The difference between what content we consume today and just two years ago—we have to stop and ask, “Is this authentic? Is it real?” We have to use discernment now more than ever, which is difficult when it’s coming at us in every direction. The alternative is to slow the flow. Of course, you can’t control who is going to out more content. But you can control what you choose to read, when, where, how, and so forth. That’s the discipline. Staying informed is easy. Finding the truth is hard.
We often think it’s the features we don’t want. But what’s more interesting is the features we need to add to our lives—the guardrails in particular. Minimalism is difficult to achieve. Not because we don’t know how. It’s because the incentives in our culture keep us on the hook.
Originally coined by Corey Doctorow. It’s the downward spiral of the lock-in phenomenon: users simultaneously hate the product they can’t seem to quit. Meanwhile, the platform is incentivized to make money by any means necessary. Hate speech. Violence. Seeking the attention of kids. Manipulation. A race to the bottom for your attention. And we are there—we don’t realize it. Lock-in makes switching costly. In time, money, and emotional capacity. It’s hard to say goodbye. But the internet is just not what it used to be. We think we don’t pay for products like Instagram or Facebook. But we pay with our lives, and our communities collapse with it. With the rise of AI, when will these platforms become untenable? The answer is actually yesterday. Perhaps, you can’t just quit it yet. But at the very least, try de-shitting your phone if you haven’t yet. Turn off notifications. Delete the apps that mine your attention. Take back your life.
HT Ezra Klein, Cory Doctorow, and Tim Wu.
There’s so much time spent on maintaining ourselves that we get so little out of just being. We have to sleep for 8 hours. Shower and shave. Eat every day. Drink water every few hours. Use the bathroom. Brush our teeth. Work out. Don’t forget the cooking and the cleaning. And so on. Then we spend more time commuting with no one to talk to. Work 8+ hours. And then we are, understandably, tired. And what is left isn’t very much after achieving what’s optimal for a human to thrive. This is why we can’t measure living by existing. We exist, but sticking ourselves in a cryo chamber isn’t much of a life. We measure life by how we live.
Physical bruises are a reminder that we could get hurt. A bruise can teach us something about our limits. What we can and what we cannot do. Rarely do we consider the value of these lessons. It turns out our ego can get bruised, too.
Sometimes we lack the energy or the will. Regardless, we can become complacent in our reasons. Saying we already know how this story will end. Skipping ahead to the end. Assuming nothing new will happen. But that is precisely the problem with our culture today. We don’t have a crystal ball. We don’t let fortune cookies guide us. Because we don’t know what will happen. Only when we say yes to what could happen do we open the door to new possibilities.
I am not a flexible person. It has been difficult for me for as long as I can remember. Recently, I was finally convinced to try yoga. After a couple of months, with some consistency, I’m proud to say, I am doing so much better. And now I am at least below average in flexibility (which is way better than feeling like the worst in the Wasatch).
We get so used to these labels we stick on ourselves. We forget that we are an unfinished story. One that can be changed. While it can’t be written, the future is uncertain.
The hammer hasn’t changed much in quite a some time. It has looked more and less the same as it was first invented.
Think of also plumbing or electrical in a house. A toaster, socks, or your local park.
Technology can feel exponential in the age of AI. But most tech is linear. It gets better with more use. Until it feels good enough.
Most people don’t realize that the corporation is an institution. The fact is we have allowed corporations to gain so much rights and protections that they are easier to view as people. At least on paper.
But because corporations live on paper, they are not subjected to the same struggles as humans. They don’t feel like we do. Which again makes them less human, and yet, not treated as such.
We work so hard to create in the either, that over time, we forget that the system we built isn’t the only system we need to be locked into.
It exists because we say it exists. And the moment we stop saying it exists (or at least recognize it doesn’t have the seat at the table with fellow humans), we can change how we move forward.
At the last Sundance in Utah, I had the opportunity to go see the documentary The Lake about how the Great Salt Lake is drying up.
The film was excellent. But I couldn’t help but feel how dystopian it is to watch a film about a lake 30 miles away that was killing us.
Try explaining this to an alien (or a 7 year old for that matter).
“So why can’t you fix the lake? It seems like all you need is more of this green paper you call money and that way you can save yourselves.”
“Well, it’s a bit more complicated. You see people fight over these resource like cash or water. And it is difficult to get everyone on the same page.”
“But if you don’t then everyone loses right and your economy would crash anyway?”
“Correct.”
It’s just very dystopian. And it continues to get weirder. While part of me, who has children, want to run. The other part is, we cannot escape the problem of climate change. Anywhere you go, you will find a new set of problems. And perhaps, this needs to be the mentality going forward…
The buck stops here. The line is drawn. And we must fight to protect our home.
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