I'm going to guess that 80% of people don't have the bandwidth to form nuanced ideas and roll with whatever their headlines say for the sake of social status and order. That sounds about right. And it was TV before the internet. Newspapers before that. Nothing is new. Just faster.
Im so naive that I thought having all the worlds information in our pockets at all times would have made us smarter. But humans value social games much more than truth.
I guess there's a subtext of this article, and most of what I write here, which is my assumption that the people who you describe who will refuse to think no matter what either aren't reading this article or won't care even if they stumble on it. These are the same people who are uninterested in philosophy unless their tribe supports it. Like you go on Twitter and find the groups talking about Nietzsche who don't seem to have read any of his books.
But Mill wasn't talking about some random dogmatic guy, but people who can potentially be shaken from their slumber. I'm hoping that I'm addressing the same crowd.
I think about this a lot and recently used it in my personal life when I was deciding on a big change. It's interesting to think about how habitual we creatures are. So often we go to where others are going, yet far more often than not, going the other way is far more beneficial.
And I know that when I curate my online time, I'm a happier person. Just today I thought, "I need to find a plugin to hide all YouTube videos so I don't find myself stumbling into random videos." (Though I do generally have a lovely feed, I think I'd rather have no feed.)
Hahaha your writing style is the best on top of the fantastic knowledge contained in it. Really enjoyed this one. I love stats relating to the 80/20 principle and some of the ones you shared are WILD. Powerful ending too. Thanks brother
"3% of Youtube channels post 20% of the videos and receive 90% of the views."
The same disproportionate viewer/readership can be found in books, movies, and even comedy shows. The internet, for all of its benefits, has transformed the media world into one ruled by power laws. As I wrote:
In this world, the average pulls ahead of the median, and the gulf between 1st and 2nd place widens. Star comedians, influencers, and celebrities can use the fruits of the IT revolution to dramatically increase their reach: it simply benefits them more than it does the common people.
We are witnessing the “spaghettification of everything” as with enter the event horizon of the singularity/.
I am not certain what the answer to this is, or if there even is one. I am doing my part in resharing works on Substack so that more voices have a fighting chance of being heard.
Loved reading this
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.
I'm going to guess that 80% of people don't have the bandwidth to form nuanced ideas and roll with whatever their headlines say for the sake of social status and order. That sounds about right. And it was TV before the internet. Newspapers before that. Nothing is new. Just faster.
Im so naive that I thought having all the worlds information in our pockets at all times would have made us smarter. But humans value social games much more than truth.
I guess there's a subtext of this article, and most of what I write here, which is my assumption that the people who you describe who will refuse to think no matter what either aren't reading this article or won't care even if they stumble on it. These are the same people who are uninterested in philosophy unless their tribe supports it. Like you go on Twitter and find the groups talking about Nietzsche who don't seem to have read any of his books.
But Mill wasn't talking about some random dogmatic guy, but people who can potentially be shaken from their slumber. I'm hoping that I'm addressing the same crowd.
Im not sure about the subtext because I think about these things far too much. It all ties into a story Ive been working on for 2 years.
Either way, I appreciate your posts.
Guidance to use our reason via the Socratic method is a good way to think about how and when to use the internet and why labels are misleading.
I continue to be amazed at the wisdom one can find in history.
Thanks for your thoughts on how to stay true to yourself.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.
There's a saying I read fromDerek Sivers: doing the opposite of everyone else is valuable.
"It’s supply and demand. The more people do something, the less valuable it is.
Everyone else is multi-tasking. So it’s more valuable to single-task.
Everyone else is hyper-connected. So it’s more valuable to disconnect."
You can read the rest of the post here: https://sive.rs/contrarian
I think about this a lot and recently used it in my personal life when I was deciding on a big change. It's interesting to think about how habitual we creatures are. So often we go to where others are going, yet far more often than not, going the other way is far more beneficial.
And I know that when I curate my online time, I'm a happier person. Just today I thought, "I need to find a plugin to hide all YouTube videos so I don't find myself stumbling into random videos." (Though I do generally have a lovely feed, I think I'd rather have no feed.)
"Last human left in the past," sounds like it has value to me :)
Hahaha your writing style is the best on top of the fantastic knowledge contained in it. Really enjoyed this one. I love stats relating to the 80/20 principle and some of the ones you shared are WILD. Powerful ending too. Thanks brother
Thanks!
I've certainly found the same thing. The only recent benefit has been Substack Notes which is a little Oasis.
"3% of Youtube channels post 20% of the videos and receive 90% of the views."
The same disproportionate viewer/readership can be found in books, movies, and even comedy shows. The internet, for all of its benefits, has transformed the media world into one ruled by power laws. As I wrote:
In this world, the average pulls ahead of the median, and the gulf between 1st and 2nd place widens. Star comedians, influencers, and celebrities can use the fruits of the IT revolution to dramatically increase their reach: it simply benefits them more than it does the common people.
We are witnessing the “spaghettification of everything” as with enter the event horizon of the singularity/.
I am not certain what the answer to this is, or if there even is one. I am doing my part in resharing works on Substack so that more voices have a fighting chance of being heard.
Re: Lemmings. At no point have they jumped off cliffs. That was a fabrication of a Disney short film called something like 'the white wilderness'.
Yes, and in a lemming-like way taught to me by the "Lemmings," video game of youth, I have gone with impact rather than precision. I regret nothing :)