Living With the Internet

Abstract

• The internet is a world you can access with the terminal of your personal computer.
• The internet was, is, and always will be uncharted territory.

Problems §

Digital Minimalism

• Minimize online disagreements. Kurzgesagt—Internet While traditionally disagreement and debate is viewed positively, this is not true online. ^1840c9
  • Offline, there are ways to ameliorate hard feelings through Manners and ettiquete, such as sports players bowing after a game. Online, there is no way of connecting with the other person after disagreement.
  • Algorithms exacerbate this by optimizing for engagement, and outrage is particularly effective in this. Though Germs by CGP Grey
  • Negative Emotions are Not Helpful.
• Attention is Currency
  • Modern society, wrote Simon, faces a challenge: to learn to “allocate attention efficiently among the overabundance of sources that might consume it.”
    • Attention is the currency of the modern internet businesses.
    • Corporate internet tries to entice you with your attention. (there is a distinction between corporate internet and grassroots internet.)
  • Beware Overstimulation. Give attention to what matters only.
    • Use the Stream of Content—pick out only what you find nutritious, and ignore the rest.
  • CGP Grey: Thinking about Attention by CGP Grey

Solutions §

• Nudging. Built-in friction to reduce the chances of you giving into attention-sucking content or outrage content. The first line of defense.
• Prioritise the small internet. This means engaging in communities where you share the same interests, opinions. Often, they come with rules and guidelines of behavior.
• Use Action Queues to browse the internet. This encourages you to think before you consume (also helps w.r.t. Importance of Inputs).
• Use the sources from Personal Culture. This means using human curated sources (either by yourself or others) as the starting point of online life. Do not use algorithmically curated sources.