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. Opposite sides of the same coin.

Our emotions spring from reptilian brain stems. 

It turns out, our brain steams are hackable, by flooding the zone with rage, hate, division…and  vanity, “neuro” toxins which inhibit our critical thinking functions. 

Whether a case of Cause or Effect, the fact is our technologies are, paradoxically, both isolating and amplifying. 

Facebook, TikTok and Twitter (X) are adept at this game. Rage makes people engage, and corrosive incentive systems reward awful, poisonous behavior, societally and economically speaking.

We live in a time when where shared values, standards and societal mores have lost integral meaning. Our institutions are under assault and breaking down.

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 critically thinking works best when our decision-making tree is hierarchical. 

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 response to many contexts going forward. 

The Internet was built to survive a nuclear war, where traditional “wired” communications have been wiped out.

The Internet works because of hierarchical thinking. 

There is a root Seed Router that is the Master IP address holder. 

The Master, having been set, then distributes a pool of like-minded, pre-configured IP addresses that allow the internet to scale in a hierarchical, yet decentralized fashion, to what now represents 6 billion users worldwide.

Now, that’s scale.

This forces a tough set of personal, inter-personal and societal philosophical questions.

Is the top of our hierarchy, character, fairness, rule of law, checks and balance purpose and earnest pursuits? 

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

What do we want for ourselves and our children?

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

What TRUTHS should we hold as non-negotiable and part of the fiber of our being truly…Human…American? 

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 this 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 not.

Fear of missing out.  Of career lift, wealth, our portfolio. 

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

Is truth? Who the fuck really knows. The answer changes daily, based on what the market and the money wants, not what’s 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.” 

Carried forward to the present time, this types of thinking 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 how we’ve end up with vampires like Musk, Thiel and Zuckerberg, who, confident in their authority & manifestness, view empathy as being for suckers & losers, and 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 inure to a corporation the rights of a human being. That was explicitly never their intent, specifically because unbounded free will, free from life consequence is the den of predation.
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 on the path to nihilism and entropy.
   1. The unforced error of a purpose-less war. 
   2. The unforced error of turning every (formerly) American ally country into an adversary.
   3. The unforced error of turning adversaries like North Korea and Russia into “kindred spirits.”
   4. The sketchiness of intent, execution & wind down of tariffs.
   5. The depth and pervasiveness of corruption with Trump, his sons and his administration.
   6. The performative nature by Musk and Trump of the DOGE tear down and the 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 is the craven willingness to destroy someone’s life rather than take accountability for the fuckup.
   8. This is consistent with (still) being the 2020 election denier, the leader of January 6th, and oh, yes, the sexual assault conviction, and the horrors of Epstein. 

A descent into nihilism explains why Epstein is not disqualifying for these people. 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 the very real peril, is violently trapped by their hosts.

Helpless, and now fully understanding the end-game, the victim asks: 

“Why are you doing this?” 

Coldly, Patrick, the assailant says, 

“Because you let me.” 

 Moral of the story? What we sow is what we reap.

But, also that we must take responsibility for and active ownership of the outcomes that we want.