I've been noticing strange echoes of Arthur C Clarke's Childhood's End when I look at many aspects of society today. Regardless of the efforts of the eugenecist elite to reduce the world's population, it seems like a natural 'winnowing' of the population is somehow programmed into humanity, either through wars or natural disasters, or in this case extreme apathy and dopamine addiction. I think we'll be astonished at the precipitous decline in world population over the next 20 years. Mankind is like a mighty river that has reached it's delta, devoid of direction and energy. However, natural selection is constantly at work and the right genes always get into the next generation. This too will pass.
Thank you for putting these words down. There's definitely an existential problem, a lack of purpose.
I am approaching 40 now, I'm a millennial. I was caught up in computers from a young age, and didn't develop a whole lot of social skills. Eventually I was thrust into the world of adulthood and started working... and tried hard to overcome my shyness and be able to talk to strangers.
Probably the biggest driver for me was watching what was going on around me - the ipod generation, about 15-20 years ago. People wandering down the streets with headphones stuck in their ears, eyes glazed over. Disconnected from the world while walking through it. I knew back then that I didn't want to be like that, that I had to do something to force myself away from that path permanently.
I read. I read voraciously. For years I read only memoirs - stories of people from different cultures, all through history. I loved the books from hundreds of years ago, probably my favourite being Benvenuto Cellini's memoir. It taught me the pattern of life. It showed me that one has to take risks. That one needs to DO things, do DIFFERENT things, and their success wasn't anywhere near as important as the adventure itself. When you live life in an adventurous way, you naturally meet new people - and have plenty to talk with them about. You become passionate and curious, as you learn new skills and find new interesting things, you become interested in other people and find ways to elicit personal stories from strangers.
I cast caution to the wind and made my own adventure. Eviscerating my savings, I spend 7 years travelling the world and met new people constantly, right at the time when smartphones went from being rich people toys with the brand new iphone, to being something that literally everyone had and was glued to. I used to walk into rooms in hostels and people were talking - by the end, I walked into rooms and it was quiet as a library, just the sound of fingers tapping on phones and tablets and laptops.
It was... a disheartening transition. I was travelling to open myself up, to build confidence and understanding of the world... and I watched everyone else close themselves up, get absorbed in a truly pointless unwinnable virtual competition with people they've never met. The ipod generation went darker, more reclusive.
I can only see the trend getting worse. Facebook trying to push its 'meta' vision and virtual reality. I think back to books like Neuromancer and Snowcrash. We really are in the middle of a transition to dystopia... it's already here, and being established around us.
So, I've broken myself out of the system... to be stranded quite emotionally alone. I can meet people, yes. But it's frustratingly hard to find people near me, in small towns, who can relate to any of this. Who I can talk with any of this about. And being possibly the most important thing happening in the world today... I need to talk about it, if only for therapeutic reasons. Perhaps I should go back to journaling.
I've been noticing strange echoes of Arthur C Clarke's Childhood's End when I look at many aspects of society today. Regardless of the efforts of the eugenecist elite to reduce the world's population, it seems like a natural 'winnowing' of the population is somehow programmed into humanity, either through wars or natural disasters, or in this case extreme apathy and dopamine addiction. I think we'll be astonished at the precipitous decline in world population over the next 20 years. Mankind is like a mighty river that has reached it's delta, devoid of direction and energy. However, natural selection is constantly at work and the right genes always get into the next generation. This too will pass.
https://dcfpress.com/commentary-on-join-millennials-in-fighting-the-void-moneycircus-samvaknin/
Liked the article. My commentary.
Thank you for putting these words down. There's definitely an existential problem, a lack of purpose.
I am approaching 40 now, I'm a millennial. I was caught up in computers from a young age, and didn't develop a whole lot of social skills. Eventually I was thrust into the world of adulthood and started working... and tried hard to overcome my shyness and be able to talk to strangers.
Probably the biggest driver for me was watching what was going on around me - the ipod generation, about 15-20 years ago. People wandering down the streets with headphones stuck in their ears, eyes glazed over. Disconnected from the world while walking through it. I knew back then that I didn't want to be like that, that I had to do something to force myself away from that path permanently.
I read. I read voraciously. For years I read only memoirs - stories of people from different cultures, all through history. I loved the books from hundreds of years ago, probably my favourite being Benvenuto Cellini's memoir. It taught me the pattern of life. It showed me that one has to take risks. That one needs to DO things, do DIFFERENT things, and their success wasn't anywhere near as important as the adventure itself. When you live life in an adventurous way, you naturally meet new people - and have plenty to talk with them about. You become passionate and curious, as you learn new skills and find new interesting things, you become interested in other people and find ways to elicit personal stories from strangers.
I cast caution to the wind and made my own adventure. Eviscerating my savings, I spend 7 years travelling the world and met new people constantly, right at the time when smartphones went from being rich people toys with the brand new iphone, to being something that literally everyone had and was glued to. I used to walk into rooms in hostels and people were talking - by the end, I walked into rooms and it was quiet as a library, just the sound of fingers tapping on phones and tablets and laptops.
It was... a disheartening transition. I was travelling to open myself up, to build confidence and understanding of the world... and I watched everyone else close themselves up, get absorbed in a truly pointless unwinnable virtual competition with people they've never met. The ipod generation went darker, more reclusive.
I can only see the trend getting worse. Facebook trying to push its 'meta' vision and virtual reality. I think back to books like Neuromancer and Snowcrash. We really are in the middle of a transition to dystopia... it's already here, and being established around us.
So, I've broken myself out of the system... to be stranded quite emotionally alone. I can meet people, yes. But it's frustratingly hard to find people near me, in small towns, who can relate to any of this. Who I can talk with any of this about. And being possibly the most important thing happening in the world today... I need to talk about it, if only for therapeutic reasons. Perhaps I should go back to journaling.