Your essay mirrors my own experience: this is where we are, this is where we came from - and horrifyingly this is where we're going: a dystopia where 'Generation Smartphone' doesn't even realise how brainwashed they are because 'what is real' is that which they see 'with their own eyes' on their smartphones. Never mind that this 'reality' has already been 'curated' to an extent that even mild opposition is intolerable to them. Never mind that this 'reality' is more and more divorced from what is really going on. Never mind that that 'reality' will be even more monetarist where the latest shiny bauble of 'News - look here, don't look there' won't even need to be reinforced ...
Gawd, I'm glad I'm old enough to remember 'LBI': Life Before the Internet' ...
Fair comment. However, I'm becoming more optimistic. Many young folk are more discriminating, even discerning, than we realize: in my view that's the core reason for the general panic in the Blob about things like Tik Tok. The establishment is retaining most of its narrative control over us old codgers, but losing it with youth: typical examples being the skepticism over Ukraine, Israel etc.
My own son is an interesting example. He's every bit as skeptical as myself; but developed his own views entirely independently of myself, yet not much later than myself. The critical point for him was the hypocrisies exposed by this century's Iraq war, whereas for me it was 1990s events coupled with my wider reading.
Agreed and my anecdotal experience as well. Some of my children are still naive enough to believe everything they've read, but this is partly due to very limited exposure to the unfiltered internet. I see many of the older children having a very skeptical view of the internet.
I'm not worried. I read recently (I forget where, but it was a decent source as that's all I read) that in the coming economic collapse, city-folk will lack food & rurals will have spotty internet.
The spotty internet arrived last summer. In the time I read this article, mine disconnected 3 times I was aware of, & an unknown # of times that I didn't notice as I read through the cache.
A couple months ago I had an entire weekend where my service was out every time I tried to access. This includes Verizon phone service, btw.
I've long since given up trying to get it fixed. Only once in dozens of calls did I get someone who wasn't reading from script. He told me it's happening "all over the place."
Confirmed by my homeowner's insurance co. In 20 years they've never inspected my home because no rep in area. This year they sent an email requesting a 20 minute livestream virtual inspection. When I called & explained it would never work, the rep said not to worry. "It's happening all over the place." This is a national company, so "all over the place" = sea to shining sea!
😵😆. I wrote an addition to above, but when I tried to post, it went nowhere.
It mostly doesn't even bother to let me know I'm disconnected. Then loses everything I've written or done. Makes purchases & payments a lot of fun!
Anyway, at least when it all tumbles down, city folk will be distracted staring at their phones & rural folk will be too busy tending to gardens & chickens to notice.
That beat style in this essay .Best thing I've read for years if you dont count rereading Turgenev
Loved it , echoes of Rimbaud and Baudrillard. Made me think of pulling my own writing out of the closet . I wanted to encourage you but youre encouraging me .Thanks man
Right. I too, am smitten. Difficult at best to find intelligent prose. And then, there is always the …MAN factor. Cupid did not bring me a Valentine this past month. A girl can dream🐻🧡🐼
the Internet has been enriching beyond belief. There is no doubt about that
But somehow with our now insanely massively expanded horizons, we find a giant void. I feel it too.
My sense it is the combination of those horizons along with the frankly unnaturally safe - yet safety obsessed- world we live in, that it is becoming harder and harder to "feel alive"
I am not sure.....my big problem is AI. What is it? It has nothing to do with intelligence. It is a dream that is simply unfulfilled, and, maybe, even, unfulfillable. Maybe you can explore this topic. Thank you.
Beautifully written, an eye-opening account of a not so hidden terror… and in an attempt to get your honest opinion, I would love a critique of ‘the Academy’ in a similar vein, as only you could produce. Just food for thought… if you’re taking requests.
“ These social media sites are perhaps the best example of the destruction of the idealism that characterized the development of the internet in the late 1960s. A time of flourishing countercultures, there was a belief, captured effectively in Richard Brautigan’s poem, “All watched over by machines of loving grace,” that we were entering a technological utopia, where machines would protect humans, and “mammals and computers (would) live together in mutually programming harmony like pure water touching clear sky.””
