just found your article, very fascinating read. I love the analogy to cells as things definetly repeat on scale. I love the serious inquisitive tone you take to social networks like discord. I myself forget that it is here, that it is part of history that the way we organize in it can be used to infer meaning
The cynicism is a very interesting thread here. I think there’s more here
Cynical is often a useful success stance in the creator economy too. Grow your audience at all costs and ignore that you’re applying growth tactics to humans.
I agree that the “cozywebs” as you conceptualize them, seem post-historical. However, I consider how the habit of categorization in cozywebs differs from the practice of taxonomy in 18th/19th century e.g. Linnaeus, Darwin.
I think one could take a less cynical perspective of cozywebs in that a digital taxonomy is a necessary first step to create structures from which empirical models of understanding the digital realm can then be created, just as naturalists used taxonomies describe (Linnaeus) and then to model (Darwin) the physical world.
Granted, a deep cynicism pervades cozyweb spaces where early scientists seemed deeply optimistic. It’s unclear exactly what explains that difference. Possibly one needs to invoke religious convictions as ultimate referentials - Linnaeus famously viewed his work deeply as illuminating God’s divine order.
I also think the permaweird is the same process as what Baudrillard describes “the liquidation of all referentials”. The question then becomes, what referentials emerge at the end of history to create the myth or God of the next historical age? Perhaps God is that which can create a referential from nothing and imbue optimism to the next age of history.
The taxonomy parallel is interesting. I think internet era trend predictions are a better parallel for that era. Currently I think the taxonomists face the problem of the environment being too complex for taxonomy to be useful. By the time you have named something it seems like it has already passed you by. The cozywebs I describe are reactionary to that. I agree of course that there are other quaint, lower tempo cozy communities that are nice to hang out in.
Some of religious beliefs/protocols definitely played a role in the taxonomy age — thinking of jesuits who functioned as taxonomists on their travels.
Yeah I agree that human taxonomists likely face too much sheer volume to categorize. In some sense taxonomy is now solved as pre-training of AI models, but current AI systems are mostly opaque to humans and even the AI struggle with accessing data in all the domains you would want to categorize.
This is one of the best essays I have read in memory. I have been writing about counting and nihilism, and you have provided a through-line that I felt but couldn’t see.
We think that by rejecting the output of postmodernism that we have escaped its core of unknowingness. But instead we are faffing about in a thousand brittle forms, rootless and defenseless against the preposterousness of the totalizing ideologies - capitalism, free trade, acceleration.
I appreciate that. The phrase thousand brittle forms captures the feeling of cozyweb pretty well. Also somehow relates to a lack of object permanence that I’ve been think about.
I am spending more time with concepts around flow philosophy (process as ontologically primitive to objects), and I suspect it is going to have a resurgence because research into biology and physics points towards it.
And I learned the term "homeorhetic" as an alternative to homeostatic.
I’m especially interested in the consumption dynamics you brought up. I’m in a number of communities that engage in this same behavior — “oops haha guys guess I have to buy another retro gaming handheld / backpack / digital audio player, even though I already own 50.” When you define your belonging in a community through a consumer good, you belong less and less the longer it has been since you’ve made some purchase or change. It’s not so much a contribution as a bid for belonging.
None of these are habits that by themselves would increase the longevity of human life by a great margin like say invention of antibiotics or vaccination did.
https://fortune.com/well/2023/07/08/bryan-johnson-plasma-exchange-results-anti-aging/ - one example. Also most of these experiments seem esoteric enough that it is only available to people who are extremely motivated or have special resources, unlike vaccinations or even just washing hands which are protocolized and available to the larger public from the early stages
Yes, but he is not really advocating for those 'extreme' measures, it's more the opposite like, get a good sleep and diet.
Also I would push back on the 'self regulation' thing for BJ, he is doing it for higher purpose, so in that sense he has lot of desire, he wants to get ready for a new world, world which AI is going to rewrite every rules. For that you need to be the best version of yourself otherwise you could be in trouble. Make sense to me.
just found your article, very fascinating read. I love the analogy to cells as things definetly repeat on scale. I love the serious inquisitive tone you take to social networks like discord. I myself forget that it is here, that it is part of history that the way we organize in it can be used to infer meaning
Thank you Yassine, I appreciate that
Hey, great read as always; this beautifully extends your Archival Time exploration of how LLMs reshape desire and narrative in consumption.
