The trouble with improved networking technology is that's it too easy to score enough agreements someway, and convince ourselves that we have found the truth. Leaving less room for challenging our own thoughts and beliefs, which is the cornerstone of real thinking - and self-discovery.
We are unconsciously becoming a world where reality is just a smoky mash-up of the majority perception, of 'Like's and page-links and Google ranks and Twitter trends - rather than the clear insight from first-hand experience.
"Good" technology is now the one that can figure out which illusion the majority has chosen to be trapped in, and leverage it to peddle ours. The "better" technology is the one that can figure out the previous one, and make it say that our illusion is the best. The top technologies are of course the ones that are the final judges of the 'truth'(If Twitter says so - it must be true. If you cannot be Googled, you do not exist)
If you cannot be Googled, you do not exist
If you can find enough people to agree, and that is enough to convince you - then its real! Truth becomes a manufactured product rather than a discovery. People grounded in reality and able to discern it from the smoke, are the minority - and therefore wrong. Or to put it more precisely - inconsequential.
This changes the definition of success as well. Successful people therefore are not those who have the courage to drop their own illusions and inspire others to do so, but rather whose who can identify and align themselves and others with the most popular one. It is no more a voyage of self-discovery, but a popularity contest.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments are valued!