Brief anecdote, I followed an obscure utuber who was tracking HAARP data, history & live signals, overlapping with national doppler radar feeds in the US. He caught my attention 👀 with the HAARP signal @ extreme low frequency (same as an earthquake) off NW Japan. Same day, Fukushima was "tsunami'd" . He showed the history of US drought in California & North Mexico coinciding with long term HAARP grid. His current project was US weather, specifically tornados, a common event. He correlated/overlapped current live feeds from multiple sources (executed faster than I could even see or follow to understand how he did it), over Southern coast through Midwest then north east. He then listed endless counties cities towns & states that were likely to be in the danger zone. 2 days later, 100s dead in worst tornado event, plus many more injured, unemployed & homeless. I got online, blown away at his precise analytics, but was more blown away by the fact that anything he'd ever posted online was gone🕳️, completely, even on net archives. 👻 Lesson learned was 👁️ now record & store the wyrd stuff on external hard drive backup from an isolated "Virgin" computer, among other offline methods & places, just in case people's hard work disappears, along with the authors... Why do I do it? I simply want my grandchildren & theirs' to know how to not believe what they 👀 until proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. As sure as my old man & mum taught me-there's 3 sides to every story. Yours, mine & the Truth... 🍻
Finally someone expresses my frustration with life as we know it now and online...I am an old timer, but I have been using computers since dos and the first ever mac (floppy days)...I was one of the first people to own a 14 modem and was so excited when it only took me 20 minutes ( I could cook breakfast) to log on and connect with the other person in Nevada City who had a modem...I thought to myself this internet thing will create communities of like minded people from all over the world in the ethereal world of internet...damn you hit everything right on the nail...I have been railing against this ever since I discovered bitcoin in 2016 and plowed thru the new language of crypto, tech and blockchain...god if I could go back in time, but here are...I am ready to disappear soon into the Himalayia's and take my leave...brilliant article thank you for the dis-charge...what a world...
Delicious rant. And I'm somewhat in awe of that amazing image you manage to paint in the last paragraph. That one really hit home. Like you I miss the old internet, especially the one BEFORE the world wide web made its entrance and became equivalent to 'the internet'. Ohh, how much time I spend on those old BBS's! That was almost uniquely direct human-to-human interaction. Those were the days. (Now I feel old).
As to the monstrosity it has become, there is one symptom in particular I have come to detest. It's the ubiquitous cop-out "what's your source?", which has become the ultimate excuse for people to refrain from engaging in any form of critical thinking of their own.
It no longer matters how well argued your point is, how internally consistent it is, nor how you used simple logic and common sense. Your original thought, the one that was born from your own mind, has become valueless in their eyes. The common internet user has been Pavloved into accepting as valid only those utterances (online or offline) which are sourced from someone they blindly believe (let's say, the New York Times, for example) and discard out of hand all those who lack such an 'official' stamp of approval.
And even if they do read, or listen to, all of what you have to say, with all its logical and sensible arguments, it still doesn't matter, because it won't register with them. From their eyes (or ears), it will go straight to the waste basket in their head, which they'll automatically empty every fifteen minutes or so. Your thoughts are like garbage to them.
This structural loss of not just people's ability, but even of the slightest interest in doing their own critical thinking, is perhaps what scares me the most of how the internet has not just changed itself, but is changing us in turn. The bots may well have already taken over online, but that's not the domain where they're confining themselves to. They are using that super-highway to get to us too, to our minds, and it caries over into the offline world. But perhaps that was their purpose all along?
AI is not alive, as AI cannot die. Therefore AI will have the values of those who create them. Who creates and owns them? Sociopathic lying-by-default Govts and Corporations.
Those are the values that the unsleeping, 24/7/365 AIs will be projecting.
And here's the KILLER - you can not prosecute an AI for "mistakes" in policies.
Great article. I'm not that worried,as once energy prices go high enough the internet will start to fail. Data centers suck up enormous amounts of energy. If you have a real,non office based job there's no real threat from AI,if we can make it through the next 5-10 years skynet will wither on the vine 😉
Everyone should be using Brave browser (or similar) to get themselves rid of all the ads and tracking.
Simply not working on my MacOS system. Too obsolete!
Your essay mirrors my own experience: this is where we are, this is where we came from - and horrifyingly this is where we're going: a dystopia where 'Generation Smartphone' doesn't even realise how brainwashed they are because 'what is real' is that which they see 'with their own eyes' on their smartphones. Never mind that this 'reality' has already been 'curated' to an extent that even mild opposition is intolerable to them. Never mind that this 'reality' is more and more divorced from what is really going on. Never mind that that 'reality' will be even more monetarist where the latest shiny bauble of 'News - look here, don't look there' won't even need to be reinforced ...
