Where’s the balance between thinking independently and simply being stubborn? Reality today feels so different from twenty years ago. I find many of the changes are making things worse—frankly, almost all of them. I keep asking myself: is this just my own inability to adapt, or are these truly harmful changes? Even the way young people speak sounds strange to me. And why don’t they breathe through their noses?
Debate, argument, exchange of ideas:
Does anyone ever really change their mind? What’s the purpose of these interactions—simply to vent? After a debate, do people feel better or worse than before? Do they come away with a deeper understanding of the other side, or with stronger dislike?
Is the problem a matter of not following the “rules” of debate? Maybe we just don’t know how to do it effectively anymore. Or perhaps we’ve changed—the information we consume and the influences shaping us have changed. Maybe people don’t change one another’s minds at all; only experiences and propaganda do.
Walking down the street, I look at the people around me. They don’t look the same as they did twenty years ago. They feel less familiar. More serious. More angry. It’s as if they’re sleeping less, as if their minds can’t find any quiet. Those who talk, talk louder. Some stare at endless videos on their phones, right there in public, ignoring everyone nearby. A few finish a smoke or a snack and just throw it on the ground.
And yet—sometimes, one out of many offers kindness. A smile.
I hope I meet them today. I hope they’ll still be here tomorrow.
These days, the bar is very low. You can quickly congratulate someone on their birthday in one of the countless chat groups you belong to, write a short sentence without any real meaning, and you’re done. You’ve “done your part,” but no one really pays close attention. It’s just more digital noise, digital pollution, and wasted time.
I still remember calling someone on a landline for their birthday—full of intention and presence.
Even when someone writes a deep, personal note, you need to be in a particular state of awareness to truly appreciate it.
I don’t share these empty wishes, and I don’t want to receive them either. That probably makes me seem like a weirdo.
Many years ago, I chose a few people with whom I exchange personal wishes. I chose them because something in their energy resonated with me. They are the select few who lift my energy rather than drag me down or waste my time with shallow, meaningless one-sentence messages.
And this has continued for years—beautiful and almost effortless.
I don’t know if it ever existed and is now gone. It’s possible that the very reasons I attribute to its disappearance are actually just the messenger exposing the fact that it never existed at all.
We humans change with age. Some become more certain of things, while others grow more aware of life’s complexities. Maybe all the following analysis is just me getting older. Maybe there’s more to it.
Paradoxically, the Information Age has made us blind to information. We have too much of it, and we are presented with information curated by algorithms—black boxes developed to maximize engagement and, perhaps, to create global chaos, although this last point is hard to prove.
Reality communicates with history, and human weaknesses do not change. The logical conclusion is to study the past. But if we know reality is portrayed by people and machines with agendas, who can guarantee our understanding of the past is accurate?
From a historical perspective, the most relevant human weaknesses are fear, greed, and ego. These are constant. The new addition that technology amplifies is the human tendency for addiction. In the past, one could abuse an addiction with alcohol, cards, food, etc. The impact of these was confined to one’s immediate environment. These days, with mobile devices, the internet, and social networks, human addiction is impacting a much wider environment. The toxic effects are spreading across nations and beyond.
Economically, inequality is deepening, or at least it is much more visible and discussed. It’s the starting point of any populist movement. Today, a non-populist leader can only compete by adopting a populist toolkit. All of this drives more negativity, misinformation, and divisiveness.
World powers are engaged in a new cold war, trade war, and social media campaigns to weaken other countries, encourage immigration, and promote drug consumption, all while taking advantage of modern democracies’ weaknesses.
Blockchain and AI are amazing innovations, but they are also being adopted by countries and money-laundering organizations.
Going back to history, go and find a century in which Western countries did not engage in wars. There are none, at least not in the last few hundred years. Why should that change, especially in light of the above?
Go listen to Dominic Sandbrook and get a wakeup call.
Individuals and countries tend to react slowly to the fast changes that technology brings us. Many aren’t even grasping it.
Do you agree? If so, what can be done? More next week.
you aren’t happy now. Maybe you want something to be different, or that you wish a problem or a friction will disappear. You feel it in your body, in your stomach or chest, in your eyes. Energy is low, doing feels heavy on you.
You look back, years, decades – trying to recall a time it was different, it felt different.
You don’t remember, maybe there was a time but memory is vague.
One memory pops – winter, a late weekend night, alone in bed. Probably rain outside. It’s warm inside your blanket. Listening to the radio, a show with good music, that fits a cold winter night. It feels the radio person is talking directly to you. You are not tired, you don’t feel FOMO. You want it to continue forever. You were happy.
plain notes 