Thank you, I appreciate that Andreea
The cynicism is a very interesting thread here. I think there’s more here
Cynical is often a useful success stance in the creator economy too. Grow your audience at all costs and ignore that you’re applying growth tactics to humans.
yeah it’s got more cynical with time. the early era of growth hacks like people reading 48 laws of power or whatever seems quaint in comparison.
the og zizek essay is worth reading on the subject http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/cynzizek.html
https://x.com/p_naix/status/1984380260126011891?s=46
Thank you for writing and sharing this.
I agree that the “cozywebs” as you conceptualize them, seem post-historical. However, I consider how the habit of categorization in cozywebs differs from the practice of taxonomy in 18th/19th century e.g. Linnaeus, Darwin.
I think one could take a less cynical perspective of cozywebs in that a digital taxonomy is a necessary first step to create structures from which empirical models of understanding the digital realm can then be created, just as naturalists used taxonomies describe (Linnaeus) and then to model (Darwin) the physical world.
Granted, a deep cynicism pervades cozyweb spaces where early scientists seemed deeply optimistic. It’s unclear exactly what explains that difference. Possibly one needs to invoke religious convictions as ultimate referentials - Linnaeus famously viewed his work deeply as illuminating God’s divine order.
I also think the permaweird is the same process as what Baudrillard describes “the liquidation of all referentials”. The question then becomes, what referentials emerge at the end of history to create the myth or God of the next historical age? Perhaps God is that which can create a referential from nothing and imbue optimism to the next age of history.
The taxonomy parallel is interesting. I think internet era trend predictions are a better parallel for that era. Currently I think the taxonomists face the problem of the environment being too complex for taxonomy to be useful. By the time you have named something it seems like it has already passed you by. The cozywebs I describe are reactionary to that. I agree of course that there are other quaint, lower tempo cozy communities that are nice to hang out in.
Some of religious beliefs/protocols definitely played a role in the taxonomy age — thinking of jesuits who functioned as taxonomists on their travels.
Yeah I agree that human taxonomists likely face too much sheer volume to categorize. In some sense taxonomy is now solved as pre-training of AI models, but current AI systems are mostly opaque to humans and even the AI struggle with accessing data in all the domains you would want to categorize.
This is one of the best essays I have read in memory. I have been writing about counting and nihilism, and you have provided a through-line that I felt but couldn’t see.
We think that by rejecting the output of postmodernism that we have escaped its core of unknowingness. But instead we are faffing about in a thousand brittle forms, rootless and defenseless against the preposterousness of the totalizing ideologies - capitalism, free trade, acceleration.
I think this is as much Heidegger as Hegel.
I appreciate that. The phrase thousand brittle forms captures the feeling of cozyweb pretty well. Also somehow relates to a lack of object permanence that I’ve been think about.
I am spending more time with concepts around flow philosophy (process as ontologically primitive to objects), and I suspect it is going to have a resurgence because research into biology and physics points towards it.
And I learned the term "homeorhetic" as an alternative to homeostatic.
I’m especially interested in the consumption dynamics you brought up. I’m in a number of communities that engage in this same behavior — “oops haha guys guess I have to buy another retro gaming handheld / backpack / digital audio player, even though I already own 50.” When you define your belonging in a community through a consumer good, you belong less and less the longer it has been since you’ve made some purchase or change. It’s not so much a contribution as a bid for belonging.
None of these are habits that by themselves would increase the longevity of human life by a great margin like say invention of antibiotics or vaccination did.
how do we know?
https://fortune.com/well/2023/07/08/bryan-johnson-plasma-exchange-results-anti-aging/ - one example. Also most of these experiments seem esoteric enough that it is only available to people who are extremely motivated or have special resources, unlike vaccinations or even just washing hands which are protocolized and available to the larger public from the early stages
Yes, but he is not really advocating for those 'extreme' measures, it's more the opposite like, get a good sleep and diet.
Also I would push back on the 'self regulation' thing for BJ, he is doing it for higher purpose, so in that sense he has lot of desire, he wants to get ready for a new world, world which AI is going to rewrite every rules. For that you need to be the best version of yourself otherwise you could be in trouble. Make sense to me.