There is a theory that Humans are prescient, that we all have an instinctual sense of the future.
Many animals have the same sense – birds, fish, sharks, and insects all demonstrably alter their behavior, ahead of the planet expressing herself in the form of an earthquake, volcano or tsunami.
Animals have this sense unfiltered, because animals always live in the present moment, close to nature, without the distraction of smartphones and laundry lists. Yet, we all know what is coming in our gut, deep down. Personally, I have been working on developing my intuition. I’ve woken up many times with a specific feeling that something negative was going to happen that day, which proved correct. I also sometimes have prophetic dreams, regarding rooms that I’ll find myself in, objects I’ll be holding, and sometimes… once in a while… I’ll glimpse a future world event. Everyone will have their own way of accessing their prescience.

Since most Humans aren’t consciously developing intuition or prescience, this ability tends to leak out more strongly when Human beings are seen as a mass. The work of Clif High, of The Webbot project has fascinated me for years – look into it. His software collates mountains of online textual content to predict future trends in weather, politics, economics and trends unseen. The theory is that humans have a subconscious future knowledge that leaks out in the words they use, their turns of phrase, their choice of adverbs.

As an artist, I often see how art can pre-imagine the future. Artists are motivated by novelty, which prompts them to go further than the present. I wrote my BA thesis on how artists of the 60s pre-imagined the internet – not necessarily physically, but conceptually. Their lines of thinking pre-imagined the writhing, rhizomatic, interconnected form of the web, before it existed.

This is why I always like to keep tabs on mainstream culture, while trying not to consume it. I want to know the future.

Since I’m 33 years old, I’’ve lived long enough to witness the changing attitudes of culture, to contrast it with what has come before… and something struck me about the UK chart music recently. It is filled with tragedy, pathos, and bittersweetness… in a way it never has. I remember the protean confidence of Brit Pop and un-self-conscious party tunes, and the occasional lament, but I don’t remember the mainstream being so saturated with heartbreak and bittersweetness.

Here’s a few lyrics…
When all the tears are rolling down your face
And it feels like yours was the only heart to break
When you come back home and all the lights are out, ooh
And you’re getting used to no one else being around
Oh, oh, I’ll be there
When you need a little love, I got a little love to share
– Jess Glynne, I’ll Be There

And I know you don’t know oh, but I need you to be brave
Hiding from the truth ain’t gonna make this all okay
I’ll see your pain if you don’t feel our grace
And you’ve lost your way
I will leave the light on
-Tom Walker, Leave A Light On

Who am I? Someone that’s afraid to let go, uh
You decide, if you’re ever gonna let me know, yeah
Suicide, if you ever try to let go, uh
I’m sad and low, yeah, I’m sad I know, yeah
-XXXTentacion, SAD

What does this mean? I believe the mainstream is ushering in the Age of Sincerity. The music of the day has a desire for authenticity and frankness, in a world that has become artificial and duplicitious. No more lies. Humans want sincere communication, the facts: the facts of who we are, what we’re doing here, and where we’re going.

I believe mainstream culture is slowly morphing to fit a Template Of Sincerity. Behind the glossiness of mainstream music, it is actually heartening to see.

But… there is a caveat to Sincerity. A tragic caveat. If it is true that the world is evolving in its level of authenticity, then it stands to reason that anything that has been kept hidden by lies will burst out.
Do you know how many lies have been told? Do you know the depth to which the truth has been hidden?
When I listen to mainstream music today, I’m listening to a Humanity that aspires to authenticity, but in that aspiration comes the death of innocence: the realization that we – as a species – have been abused; our DNA knowingly and permanently altered by drugs put on the market by organizations following a Transhumanist agenda; our cultures upset by ideologies and religions that have us chasing our tales; our history hidden by destroyed archeological evidence; our progress slowed by suppressed scientific discoveries; the wholesale trafficking, abuse and sadistic torture of Human children.

The coming Age Of Sincerity will begin with a period of grieving, upon the discovery of what lies beyond the narrow matrix of the mainstream. The mainstream may be limited but the prescience of Humans allows the essence of the future to permeate our art, music and drama.

The conflicts of today will collapse in their uselessness. No more petty time wasting, arguing over the Internet: we might just need each other…

And I know you don’t know oh, but I need you to be brave
Hiding from the truth ain’t gonna make this all okay
I’ll see your pain if you don’t feel our grace
And you’ve lost your way
I will leave the light on
-Tom Walker, Leave A Light On