Likemindedness
If I know anyone at all who is not voting the Harris/Walz ticket:
- I don’t know them well;
- they are not saying so;
- they are not voting.
Does this describe a bubble or a silo or an echochamber? I think these terms were invented to suit a very recent purpose, to explain unforeseen political outcomes in a time dominated by our infatuation with a contemporary version of the internet, not to describe likemindedness as they present it. By and large, likemindedness has always been attractive, for its affirmative powers, its inspiration, its support. Likemindedness is where we get our courage from, where we learn our strengths and weaknesses, where we learn to prosper.
I believe this idea has been corrupted by the fundamental achievements of current social practice. The platforms did it. The algorithms did it. The infinite scroll, the engagement economy, Surveillance Capitalism, these are the forces and corporations that have created the environment in which we live. Their aim is to know and isolate us in ever-expanding profit-extraction. We are not connected, we are separated. We do not learn, we forget. If we think about it at all, broadly speaking, we think the next post/video/story/dump will be the one that satisfies something in us that did not exist until we started scrolling.
