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I predict that we're going to move from the consumerist hellscape we're in now (paradox-of-choice) to a new direction where we work together to limit the number of unnecessary choices we have to make.
Good design isn't just knowing what to make-
it's also knowing what not to. https://twitter.com/timsoret/status/1347908029090508801
Good design isn't just knowing what to make-
it's also knowing what not to. https://twitter.com/timsoret/status/1347908029090508801
If the early internet people didn't all agree to use HTTP, we'd have a bunch of shitty competing protocols and the internet would be fragmented.
Why can't we extrapolate from this that the more we can agree on, the better things work?
The way forward is to simplify.
Why can't we extrapolate from this that the more we can agree on, the better things work?
The way forward is to simplify.
Currently, the right and left are competing primarily on narrative lines.
The right (exemplified by the phrase MAGA) is trying to cling to some sort of traditionalist narrative that's falling apart in the face of the modern world.
The left is actually anti-narrative.
The right (exemplified by the phrase MAGA) is trying to cling to some sort of traditionalist narrative that's falling apart in the face of the modern world.
The left is actually anti-narrative.
The left is comprised of the people who do not feel served by the narrative the right is attempting to maintain.
THIS is the part that people really seem to fail to understand.
THIS is the part that people really seem to fail to understand.
Capitalists tend to hate Marx.
He sucks, for sure.
However, people do not realize that until you solve for the problem that CREATES someone like Marx (re: the people not served by the extant system,)
you're going to create the people that want to tear you down.
He sucks, for sure.
However, people do not realize that until you solve for the problem that CREATES someone like Marx (re: the people not served by the extant system,)
you're going to create the people that want to tear you down.
To pull in some Hegel:
The extant system is the THESIS.
The countermovement is the ANTITHESIS.
As of yet, we have no SYNTHESIS.
What narrative takes the best parts of the old world and solves the problems that it had?
This is what must arise.
The extant system is the THESIS.
The countermovement is the ANTITHESIS.
As of yet, we have no SYNTHESIS.
What narrative takes the best parts of the old world and solves the problems that it had?
This is what must arise.
Much of the issue lies in our approach to the world.
Let's look at consumerism-
We've witnessed a massive explosion of people making cool stuff with technology.
It's truly magnificent to witness, however...
Let's look at consumerism-
We've witnessed a massive explosion of people making cool stuff with technology.
It's truly magnificent to witness, however...
We lack any sort of meaningful cohesion over time.
If you consider that people used to build castles that took longer to construct than the life of a single person,
you realize that we're nearly incapable of creating anything genuinely long-term in this manner.
If you consider that people used to build castles that took longer to construct than the life of a single person,
you realize that we're nearly incapable of creating anything genuinely long-term in this manner.
Our singularity isn't going to be some kind of revelatory event,
it's going to be the singular moment of immediate gratification that we inhabit due to our narcissistic, ADHD attitude towards life and the world.
it's going to be the singular moment of immediate gratification that we inhabit due to our narcissistic, ADHD attitude towards life and the world.
We will have no great legacy like this.
How can we overcome this atomization?
We are going to have to move from competitive capitalism to the Partnership Economy.
How can we overcome this atomization?
We are going to have to move from competitive capitalism to the Partnership Economy.
Consider toothpaste.
The next time you go to buy toothpaste, look at the STAGGERING number of types that exist.
They all claim different nonsense, but in reality, each one contains the same active ingredient in about the same amount.
Many choices with little real difference.
The next time you go to buy toothpaste, look at the STAGGERING number of types that exist.
They all claim different nonsense, but in reality, each one contains the same active ingredient in about the same amount.
Many choices with little real difference.
This may not seem like an issue, but consider that our model of competitive consumerism basically guarantees this sort of thing will happen all the time.
McDonald's attracts Burger King attracts Subway attracts Wendy's,
until every place in the world becomes a truck stop.
McDonald's attracts Burger King attracts Subway attracts Wendy's,
until every place in the world becomes a truck stop.
The key here is that while we benefit in the micro with these extra choices,
they kill us at scale.
Too many choices paralyze us, and too much competition actually prevents certain kinds of ideal solutions from existing at all.
they kill us at scale.
Too many choices paralyze us, and too much competition actually prevents certain kinds of ideal solutions from existing at all.
The internet works because we all use HTTP.
Imagine how much better things would work if we could agree on some basic facts and make protocols out of it.
Imagine if every car on the road had a positioning system that communicated with every other car to make driving safer?
Imagine how much better things would work if we could agree on some basic facts and make protocols out of it.
Imagine if every car on the road had a positioning system that communicated with every other car to make driving safer?
Right now, our competitive mindset prevents us from working on that because we're so desperate to get ours that we can't see far enough ahead to the benefits of collaboration.
The issue is that the blind pursuit of getting ours will screw everyone over in the long run.
The issue is that the blind pursuit of getting ours will screw everyone over in the long run.
We must learn to simplify.
Our extreme desire for individualism is also destroying our ability to have community.
“If you want to make a society work, then you don’t keep underscoring the places where you’re different- you underscore your shared humanity”
@sebastianjunger
Our extreme desire for individualism is also destroying our ability to have community.
“If you want to make a society work, then you don’t keep underscoring the places where you’re different- you underscore your shared humanity”
@sebastianjunger
We have to return to a shared narrative, a shared goal for the human race.
Imagine if politicians didn't compete to drive the car in a different direction every four years but instead worked together to get us somewhere in a hundred, or a thousand?
Imagine real vision.
Imagine if politicians didn't compete to drive the car in a different direction every four years but instead worked together to get us somewhere in a hundred, or a thousand?
Imagine real vision.
We won't end this conflict until we can realize a synthesis of the best parts of the old world and solutions to the problems it caused.
Let's come together and dream a new dream for tomorrow.
Let's come together and dream a new dream for tomorrow.
