Connectivity Often Leads to Isolation — Here’s the Cure
Ok, you might not know this already but technology can do some puh-retty amazing things these days. And it’s not just ChatGPT — Bard can analyze a picture of your fridge and suggest what to make for dinner. Podium can turn your podcast into a book. And MidJourney, of course, can create a creepy image of whatever you can describe.
And once you create these things, the plutocrats have created endless platforms on which to share them: TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, OnlyFans ;) — the list goes on.
You can have a conversation with a friend and turn that into a podcast and into a blog post and into a clip or a reel or a soundbite or a meme.
Every idea you have can be packaged and distributed into a dozen different formats on a dozen different platforms.
Yet, with all of this “progress”, with all of the ways in which a person can express themselves and “connect” with others through posts and memes and vlogs and blogs and endless amounts of content, humans remain undeniably discontent.
These tools of connection have left us feeling isolated, helpless, worthless, unsexy, uncool, unsuccessful, uninteresting, untalented, and alone.
Connectivity ≠ Connection
We’re connected to everybody everywhere all at once. And yet, very little of it leads to us feeling included, accepted, or seen.
Most of our interaction connects us merely to a never-ending reel of calls-for-attention happening on skinny screens.
Have you ever wondered if, over time, with enough filters and advancement of AI, people in the future won’t care whether they’re interacting with a human or an intelligent script— our superficial relationships are so lacking in real connection that it’s plausible a future generation won’t even care whether their followers are breathers or bots: as long as they can see that they have 1MM followers, and those followers validate them and make them feel special, then…why does it matter if those followers aren’t actual humans?
When you’re a pro at Guitar Hero, does it really matter that you can’t play the actual guitar?
As more content is generated by unbodied intelligence — content built on existing bodies of work — do we lose touch with what it means to connect with humans?
Advancing to…what?
With all this “advancement” happening, we can now rely on technology in such a way that we don’t need help from other humans to get our creative work completed and distributed.
We can be productive at levels never before possible.
But…
…what if productivity isn’t the point?
What if it was never the point?
What if the point of productivity is to create meaningful bodies of work together with other humans?
What if the point is to discover and express yourself by collaborating with others who are discovering and expressing themselves?
What if there isn’t a point at all, and it’s just a lot more fun and fulfilling to do creative stuff with other like-minded, perfectly imperfect humans?
I’m a bad solobroneur
I’ve started to realize I’m not going to get anywhere on my own. I never have, and most people don’t. And when people do, these days, they traditionally have done so by essentially being machines themselves and working all hours of the day.
They perpetuate a certain model for “success” in the online/solopreneur business and, I’ve come to realize I’m just not interested in it. Most of the advice about building a solopreneur’s empire leaves people feeling isolated while viewing other people as nothing more than a means to financial freedom.
So many people who aspire to be writers end up becoming marketing machines instead.
We’ve all already read the 101 hacks and tools that can help you focus get disciplined, and do the work so you can get a million followers and live a fanstastical life while making passive income. But for me, I’ve come to realize that living an outcome-oriented life never leads to fulfillment. Or maybe I’m just jealous of their “success.”
Teams > “Community”
I’m a big believer in the power of a community. Too often, though, the people seeking to build a “community” are actually looking for minions & followers. Everybody fighting to be Jesus, out looking for their disciples.
They have their freelance apostles helping them crank out a few beatitudes and slicing up some loaves and fishes, but in the end, the org chart looks the same as any other corporation: with one king or ring or asshole to rule them all.
Even more, than the idea of becoming an influencer of a community, I think I’d rather be a person who is a critical part of a creative team with a shared vision and a clear mission — I want to have deadlines and I want to have focus and I think I’m not alone in that.
And as I type this, I recognize I’m sitting in my shithole of a private “office” by myself — which is the way I like it. But, even still, I’m ready. I’m ready to make friends and connect by building something together. Maybe you’re ready, too.
Here’s the recipe:
- Find/build/cobble your team
- Argue about the mission of your team’s publication, brand, or podcast
- Stretch together to hit your deadlines and milestones.
- Do all of it with the intent to find and connect with people who share something in common.
If you do that, before you know it, you’ll discover you’ve found a meaningful connection by creating something new together while letting machines help you do it in an imperfect, human way.
