Camilo Moreno-Salamanca
@camilo
Camilo Moreno-Salamanca
The Moth Player
player.themoth.org
Story about collective power
Data from Gallup and the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that Americans are reading fewer books and spending less time reading than ever.
There's been reporting on college kids struggling to finish longer texts. And last month, in a viral post, one user lamented their loss of concentration for reading, which led to a larger online discourse about how to approach books again.
All it did was marginally improve the experience of one 15-minute block of time. But life is just a long set of 15-minute blocks, one after another. The way we spend our minutes is the way we spend our decades. “No amount of research that I’ve done has changed my life more than this,” Epley told me. “It’s not that I’m never lonely. It’s that my mom... See more
Derek Thompson • The Anti-Social Century
Our smallest actions create norms. Our norms create values. Our values drive behavior. And our behaviors cascade.
Derek Thompson • The Anti-Social Century
If the Amish approach to technology is radical in its application, it recognizes something plain and true: Although technology does not have values of its own, its adoption can create values, even in the absence of a coordinated effort. For decades, we’ve adopted whatever technologies removed friction or increased dopamine, embracing what makes lif... See more
Derek Thompson • The Anti-Social Century
The media theorist Marshall McLuhan once said of technology that every augmentation is also an amputation. We chose our digitally enhanced world. We did not realize the significance of what was being amputated.
Derek Thompson • The Anti-Social Century
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to poor neighborhoods in big cities, and the community leaders tell me the real crisis for poor teenagers is that there’s just not much for them to do anymore, and nowhere to go,” Klinenberg told me. “I’d like to see the government build social infrastructure for teenagers with the creativity and generosit... See more
Derek Thompson • The Anti-Social Century
Epley sees the exponential growth of AI companions as a real possibility. “You can set them up to never criticize you, never cheat on you, never have a bad day and insult you, and to always be interested in you.” Unlike the most patient spouses, they could tell us that we’re always right. Unlike the world’s best friend, they could instantly respond... See more
Derek Thompson • The Anti-Social Century
Frictionless everything is another manifestation of the tyranny of convenience.
Convenience becomes more appealing as the bigger stuff in life (career, health, etc) become harder. That’s why it is an inverted function…the more difficult the big things are, the more appealing convenience and frictionless in everything else becomes.
“social interaction is not very uncertain, because of the principle of reciprocity. If you say hello to someone, they’ll typically say hello back to you. If you give somebody a compliment, they’ll typically say thank you.” Many people, it seems, are not social enough for their own good. They too often seek comfort in solitude, when they would actua... See more