Watched the first episode of the PBS limited series, The Invisible Shield. It was both fascinating and depressing. I was also not exactly thrilled with the editing. Apparently documentary series now have to be edited like action movies, with constant visual changes every 2-3 seconds. It's fatiguing.
But it's still worth watching, and I'm looking forward to watching the two remaining episodes.
It brought back a lot of unwelcome memories, and it is profoundly troubling. I think the internet has been a net loss for humanity. While I'm certain it has brought about many useful things, I think it has also empowered the very worst of us.
We face existential risks from climate change, resource depletion and loss of the natural world, these are all magnified by the extraordinary power of the internet to sow chaos.
Perhaps it's possible to believe that "all people are basically good," but put a smart phone in their hands and watch what happens. It's not that everyone becomes a conspiracy theorist, or a hyper-partisan, but enough people do that the result is paralysis or chaos.
Paralysis and chaos that represent opportunity to the very worst of us.
Originally posted at Nice Marmot 06:07 Wednesday, 3 April 2024