aron
@aronshelton
aron
@aronshelton
Seven thoughts on ritual:
Rituals are the feedback loops we construct to construct ourselves.
Rituals shape the medium of time.
Rituals orient us.
Rituals are protocols.
Ritual is a form of play.
Rituals take place in a world set apart.
Rituals make meaning.
We need ritual technology. Technology designed for ritual use. Why? Most of the software we use daily is designed to engagement-max. Social media feeds, loot boxes, compulsion loops, gang gang yes yes yes ice cream so good. You’re caught in a feedback loop with the algorithm, and you are the squishiest part of that loop. Ritual technology operates on a different timescale. Underneath the fast twitch of compulsion loops is the slow thrum of ritual. Elder feedback systems. An antidote to algorithmic engagement addiction?

why curation... and

provocations and
Data-driven research methods necessitate the collection of huge quantities of data and in doing so, they dismantle opportunities for paying close specific attention to the world. These methods also tend to obscure the many other ways of building understanding. Also, perhaps intentionally, data collection increasingly acts to maintain the status quo. We use data to study problems that would be more effectively addressed through simple political action. The impetus to “study the problem” ad nauseam gives the appearance of addressing an issue while perfectly maintaining the present state of affairs.
“Vibes are like the sun: we know that they exist, but we can't ever look at them directly. Concepts like community, mentorship, love, happiness, culture, education, progress, and paradigms are similarly resistant to hard definitions. Like the sun, we can feel their warmth, see them skittering around the periphery of our vision...but most of us know
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