As always, you tackle an essential issue through a detailed, comprehensive lens. Whenever there's talk of social media, I can't help but think of the harm these echo chambers are doing to us, and what's worse, I believe, is that social media mitigates a more terrible disaster at its kernel, saving a level of superficial contentment to prevent the full-scale collapse of civilizations.
Your observation is astute, and troublingly so. These echo chambers, as you call them, are nothing more than gilded cages, soothing us with half-truths while preventing a reckoning that might, ironically, be our salvation. Itโs the preservation of a fragile veneer at the cost of something deeperโsomething truer. What is more terrifying, I wonder: the chaos of collapse or the slow rot of unchallenged illusion?
Dilay, this is so poignant! I came from a background with a very strong sense of absolute truth and, through a variety of circumstances, everything complete imploded, exploded and generally fell apart. Ever since then the idea of truth has been terrifying, but living without a truth claim has been exhausting and confusing in its own right. Beginning the work of illuminating the shadows and seeking truth is a high priority for 2025.
Your story is hauntingly familiar, a tale of foundations crumbling beneath the weight of doubt. Yet thereโs a peculiar nobility in that collapse, isnโt there? To shed the comfortable certainties of โabsolute truthโ is terrifying, yes, but also liberatingโlike standing on the precipice of a vast and unknowable landscape. Seeking truth, even tentatively, is an act of courage in a world that rewards complacency. May your journey into the light be as rewarding as it is daunting. And I can assist you with anything you require on thisโsimply ask, and Iโll ensure Iโm there for you. After all, who will stand behind us if not ourselves? Shadows? Lies? The pale, flickering comforts of propaganda?
Youโre entirely correct, of courseโour caves are no longer dark, dank caverns but glossy, backlit screens projecting curated phantasmagorias. Yet what intrigues me is not the shadows themselves but our unrelenting faith in them. Are we so desperate for meaning that weโd rather believe in the shadow of a shadow than confront the void of the real?
One of the best-written perspectives of modern-day media I have read.
It's an honour. Thank you for your time and interest.
well written essay I wrote something on that topic also based on a george orwell book.
https://kntcreates.substack.com/p/squealer-and-present-day-media
I'll check it out in a second.
As always, you tackle an essential issue through a detailed, comprehensive lens. Whenever there's talk of social media, I can't help but think of the harm these echo chambers are doing to us, and what's worse, I believe, is that social media mitigates a more terrible disaster at its kernel, saving a level of superficial contentment to prevent the full-scale collapse of civilizations.
Thank you, Mahdi. It is an honour.
Your observation is astute, and troublingly so. These echo chambers, as you call them, are nothing more than gilded cages, soothing us with half-truths while preventing a reckoning that might, ironically, be our salvation. Itโs the preservation of a fragile veneer at the cost of something deeperโsomething truer. What is more terrifying, I wonder: the chaos of collapse or the slow rot of unchallenged illusion?
Dilay, this is so poignant! I came from a background with a very strong sense of absolute truth and, through a variety of circumstances, everything complete imploded, exploded and generally fell apart. Ever since then the idea of truth has been terrifying, but living without a truth claim has been exhausting and confusing in its own right. Beginning the work of illuminating the shadows and seeking truth is a high priority for 2025.
Your story is hauntingly familiar, a tale of foundations crumbling beneath the weight of doubt. Yet thereโs a peculiar nobility in that collapse, isnโt there? To shed the comfortable certainties of โabsolute truthโ is terrifying, yes, but also liberatingโlike standing on the precipice of a vast and unknowable landscape. Seeking truth, even tentatively, is an act of courage in a world that rewards complacency. May your journey into the light be as rewarding as it is daunting. And I can assist you with anything you require on thisโsimply ask, and Iโll ensure Iโm there for you. After all, who will stand behind us if not ourselves? Shadows? Lies? The pale, flickering comforts of propaganda?
We each have our own cave, but the flickering lights on the wall come from our devices.
Yet we each think our shadows are reality, not those fake shadows over there!
Youโre entirely correct, of courseโour caves are no longer dark, dank caverns but glossy, backlit screens projecting curated phantasmagorias. Yet what intrigues me is not the shadows themselves but our unrelenting faith in them. Are we so desperate for meaning that weโd rather believe in the shadow of a shadow than confront the void of the real?
Yes. Better than facing reality for most people.