One of your best, Alberto. I enjoyed it tremendously. Perhaps you were closer to home in the opening, though. Even though the internet is largely corrupted it is difficult to see it disappear altogether. What we are seeing is further fragmentation and evisceration where much of the internet lays is ruins but other parts can continue to exist in isolation: like Substack and like some useful things you can still do online even when so much of the original communal aspect is gone
This was a beautiful, nostalgic, painful read. But in a way, it makes me more angry. I assume that although there could be a Great Logging Off, there will still be enough fondness or utility to use social media sparingly. Even if not, the infrastructure will still exist, and if either DIT or Boring Apocalypse is correct, it means that we are wasting obscene amounts of resources that we can't afford to waste, all on a demented simulacrum that is kept alive likely because economists will decide it still Generates Value. Plus, the infrastructure will still allow corporations and governments to monitor your every move, even if you no longer participate to any extent - not playing does not turn out to be a winning move in this case. Ceding that territory, however toxic, feels just as much a mistake as holding ground there.
I believe we're more likely headed towards a "hybrid reality" where the line between offline and online blurs beyond recognition.
In this world, AI-powered experiences will become so immersive and psychologically compelling that "logging off" ceases to be a meaningful concept. The digital layer, optimized to hijack our attention and keep us hooked, will be inextricably woven into every facet of life.
This fusion of real and virtual is being turbocharged by the profit-driven agenda of Big Tech. By exploiting human vulnerabilities and engineering experiences that maximize engagement over wellbeing, they're steering us towards a future where authentic human connection is supplanted by frictionless, hyper-personalized simulation
> “The early days of the internet were beautiful. It was posited to be an escape from the harsh, crude real world for non-fitting people. It was a place to hide from our monsters. Now the monsters have followed us here.”
As a “digital native” myself, here’s how I always put it:
- for as long as any of us can remember, there has always been a screen nearby, its light a silent siren song for our attention
- For as long as we’ve been literate, there have always been keyboards to type on and gadgets to read on
- for as long as we’ve desired the love and approval of others, there has always been the option of fulfilling that need online, from the most banal connection to the most intensely intimate tryst
- for as long as we’ve been alive, we’ve always been given free-reign over however we choose to navigate the internet, allowing it to sap our time, attention, and energy to whatever extent we wished to
But we had never, until very recently, realized what an enormous problem we had gotten ourselves into. It wasn’t until we started seeing the effects of this lifestyle on our own children that we realized how bad things had gotten.
Could you blame us for not realizing all this earlier, though? Could you blame us for not having the perspective to disengage of our own accord, based purely on how it affected ourselves?
No. No you could not. We could not be blamed, because we did not know any different… for We Have Always Lived in the Maze.
One of your best, Alberto. I enjoyed it tremendously. Perhaps you were closer to home in the opening, though. Even though the internet is largely corrupted it is difficult to see it disappear altogether. What we are seeing is further fragmentation and evisceration where much of the internet lays is ruins but other parts can continue to exist in isolation: like Substack and like some useful things you can still do online even when so much of the original communal aspect is gone
This was a beautiful, nostalgic, painful read. But in a way, it makes me more angry. I assume that although there could be a Great Logging Off, there will still be enough fondness or utility to use social media sparingly. Even if not, the infrastructure will still exist, and if either DIT or Boring Apocalypse is correct, it means that we are wasting obscene amounts of resources that we can't afford to waste, all on a demented simulacrum that is kept alive likely because economists will decide it still Generates Value. Plus, the infrastructure will still allow corporations and governments to monitor your every move, even if you no longer participate to any extent - not playing does not turn out to be a winning move in this case. Ceding that territory, however toxic, feels just as much a mistake as holding ground there.
Powerful post. As a first-time parent with a small kid, I'm really concerned about this topic and mostly agree with some of the issues described here.
I believe we're more likely headed towards a "hybrid reality" where the line between offline and online blurs beyond recognition.
In this world, AI-powered experiences will become so immersive and psychologically compelling that "logging off" ceases to be a meaningful concept. The digital layer, optimized to hijack our attention and keep us hooked, will be inextricably woven into every facet of life.
This fusion of real and virtual is being turbocharged by the profit-driven agenda of Big Tech. By exploiting human vulnerabilities and engineering experiences that maximize engagement over wellbeing, they're steering us towards a future where authentic human connection is supplanted by frictionless, hyper-personalized simulation
> “The early days of the internet were beautiful. It was posited to be an escape from the harsh, crude real world for non-fitting people. It was a place to hide from our monsters. Now the monsters have followed us here.”
As a “digital native” myself, here’s how I always put it:
- for as long as any of us can remember, there has always been a screen nearby, its light a silent siren song for our attention
- For as long as we’ve been literate, there have always been keyboards to type on and gadgets to read on
- for as long as we’ve desired the love and approval of others, there has always been the option of fulfilling that need online, from the most banal connection to the most intensely intimate tryst
- for as long as we’ve been alive, we’ve always been given free-reign over however we choose to navigate the internet, allowing it to sap our time, attention, and energy to whatever extent we wished to
But we had never, until very recently, realized what an enormous problem we had gotten ourselves into. It wasn’t until we started seeing the effects of this lifestyle on our own children that we realized how bad things had gotten.
Could you blame us for not realizing all this earlier, though? Could you blame us for not having the perspective to disengage of our own accord, based purely on how it affected ourselves?
No. No you could not. We could not be blamed, because we did not know any different… for We Have Always Lived in the Maze.
🐀 🐀 🐀
Very good analysis, well-written.
I'm hoping to fight for PauseAI as long as possible, but if it doesnt happen, I am also planning to go offline and die quietly as humans.
"ChatGPT output is of higher quality than the majority of human typed posts"
Lol, can't relate. You can curate your feed.
If I were at Google I’d push any source with the words “delve,” “intricate,” or “tapestry” way down the PageRank.
Yes, but humans don’t determine rank.