Gawd, I'm glad I'm old enough to remember 'LBI': Life Before the Internet' ...
Thanks for this essay!
Fair comment. However, I'm becoming more optimistic. Many young folk are more discriminating, even discerning, than we realize: in my view that's the core reason for the general panic in the Blob about things like Tik Tok. The establishment is retaining most of its narrative control over us old codgers, but losing it with youth: typical examples being the skepticism over Ukraine, Israel etc.
My own son is an interesting example. He's every bit as skeptical as myself; but developed his own views entirely independently of myself, yet not much later than myself. The critical point for him was the hypocrisies exposed by this century's Iraq war, whereas for me it was 1990s events coupled with my wider reading.
Agreed and my anecdotal experience as well. Some of my children are still naive enough to believe everything they've read, but this is partly due to very limited exposure to the unfiltered internet. I see many of the older children having a very skeptical view of the internet.
I'm not worried. I read recently (I forget where, but it was a decent source as that's all I read) that in the coming economic collapse, city-folk will lack food & rurals will have spotty internet.
The spotty internet arrived last summer. In the time I read this article, mine disconnected 3 times I was aware of, & an unknown # of times that I didn't notice as I read through the cache.
A couple months ago I had an entire weekend where my service was out every time I tried to access. This includes Verizon phone service, btw.
I've long since given up trying to get it fixed. Only once in dozens of calls did I get someone who wasn't reading from script. He told me it's happening "all over the place."
Confirmed by my homeowner's insurance co. In 20 years they've never inspected my home because no rep in area. This year they sent an email requesting a 20 minute livestream virtual inspection. When I called & explained it would never work, the rep said not to worry. "It's happening all over the place." This is a national company, so "all over the place" = sea to shining sea!
😵😆. I wrote an addition to above, but when I tried to post, it went nowhere.
It mostly doesn't even bother to let me know I'm disconnected. Then loses everything I've written or done. Makes purchases & payments a lot of fun!
Anyway, at least when it all tumbles down, city folk will be distracted staring at their phones & rural folk will be too busy tending to gardens & chickens to notice.
A man after my own heart
That beat style in this essay .Best thing I've read for years if you dont count rereading Turgenev
Loved it , echoes of Rimbaud and Baudrillard. Made me think of pulling my own writing out of the closet . I wanted to encourage you but youre encouraging me .Thanks man
Right. I too, am smitten. Difficult at best to find intelligent prose. And then, there is always the …MAN factor. Cupid did not bring me a Valentine this past month. A girl can dream🐻🧡🐼
thanks again buddy. Funny you say that I actually just read Father and Sons for the first time several months ago and really liked it.
Why doesnt it surprise me that you liked that book .Its a masterpiece
you do have an excellent style of writing amigo, i just hope you're not one of their bots...
; )
the Internet has been enriching beyond belief. There is no doubt about that
But somehow with our now insanely massively expanded horizons, we find a giant void. I feel it too.
My sense it is the combination of those horizons along with the frankly unnaturally safe - yet safety obsessed- world we live in, that it is becoming harder and harder to "feel alive"
solving Captchas to prove we're human is a parody at this point. How about the corporations solve MY captcha to prove they're human?
yes to all. try www.milesmathis.com for a journey in science, and other stuff.
I am not sure.....my big problem is AI. What is it? It has nothing to do with intelligence. It is a dream that is simply unfulfilled, and, maybe, even, unfulfillable. Maybe you can explore this topic. Thank you.
Beautifully written, an eye-opening account of a not so hidden terror… and in an attempt to get your honest opinion, I would love a critique of ‘the Academy’ in a similar vein, as only you could produce. Just food for thought… if you’re taking requests.
thanks, but to clarify, which 'academy' do you refer to?
US higher education system. What are our students learning in these supposed intellectual pursuits?
great idea. In the meantime check out John Carter (now escaped from academia, as have I)
https://barsoom.substack.com/p/of-science-and-shitposting#%C2%A7the-dieing-academy
Maybe of interest?
“ These social media sites are perhaps the best example of the destruction of the idealism that characterized the development of the internet in the late 1960s. A time of flourishing countercultures, there was a belief, captured effectively in Richard Brautigan’s poem, “All watched over by machines of loving grace,” that we were entering a technological utopia, where machines would protect humans, and “mammals and computers (would) live together in mutually programming harmony like pure water touching clear sky.””
