This article was first posted last year on my substack, Novum Newsletter. I discuss how we can use Christopher Alexander's classic 1965 essay "A City Is Not a Tree" to rethink the internet. Pictograms by Yona Friedman (1976) In the days of the early internet, the language to describe it...
Fewer friends, relationships on the decline, delayed adulthood, trust at an all-time low, and many diseases of despair. The prognosis is not great. By Anton Stjepan Cebalo Intermission (also known as Intermedio) by Edward Hopper, 1963. One of the most discussed topics online recently has been friendships and loneliness. Ever...
This article was first posted last year on my substack, Novum Newsletter. I discuss how we can use Christopher Alexander's classic 1965 essay "A City Is Not a Tree" to rethink the internet.
In the days of the early internet, the language to describe it was still an open question. Cultural critic Howard Rheingold, credited with coining the term “virtual community,” likened it to a great frontier. “The pioneers are still out there exploring,” he wrote, with its borders undetermined.1 But even in 1992, Rheingold wrote of this emerging virtual world as being threatened by the physical world outside it: nefarious political interests, private monopolies, and those “putting up... (read 2371 more words →)
Maybe, that makes sense to me. As an offshoot of that (sort of), I would also say on the internet really produces so much FOMO - and a lot of people feel resentment over that, especially coupled with loneliness nowadays. Browsing social media just makes so many people feel worse.
So, people are signaling more and those "left out" feel worthless amid FOMO as if they are behind or 'not living their best life.'
I have not look at India specifically, I was thinking more of Japan, China and South Korea. Would be interesting to find out though.
Which trust metrics would you instead use? The Gallup numbers are an aggregate of trust across many spheres by the way, and include areas as distant from each other as healthcare to church to Congress. While a crisis may certainly cause distrust in the state, the decline of trust has affected virtually every sphere of social life which points toward a more systematic chipping away across the board. Because of this, I would say the catalyst is a different kind of (online) sociability altogether that is taking root today.
Seems to be the same in many other countries, actually. In East Asia, these trends are especially prevalent.
Intermission (also known as Intermedio) by Edward Hopper, 1963.
One of the most discussed topics online recently has been friendships and loneliness. Ever since the infamous chart showing more people are not having sex than ever before first made the rounds, there’s been increased interest in the social state of things. Polling has demonstrated a marked decline in all spheres of social life, including close friends, intimate relationships, trust, labor participation, and community involvement. The trend looks to have worsened since the pandemic, although it will take some... (read 2223 more words →)