This was a great read. The “global brain” idea was a recent discussion with my partner. What a fascinating premise for a sci-fi! I’ve been frustrated the past few months with the internet. AI hasn’t brought me anything new or interesting. AI definitely does not keep me informed of world news. Instead of a newsstand, my search-related news articles are rubbish about hobbies and other clickbait. There is so much noise, the internet has become a pretty boring place for me to use my time, unless I have something specific I’m looking into. I find I am shifting to using the internet in a more utilitarian way — email, research, transferring data for work, specific entertainment once in a while. I am tired of the same celebrities (you gave insight on why we’ve had the same, snowballed celebrities for decades), and tired of all the advertisements and sponsored content. Even reels on social media used to give me pleasure, but even that feels like an echo chamber, and boring after a few.
It feels like the internet doesn't really have a "middle popular" class. Everything is either followed by millions or followed by a few thousand. I guess it is just a characteristic of larger social networks. It was nice that YouTube had, for at least a few years, a good algorithm for discovering interesting lesser-known videos. I guess even with a small "signal" (like 500 views) they are able to differentiate between other videos with 500 views and promote the interesting ones.
Excellent read. I must say this expanded my brain and helped me to think about things differently than I usually do. Nice to get a glimpse inside your brain and what you think about Jacob Chapman!
This was a great read. The “global brain” idea was a recent discussion with my partner. What a fascinating premise for a sci-fi! I’ve been frustrated the past few months with the internet. AI hasn’t brought me anything new or interesting. AI definitely does not keep me informed of world news. Instead of a newsstand, my search-related news articles are rubbish about hobbies and other clickbait. There is so much noise, the internet has become a pretty boring place for me to use my time, unless I have something specific I’m looking into. I find I am shifting to using the internet in a more utilitarian way — email, research, transferring data for work, specific entertainment once in a while. I am tired of the same celebrities (you gave insight on why we’ve had the same, snowballed celebrities for decades), and tired of all the advertisements and sponsored content. Even reels on social media used to give me pleasure, but even that feels like an echo chamber, and boring after a few.
Yeah I've been feeling the same way recently.
It feels like the internet doesn't really have a "middle popular" class. Everything is either followed by millions or followed by a few thousand. I guess it is just a characteristic of larger social networks. It was nice that YouTube had, for at least a few years, a good algorithm for discovering interesting lesser-known videos. I guess even with a small "signal" (like 500 views) they are able to differentiate between other videos with 500 views and promote the interesting ones.
Excellent read. I must say this expanded my brain and helped me to think about things differently than I usually do. Nice to get a glimpse inside your brain and what you think about Jacob Chapman!