Social media is the latest major innovation in addicting people to the Internet, but the Internet itself has always been a mechanism for addiction.
The old networks of paper by pony, railroads, and then wired and wireless were addiction machines for the wealthier among us, and as communication speeds increased, and more importantly, delays in responses decreased, the time to complete transactions lowered thus
smoothing the path to commerce.
In my lifetime we went from sending letters for most exchanges to using FAX machines, to using email, and then to electronic data interchange, credit cards over the Internet, Internet banking, and now everything is practically instant for purchasing and paying, and delivery is down to less than a day in many cases.
The old digital networks like DISN were replaced to counter the potential of nuclear war and similar disruptions with the ARPAnet, then the Internet became ubiquitous, and here we are, building more infrastructure on top of it for mobile devices and phones, IoT devices, the Web, Apps on phones, embedded devices in your watch, in your clothing, in your body, and
everywhere else we go. We exercise because we want to, addicted to the endorphin rush.
All of it has been and continues to be addictive, and those who saw and see it for what it was and is continue to push the addiction to monetize every moment of every person everywhere. It is increasingly embedding influence operations to get at the hearts and minds of all of us and addict us physically and mentally to whatever the human will allow, addicting societies at every level. And beyond that, to the human with the devices, add on the plants and animals, and the Earth itself. And then on to other planets and across the stars, now and forever.
It would be a mistake to misassociate addition with a lack of diversity. That’s how you create revolutions and lose control. Rather, with the ability to niche people and build and maintain cliques, whatever people want can be served at all levels of depravity and for the nicest and cruelest of people. Affinities can be built and broken, people can move from one to another,
believe whatever they want, do whatever they can imagine and actualize, and still the addiction machine can support them, individually, in arbitrary groups, and as a whole.
The flaw is not in our networks - It is in ourselves
The Internet is not the addiction machine, we are the addiction machines. It is in our nature to addict ourselves to anything and everything we can get our minds around. We build societies and learn to take our roles, addicted to the ease of not doing it all by ourselves. Some choose to leave, but even if you live in the woods by yourself, you are addicted to the lifestyle you
choose. We create laws and some of us are addicted to the thrill of breaking them, while others of us believe in honesty and being good to others. Cooperation vs. competition, love vs. hate, religion, science, engineering, art, literature, money, symbols, clothes, games, entertainment, and the list goes on. How do you want to live your life? What do you want to be addicted to? What delusions do you prefer? I choose peace and freedom, a society where we cooperate for the betterment of all, but that’s just my delusion. What’s yours?