When we plug into social media we connect our nervous system to an external power source. Aspects of basic survival are surrendered to our friends and followers as we ask them “do you notice me?”, “do you agree with me?”, “will you work with me?”, “will you f&@k me?”.
This directly impacts the flow of hormones, blood, oxygen and ideas through our bodies, (and people and money through our lives). It activates the sympathetic nervous system which “directs the body’s rapid involuntary response to dangerous or stressful situations”.
So much of our lives are not experienced directly, as we use technological interfaces to run businesses through Zoom, flirt via Tinder, get sex via Only Fans, share play time on Twitch, join clubs via Discord, shop line… all the while our bodies remain relatively inert.
This gives the visual and mental stimulus more and more governance over our somatic reality.The opinions and responses online start to have as much impact as physical punches or a bite of food. The likes, follows, comments and shares becomes our actual lifeblood.
With the innovation in industries fabricating peripheral devices and programming ever more pervasive artificial intelligence, these gadgets are becoming ever more entwined in our lives. They have more points of connection, can read more of our signals and influence more and more of our decisions. Is this dangerous, or vital, or both?
Will the hive mind reliance paralyse us or help us to leverage our collective brilliance?Are we already cyborgs, extending our bodies and minds through technology? Or are we passive brains in a jar, addicted to the instantaneous feedback loop of interactions that are only a thumb swipe away, as we outsource more and more of our independent functionality to the cybernetic network?
I believe that like atomic energy, sexual liberation, altered mind states and the common house hold knife, these tools can be applied to both our liberation and/or demise.
Big tech companies are not slowing down, manufacturers of hand-held devices will not close their doors, popularity of social media continues to spread… do we resist this? Do we just unplug and leave it ‘to them’? Or do we start to build ramps, channels and trampolines that can direct all of this energy towards nourishing, expansive, educational, creative and deeply humane ends?
I am here to play a part in the society I was born into. I showed up, had hopes, got disappointed, saw some beautiful potential, realised a delusion or two and became determined to add something wild and intelligent to the mix.
I’m still learning but I’m ready to add my spoon to the stir the soup. There are already too many cooks, no use in asking everyone to leave the kitchen.
I’m in here with you – sweating and slurping.
One of the key ingredients I’m throwing in is a game called ‘VicariousRGB’. I am experimenting with how we might apply the hive mind to improve one individual’s life. How we might share resources and swap skills, capacities and experiences, so those with able minds can help those with able bodies. So that those with financial resources can help those with experiential riches. So that those with privilege can help those with socially imposed limitation.
AND have the flow return the other way in equal force!
It’s an interface to leverage our differences, whether that be educational, monetary, sexual or geographical.To ask humanity at large, “HOW CAN WE WORK TOGETHER TO HELP ONE LIFE BECOME FULLY REALISED!?!”… and in doing so, just maybe, one human could change the world?