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I've been reading "How To Blow Up a Pipeline", and in the chapter I was reading at bedtime last night, the author, Andreas Malm, discusses the doomer position --- that because it's clear that even to the extent the climate crisis can be mitigated, it *won't be*, the most important thing people can do is learn to die well. Malm rejects this position because it's demotivating, arguing that there *is* hope, if climate activists learn to strategically escalate.
As for me, I disagree that there is hope, but also that we should let the lack of hope lull us into inaction. I just think that at this point, the proper motivation for activism is spite.
I have to assume someone has hit you with readdesert.org at some point.
Setting aside the question of the internet's harms, though I think there's an interesting discussion to be had around how much of it is actually cause by the internet vs the internet being a coping mechanism for loneliness.
I think we'll have the internet in some form or another for our current lifetime. Our current growth isn't going to be sustainable, of course. And we'll see further geopolitical splintering of the internet. But if nothing else, we'll have some form of data transfer like the internet, even if it's just a sneakernet like people in Cuba used to use. IMO, the more pertinent question: in a resource-constrained environment, do we want to maintain the constantly connected lifestyle? And if not, what do we want to scale it back to? Internet only on computers? Only at libraries? Thumb drives stuck in a brick wall?
Any sort of change brings new possibilities.
We don't know what future brings. We don't know.
can't say i share a lot of the sentiment here. while i agree that there's definitely going to be an end to technology at some point down the road (not too dissimilar to the end of the universe; ergo the human race too) - i feel that technology does a lot more good than it does harm.
it's difficult, in my eyes, to separate traditional notions of good and evil from most things. something like TikTok for instance: "evil" because it's centralized, not FOSS, not self-hostable yada yada, yet it has the amazing potential of sharing information at phenomenal speeds. it can be a medium for misinformation and hate speech, yet it also thrives as a way of raising awareness about societal issues.
that's a lot of words (arguably waffle) to hint at what i'm trying to say: the internet is only what you, and other folks like you make it (not too dissimilar to society as a whole, eh?) - and any one individual can be optimistic, pessimistic or both simultaneously.
personally? i believe that the internet should be in the hands of general people and that the community should come together to make it a better place. i can't tell you how that would work, or claim that there wouldn't be discordance, but i don't think that it's worth throwing out a batch of apples over a few bruises - and i think that as long as people try to cultivate a space that's supportive of one another, then that's really the point.
i've never seen anything that involves a lot of people go flawlessly.
I get the feeling that, like a famous tree that apparently did *and* did not fall in the woods, the internet ends the moment one no longer pays it attention, for said attention is its only life to any given observer.
gemini://textmonger.pollux.casa/
I feel similarly. My thoughts on this topic are very messy and I've been writing this piece for about 45 minutes now, but here goes:
I am a proponent of the computer and the internet (as it is in the very slim portion I use often - academic papers and software packages; even little forums like this one) being useful tools, but I agree that pretty much everything that extends outside of that little sliver is harmful.
In fact, I have no doubt that it is the root of much evil; the effects we're finally able to measure and they're showing very clear signs of destruction. I've reached the top of the hill and realized that what lies there is dangerous. Now I feel it's my job to warn others that the glorified hilltop is not safe.
I've trained for a while now to become a software engineer and, as the metaphor above describes, I've realized that the path I was taking is the wrong one. I think the modern internet is a large part of why this is the case; we all know it's bad for us and I don't want to help make it any worse.
I foresee the same thing you do, a cyberpunk-ish future where we don't do anything to stop it from accelerating and in a massive explosion (or a whimper) the digital age comes crashing to an end, writing our civilization off as just another chapter of earth's history. I try to stay as positive as I am negative, but as we sail further into the misty future, the harder it gets.
Until then, I'll be watching the digital stars in the sky.
