Our Times
The concept of efficiency — how much one can accomplish per unit of time (or per dollar, etc.) — requires a quantitative numerator as well as a denominator. It requires a metric. Therefore, it tells us nothing about results we cannot quantify or measure. When we gear our society around efficiency, we produce more and more of the measurable, while... See more
People aren’t really looking to be economically stable before they start families; they’re looking to be existentially stable. They will opt-out of important life decisions altogether because they are waiting for the day when they will feel like more of a confident person with a firmer sense of self before making a commitment—not knowing that it’s
... See moreBut is there not some truth to claim that reality pales in comparison to the digitally mediated worlds on offer? My most straightforward answer is, of course, no. But viewed from a certain angle, perhaps. As an example, consider the case of someone who has only lived where light pollution obscures all but a few of the brightest stars. Under these
... See moreL. M. Sacasas • Notes From the Metaverse
Other drugs that are not considered to be harmful and are used regularly—caffeine, for example—are accepted as enjoyable accoutrements to life, as helping us get along with, or at the very least bear, our daily tasks. Social media is not just accepted—it’s also seen as something functionally beneficial, something that not only supports but also
... See moreit • Using - Damage
We feel paralyzed because we fear that our institutions and leaders are no longer able to operate and the solutions require many to act against their own immediate interests. We strive to make more people and communities capital-efficient and market-friendly even as the water level rises. The logic of the market has overtaken most of our waking
... See moreAndrew Yang • The War on Normal People
Since the 1970s, productivity has grown at 3.5 times the rate of pay for American workers. Precarious employment has risen by 9 per cent since the late 1980s, and we have seen extraordinarily high levels of burnout in the workforce. In short, we are underpaid, insecure, and burned out. And yet the achievement society – with its injunction to be
... See moreAlec Stubbs • The Achievement Society Is Burning Us Out, We Need More Play
The British writer Robert Colville says we are living through ‘the Great Acceleration’, and like Sune, he argues it’s not simply our tech that’s getting faster – it’s almost everything. There’s evidence that a broad range of important factors in our lives really are speeding up: people talk significantly faster now than they did in the 1950s, and
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