The emotional era:Are technologies changing how we feel?

THE FANTASY OF COZY TECH , newyorker

Perhaps the direct opposite of digital brainrot is “cozy tech,” a trend that “suggests that the Internet and artificial intelligence can lead us ever inward,” writes Kyle Chayka. “In the cozy era, our screens and the related accoutrements of digital life fulfill all of our emotional and sensory needs.”

Our around-the-clock overexposure to global human suffering, our daily feed of what we once considered catastrophic events — political, ecological, cultural — when combined with diminished attention spans, smaller and smaller chunks of content, and baked-in cross-platform imperatives to remain emotionally removed from any given person, place, or ev... See more

If technology is good, then why do so many algorithms seem to leave us feeling depressed and isolated? Can a video call really replace the full-bodied magic of spending time with someone we love? What’s the difference between a childhood spent playing outside in the fresh air and amongst the trees, and another spent on an iPad levelling up FarmVill... See more

The internet drastically increases the ease of finding and fulfilling one’s preferred phenomenological feedback loop, whether that be righteous anger, a sense of shared victimhood, or any other appealing gradient.

On one hand, the internet has become a foundational part of where we experience life. But on the other, it’s made our experience of the world more isolated. And this has impactful consequences on our ability to empathize with one another. Over the next decade, not only will you discover more of your life experiences on the internet, you’ll consume ... See more