All Media Connect Us Before They Tear Us Apart
Civilization itself swings between social connection and utter alienation
Any of our healthy social mechanisms can become vulnerabilities—what hackers would call “exploits” for those who want to manipulate us. When a charity encloses a free “gift” of return address labels along with its solicitation for a donation, it is consciously manipulating our ancient, embedded social bias for reciprocity. The example is trivial, but the pattern is universal. We either succumb to the pressure with the inner knowledge that something is off, or we recognize the ploy, reject the plea, and arm ourselves against such tactics in the future. In either case, the social landscape is eroded. What held us together now breaks us apart.
Indeed, the history of civilization can be understood by the ways in which we swing between social connection and utter alienation and how our various media contribute to the process. We invent new mechanisms for connection and exchange, from books and radio to money and social media. But then those very media become the means through which we are separated. Books reach only the literate wealthy; radio encourages mob violence; money is hoarded by monopoly bankers; social media divides users into algorithmically determined silos.
