Sometimes I feel like an emergent social illness is the tendency for humans to go to extremes being amplified by increased interdependent networks (like social media, for example).
When the atmosphere is right, these kinds of beliefs find themselves boosted by mob mentality.
Mob mentality is a sort of meta-cognitive condition. Individuals do not have control when it happens. And now with technology we don't have to be physically present, either.
As we have become massively interconnected, we pull on the other membranes of complexity around us to make them less needy. We are forcefully (or unknowingly) reducing complexity in other parts of our lives because our jobs and social interactions have become hella complex.
There is no leader in a mob, so our only goal is maintaining the mob and feeding on that energy. Networks becoming more interconnected feels like we are probably losing fidelity in data richness or even the whole of joint cognitive activity.
"Quality over quantity" fits in here. But because we have to spend more time supporting our network, we lose time building stronger individual relationships.
Which also means we spend less time critically thinking about the data we have. That takes too long, because the network will evolve without us. YOLO & FOMO are both very "solo", you know know?
But than again, mob mentality might make things like "holiday cheer" reach more people! If it can contribute to so much harm, then it has the power to feed our success.
The balance is there if we choose the path of gratitude and empathy.
So now together,
slowed interconnects
To notice the beauty
surrounding us we
Listen deeply