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2023/03/ayn-rand-vs-elinor-ostrom-the-fight-for-the-future-of-social-media.html
Brief anecdote, I followed an obscure utuber who was tracking HAARP data, history & live signals, overlapping with national doppler radar feeds in the US. He caught my attention 👀 with the HAARP signal @ extreme low frequency (same as an earthquake) off NW Japan. Same day, Fukushima was "tsunami'd" . He showed the history of US drought in California & North Mexico coinciding with long term HAARP grid. His current project was US weather, specifically tornados, a common event. He correlated/overlapped current live feeds from multiple sources (executed faster than I could even see or follow to understand how he did it), over Southern coast through Midwest then north east. He then listed endless counties cities towns & states that were likely to be in the danger zone. 2 days later, 100s dead in worst tornado event, plus many more injured, unemployed & homeless. I got online, blown away at his precise analytics, but was more blown away by the fact that anything he'd ever posted online was gone🕳️, completely, even on net archives. 👻 Lesson learned was 👁️ now record & store the wyrd stuff on external hard drive backup from an isolated "Virgin" computer, among other offline methods & places, just in case people's hard work disappears, along with the authors... Why do I do it? I simply want my grandchildren & theirs' to know how to not believe what they 👀 until proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. As sure as my old man & mum taught me-there's 3 sides to every story. Yours, mine & the Truth... 🍻
Finally someone expresses my frustration with life as we know it now and online...I am an old timer, but I have been using computers since dos and the first ever mac (floppy days)...I was one of the first people to own a 14 modem and was so excited when it only took me 20 minutes ( I could cook breakfast) to log on and connect with the other person in Nevada City who had a modem...I thought to myself this internet thing will create communities of like minded people from all over the world in the ethereal world of internet...damn you hit everything right on the nail...I have been railing against this ever since I discovered bitcoin in 2016 and plowed thru the new language of crypto, tech and blockchain...god if I could go back in time, but here are...I am ready to disappear soon into the Himalayia's and take my leave...brilliant article thank you for the dis-charge...what a world...
Here, here…HEAR!🐻🧡🐼
Delicious rant. And I'm somewhat in awe of that amazing image you manage to paint in the last paragraph. That one really hit home. Like you I miss the old internet, especially the one BEFORE the world wide web made its entrance and became equivalent to 'the internet'. Ohh, how much time I spend on those old BBS's! That was almost uniquely direct human-to-human interaction. Those were the days. (Now I feel old).
As to the monstrosity it has become, there is one symptom in particular I have come to detest. It's the ubiquitous cop-out "what's your source?", which has become the ultimate excuse for people to refrain from engaging in any form of critical thinking of their own.
It no longer matters how well argued your point is, how internally consistent it is, nor how you used simple logic and common sense. Your original thought, the one that was born from your own mind, has become valueless in their eyes. The common internet user has been Pavloved into accepting as valid only those utterances (online or offline) which are sourced from someone they blindly believe (let's say, the New York Times, for example) and discard out of hand all those who lack such an 'official' stamp of approval.
And even if they do read, or listen to, all of what you have to say, with all its logical and sensible arguments, it still doesn't matter, because it won't register with them. From their eyes (or ears), it will go straight to the waste basket in their head, which they'll automatically empty every fifteen minutes or so. Your thoughts are like garbage to them.
This structural loss of not just people's ability, but even of the slightest interest in doing their own critical thinking, is perhaps what scares me the most of how the internet has not just changed itself, but is changing us in turn. The bots may well have already taken over online, but that's not the domain where they're confining themselves to. They are using that super-highway to get to us too, to our minds, and it caries over into the offline world. But perhaps that was their purpose all along?
I believe they dubbed this the Trusted News Initiative
AI is not alive, as AI cannot die. Therefore AI will have the values of those who create them. Who creates and owns them? Sociopathic lying-by-default Govts and Corporations.
Those are the values that the unsleeping, 24/7/365 AIs will be projecting.
And here's the KILLER - you can not prosecute an AI for "mistakes" in policies.
Another layer to prevent accountability.
I'm sure this is coincidence.
Great article. I'm not that worried,as once energy prices go high enough the internet will start to fail. Data centers suck up enormous amounts of energy. If you have a real,non office based job there's no real threat from AI,if we can make it through the next 5-10 years skynet will wither on the vine 😉
The amount of energy cost that is incurred just from spam email - sending it, filtering it out with appliances, among other things, is staggering.
Leonard Cohen ask, you want it darker, thanks but no thanks it’s plenty dark enough