The Network Garden

It’s humbling to admit, but we’re easy marks for brainwashing. 

This is not a right thing or left thing. It’s a human thing.

Woke Mind or MAGA Mind, no matter.

Opposite sides of the same coin.

Our emotions spring from reptilian brain stems which it turns out, are hackable, by flooding the zone with rage, hate, division…and vanity.

Whether a case of Cause or Effect, these “neuro” toxins inhibit our critical thinking functions, leaving us subject to mental disruption by the technologies that surround us (mobile, social, AI), which are both amplifying and isolating. 

Facebook, TikTok and Twitter (X) are adept at playing this game. Rage makes people engage. Corrosive societal and economic incentive systems reward awful, poisonous behavior.

Our institutions are under assault and breaking down.

This has all culminated in us living in a time when where shared values, standards and societal mores have lost integral meaning.

We find ourselves in a place of anomie.

We are in a period of moral nihilism.

Traditional definitions of right and wrong no longer apply.

But, history shows that societies cannot tolerate a vacuum of meaning forever. 

When institutions are hollowed out by political, social and economic  division, populations experience profound anxiety. 

To cure the vertigo of “nothing matters,” the masses will happily surrender their freedom to authoritarian figures who promise absolute order, clear enemies, and a forceful, undeniable narrative.

Whether you love him or hate him, there can be no question that Donald Trump is the patron saint of moral nihilism.

His brand is “traditional definitions of right and wrong no longer apply,” right?

Understanding Hierarchical Thinking

We are not powerless. But, we must understand what’s going on, and how it affects our critical thinking.

Here, it is essential to recognize that critical thinking works best when our decision-making tree is hierarchical. 

Put simply, what we optimize on at the top of the hierarchy governs our decisions.  

It shapes our outcome goals, real-world strategies and constraints, and our perception of and approach to our situational awareness going forward. 

Hierarchical thinking forces a tough set of philosophical questions about the construction of Self, our approach to Interpersonal Relationships and our sense of WE-ness at a Societal Level.

Ask yourself, is the top of your hierarchy, character, fairness, rule of law, checks and balances, being purpose-driven and earnest pursuits? 

Is it money? Is it power? Is it winning at all costs.

What do you explicitly want for yourself, your children and grandchildren?

How much should we collectively carry the burden of the sacrifices of people that came before us, so that we could have a better life?

Is that wisdom? Shared sacrifice? Pay it forward?

What TRUTHS should we hold as non-negotiable, and part of the fiber of our humanity to one another, not to mention, as Americans? 

Turning Back the Tides of Entropy

Entropy describes how people and social groups naturally drift toward disorder, conflict, or confusion unless constant energy and effort are used to maintain order. 

Borrowed from physics, it shows up in daily life as disorganized habits, emotional stress from suppressed thoughts, or miscommunication in groups.

You can see and feel the weight of Entropic Force in our current world. 

We are simultaneously grappling with the prophecy that there is a 30% chance that the rise of AI will lead the WORLD to a cataclysmic event AND that in just a few years, robots and AGI will wipe out both blue and white collar jobs.

And that’s a good thing, or terrible thing, depending on your seat at the table.

Again, we flood the zone.

Fear of missing out…of career lift, of wealth, of bragging rights about our portfolio. 

Fear of NOT feeling smart and capable, reinforced by the finger wag that if we don’t, China will.

Who the fuck really knows what is truth vs truth-y.

The answer changes daily, based on what the market and the money wants, not the best collective outcome. 

Cynicism Prevails

There is a quote attributed to Joseph Stalin that, “A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.” 

Statistical thinking, in the hands of apartheid-inistas, fuels the argument that if it’s a net positive, the ends justify the means.

Humanity and humanism is just a number reduced to a formula.

That’s how you end up with vampires like Musk, Thiel and Zuckerberg, who view empathy as being for suckers & losers, confident in their authority, manifestness, and resolute that I CAN if you LET me.  

Simple Truths

1. Enshittification is a slippery slope.
2. Money, as in Citizen’s United, is not free speech any more than taking a shit is.
3. There is no scenario where we should afford the rights of a human beings to Corporations, as we have done. This was explicitly never their intent when the corporate entity was created, specifically because unbounded free will, free from life consequence, free from the social pressure of locality, is the den of predation.
   1. Note: In the not too distant future, we’ll face a similar question regarding the rights of thinking machines like drones, robots and cyborgs.
4. It should be clear with the take down of a functioning congress, supreme court, news media, social media, justice department, department of defense, education, health, intelligence and social services, we’re a mess, as evidenced by:
   1. The unforced error of a purpose-less war wth Iran. 
   2. The unforced error of turning every (formerly) American ally country into an adversary. Canada?! Really!?
   3. The unforced error of turning longstanding adversaries, like North Korea and Russia into “kindred spirits.”
   4. The ethical sketchiness of tariffs, not to mention the economic nuttiness.
   5. The depth and pervasiveness of corruption with Trump, his sons and his administration. It is bottomless.
   6. The performative nature of the DOGE tear down and utter disregard for the real human lives that would be destroyed and have been.
   7. The shit show that is the reflecting pool, which beyond the basic incompetence and lack of accountability that defines Trump 2.0, is the craven willingness to destroy someone’s life rather than acknowledge the obvious truth..
   8. The president of the United States (still) being a 2020 election denier, the leader of January 6th, a convicted sex offender, and deeply, indelibly embedded in the horrors of Epstein. 

A descent into moral nihilism explains why Epstein is not disqualifying for the many millions of Trump voters. It’s not THEIR daughter.

Final Thoughts

‘Speak No Evil’ (2022) is a Danish film about a vacationing family who, through passivity + politeness in the face of existential peril, are violently trapped by their hosts.

In the penultimate scene, the Victim, helpless, and now fully understanding the end-game, asks: 

“Why are you doing this?” 

Coldly, the Assailant says, 

“Because you Let Me.” 

The Lesson: What we sow is what we reap. This is why we must take responsibility for and ownership of the outcomes we want.