Hyper-Connectivity and Hyper-Reactivity

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For all of humanity’s failings, it has to be said we have had a remarkable impact on the world in the roughly 6,000 years of civilisation we have had. As drastically as we have changed the world we inhabit however, it has, in turn, changed us by about as much. Our habits, actions, thinking and general way of life are a far cry from anything else that has ever existed in human society. There are a few recurring themes; war, hunger, poverty, inequality and the unceasing destruction of our environment, but those, in my opinion, are inherent features of the fabric of reality (although Kate Raworth has an interesting solution to this problem by way of ‘doughnut economics’ which you can read about here).

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We are either outraged or excited by everything we see on Twitter, on Facebook, on Tiktok. We either hate things and curse them or we Stan them regardless of rhyme or reason. Except for what is simply not worth our time, those we scroll past. This hyper-reactivity exists in a world where everyone now has the power to broadcast. And we take advantage of it. As soon as a thought crosses our mind, we are typing it.

We are posting our kids and our dogs and our grandmas, desperately trying to find meaning in their existence by curating them as content. Can you love them if they can not get you a thousand likes? Or add that ‘k’ to your follower count? Perhaps it is this attached importance coupled with the impersonality of social medium that makes us so bristly online. So quick to confrontation.

Some part of us notices this, of course, but in an age of anti-intellectualism and short attention spans who has the time to pay attention to the ramifications of these little mental oversights. There is a point to be made, even if there is no point in making it. There is social justice to be fought for, even though we do not understand our society or what its justice would look like.

But who can blame you? The best minds of the age, brighter minds than you and I have dedicated themselves to finding ways to leverage your mind, and your attention, for profit. The intellectuals themselves seem to have brought about their vilification. When your phone is constantly pinging away, with push notifications and red badges about your new likes and latest trends do you have time for nuance and subtlety?

All addictions work the same way. Sugar, Cocaine, Pornography, you will keep hitting that button as long as your dopamine receptors keep firing.

Societies have always sown the seeds of their destruction and consumerism and capitalism seem to finally be bearing fruit.

When I was younger, I read a book titled “Conspiracy”. It was a compilation of some of the most notorious conspiracy theories of our time. From the true identities of members of the Illuminati to the secret royal plot to murder Princess Diana and NASA’s faked moon landing. It was all very amusing and I could see the appeal. The arguments were convincing, but these ideas always remained fantastical thoughts at the fringes of society. Today, the bar has dropped and we are burning down 5G cell towers.