Timothy Snyder in On Tyranny has provided us all with twenty important lessons to keep in mind. My particular favorite is Number 14: Establish a Private Life. Many of us, perhaps myself included, are guilty of spending too little time protecting ourselves online.
The recent wave of ransom ware that swept Asia and Europe and barely gave America a miss is a case and point. People online are trying to private public. Certainly some brave souls fight against this trend, but major firms have an interest in acquiring as much data as possible. And some will use underhanded methods to acquire it.
There is a simple solution to this problem. Instead of engaging in an encryption decryption arms race, we should simply live non digital lives. What do I mean by that? I mean forsaking places like Reddit and online forums and engaging in local politics.
A civic life lived offline is worth far more than a civic life fed by upvotes and downvotes.
Showing posts with label reddit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reddit. Show all posts
Monday, May 15, 2017
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Reddit and Politics
I've reached a simple conclusion, one that many people have probably already reached on their own.
Reddit is the hemlock of civil society.
In real life people are atomizing themselves. Online people are Balkanizing themselves. Truth be told, this is a false dichotomy. A lot of things are going on, but I believe people are devaluing themselves and finding values in tribes.
Reddit is a platform, a battleground, for digital tribes. Reddit allows these digital tribes to engage in rhetorical combat. Upvote allies. Downvote enemies. This is nothing new.
I belong to the first generation that took the internet for granted. Sure, it was expensive and frustrating, but you could always count on a connection. But the generation before us were the true trail blazers of the internet. They were the first trolls, the first sock puppets, the first tribes.
Centuries ago, Rousseau answered a simple question with a simple answer. Has civilization benefited humanity? No, it hasn't, he answered. A simplistic answer, but at least he has the guts to bite the bullet.
When asked about the French Revolution, Zhou Enlai said it was too early to tell. Perhaps he's right.
Reddit is the hemlock of civil society.
In real life people are atomizing themselves. Online people are Balkanizing themselves. Truth be told, this is a false dichotomy. A lot of things are going on, but I believe people are devaluing themselves and finding values in tribes.
Reddit is a platform, a battleground, for digital tribes. Reddit allows these digital tribes to engage in rhetorical combat. Upvote allies. Downvote enemies. This is nothing new.
I belong to the first generation that took the internet for granted. Sure, it was expensive and frustrating, but you could always count on a connection. But the generation before us were the true trail blazers of the internet. They were the first trolls, the first sock puppets, the first tribes.
Centuries ago, Rousseau answered a simple question with a simple answer. Has civilization benefited humanity? No, it hasn't, he answered. A simplistic answer, but at least he has the guts to bite the bullet.
When asked about the French Revolution, Zhou Enlai said it was too early to tell. Perhaps he's right.
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