remains the same: perspective. It is perspective that distinguishes how a punch looks from a ringside seat vs. how it looks from the canvas, it is perspective that differentiates the enemy from the hero of a narrative, and it is perspective that discerns how we view chaotic and catastrophic headlines through a screen vs. how we react to poverty, starvation, and warfare when they appear directly before our eyes. In each of these examples, perspective seems to be driven by information and location, both of which can be conjoined into one major factor: environment.
“It was like nothing I ever heard or experienced before…because I was watching the whole thing through this tiny little screen on my camera, it felt like I wasn’t, you know, in as much danger as they were. And I was so afraid…[but] the adrenaline runs out after a while, and you just become numb.” - Ben Anderson recalling his experience with U.S. Marines during a Taliban ambush.
For example, in the case of the ringside spectator, it may appear obvious that the opponent is exhibiting a given movement pattern, or that a certain punch is on its way; however, all of this may appear much less recognizable to the boxer that is actually in the fight. The spectator is literally receiving different visual information due to their location relative to the puncher; consequently, their perspective and understanding of the fight are biased by their local environment. This framework becomes more obvious when viewed through the lens of global catastrophes, such as refugee crises, natural disasters, and warfare, of which our opinions are dependent upon our environment. For example, your opinion of a given conflict may vary if you are comfortably spectating at a safe 6,000-mile distance, as compared to if you were witnessing the suffering and destruction in your own backyard — it’s a different story when the punch you’re watching is coming for your jaw. In this regard, war correspondents, such as Ben Anderson, intimately understand the relationship between environment and perspective, as they have experienced it at the most minute scales where the protection of a 6-inch camera entirely alters one’s perception of a firefight. In addition, they understand the real-life repercussions that can occur when glamorous First-World environments obscure perspectives of conflicts on distant lands.
“In Syria, it could be 800,000 dead…Do people really think [about] what that means? What does 800,000 dead actually mean?” - Anderson addressing the inability of citizens in First World nations to genuinely comprehend catastrophes across the globe.
During his appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Anderson described these repercussions through experiences reporting on humanitarian crises and military conflicts in places like The Republic of the Congo, Yemen, and Iraq, where he witnessed starving children, shattered infrastructures, local nurses pleading for ceasefires, and more. In addition to the latter’s stories from his work around the globe, Anderson and Rogan discuss PTSD, MDMA, and the disconnect that war correspondents, soldiers, and humanitarians feel when returning to life in First-World countries. Regardless of your political affiliation, moral tenets, or understanding of global affairs, you can use this episode of the JRE to spark your own conversation and explore how your environment is affecting your perspective in all things. What games are you playing in today, and what games are worth leaving the bench for tomorrow?
“When I was a kid, as soon as I started reading about these situations...I remember thinking, how is this not front-page news? How is everyone not talking about this every single day?” - Anderson questioning the priorities of modern media and its consumers.