heat flow

DISPATCH II – define the problem:

ego avatar  x  input bias  x  self-as-center social media  x  confirmation bias = present day atomization, tribalization, agitation, inflammation, false AI models

define: ego avatar

the avatar created at that moment when a real human life differs from the one presented on social media

define: selfie cage

when events in life create a different picture than the one presented in a selfie or any social media profile and the feeling of being trapped in the old version, in the old selfie, and how that icky dishonest feeling leads to a margin call on one’s happiness.

why is this happening?

define: input bias – cuz the social media model of a personal profile is already biased, right from the start. this is due to the fact that it is a simplification, which leaves information out, and can’t fit everything in.

in that social media is fundamentally biased towards inputs, towards the information volunteered into it by users of the platform. in that it only recognizes or acts on what is given to it, but cannot recognize or act on what is left out of it.

such that from a purely computer science perspective, social media seems a relic functioning in classical bit states of only 0 or 1, only input or output, while human life exists in a quantum superposition of 0 and 1 bits, input and output, information and no information, at the same time:

i sit in silence, and i yell above the noise

he is what he shared, and what he left hidden

she is what she said, and what she left unspoken

they are what was given to them, and what was taken from them

we are what was loved, and what was forgotten

each of us an entanglement of other humans, other beings, other pasts, other futures

humming together, as one

the tree releasing oxygen from stomata the same moment our lungs are expelling carbon dioxide from our blood through alveoli

2 very different beings

entangled, breathing together, as one

human being, are you only the information you volunteer into the empty text field? only the face volunteered into the empty selfie box? if so, then human being when there is the slightest difference between who you are and what you volunteer who should be trusted – you, or your inputs? if so, then human being if you volunteer no information, no face, then do you no exist?

so why is this a problem?

cuz social media is conceived, organized and managed self-as-center.

define: self-as-center

due to current computing and networking technology a location, an address, a center point in space, a name, an ip address, some hardware, and an internet connection, is required to operate a social media platform so that other locations, other center points in space, and other names can identify and network and communicate.

in that social media as presently conceived, organized and managed has decided to make this location, this center point in space a personal profile made of inputs volunteered by the user. a personal profile which quickly and easily, and perhaps intentionally, becomes an object of personal reputation, an extension of self, an avatar of ego left hanging, exposed in cyberspace.

and so behaving as the hungry, needy child pure ego is, it demands to be the center, to be a self in the center of constant attention. and as the hungry, needy child, it is also very very defensive and highly reactive to any perceived peer status challenges. 

result?

define: confirmation bias – like something designed with a genuinely good intention to connect humans (which social media certainly is) becomes something which merely atomizes and tribalizes humans. cuz users only communicate with the other users that make them feel good and that provide the ego’s baby food of attention and protection. it is absolutely true that social media has increased communication and connectivity, but because social media has strengthened rather than weakened humanity’s inherent confirmation bias, the increased communication and connectivity has occurred only between those who are like-minded.

ego avatar  x  input bias  x  self-as-center social media  x  confirmation bias  = 

ego tribes only communicating with other ego tribes

of the same mind

so the red tribe gets redder and the blue tribe gets bluer

so the data knives get sharper

so the cutting apart just gets more precise

so the separation just gets reinforced

so self obsession gets confused as self expression

so self segregation gets fully engaged

so the avatar of ego awakens

in a jealous rage, in a selfie cage

building everything up and burning everything down