Political violence is like a lightning bolt: sudden, surprising, seemingly random, yet always emerging from a local weather system. Do not forget that we all make the weather.
I agree that digital communications have ruined our human relationships. I actually was in software development on a team introducing one of the first email products (tells you how old I am…LOL). Software developers are well known for not having the greatest social skills and they loved email. I would get these emails where some guy (they were pretty much all men at that time) would dump his bucket, yelling (they put everything in all caps) and saying we were all a bunch of idiots who didn’t know what we were doing. That same guy, when he came to my cube was very quiet and reasonable and would have never said that stuff to my face. It’s really easy to be hateful, unkind, and violent with other people when they can’t see the hurt on your face, your body language, and realize the impact of what they are doing and saying is having on you.
"This assassination was drenched in the digital consciousness that is co-created by you and me and everyone we know and everyone we don’t know. We cannot stop each lightning bolt, and yet we are the weather."
I do not accept any responsibility for these acts of lone madness and evil. I am responsible for the "weather" I create, nothing more. Collective responsibility, even when expressed as politely as you have, leads us down a very dangerous path.
Is what you're denying that "digital consciousness", a sort-of digitally-housed culture that can be realized in the "real world", is collectively generated? Or that you have any personal responsibility for a collectively generated digital consciousness?
You have a substack blog. You are contributing more to the collective process of building a digital culture than the vast majority of people.
There are no "lone acts of evil" - only the results of many competing influences converging. Evil doesn't happen in a vacuum.
I don't think Thompson is saying "we are all collectively equally responsible for acts of violence", just that we are all contributors to a digital culture that's clearly producing violent outcomes. We should remain cognizant of how our participation can shape those outcomes.
It's a call to awareness and mindfulness - not an indictment.
THIS is the article for people to read and understand. It, unlike many others, talks about the psychology of what is happening. So, thank you Derek.
And thank you for not coming up with easy solutions.
All my wife and I can do is withdraw from this craziness. We are conscientious objectors in the culture wars.
And, whenever I can, I post this.
It is from Jesus, his the Sermon on the Mount:
"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire."
One doesn't have to believe in God to believe that the words of Jesus were inspired...almost metaphysical....coming in a time of dog eat dog in the world. Of brutality everywhere, practiced by everyone. These words of love and peace came out of nowhere.
I am listening to “The Rest is History” podcast on the start of the First World War, and one striking thing is that the assassins of that period, including Gavrilo Princip himself also tended to be isolated young men. The same was true of the 9/11 attackers. There is definitely a relationship between isolation and the need for recognition through chaos.
The difference now is that rather than hanging out in coffee shops and developing a coherent (if misguided) attachment to a cause young men with this mindset or hanging out online absorbing random conspiracy theories and arbitrary resentments.
As distressing as the shooting of Charlie Kirk was the aftermath has been somehow more terrifying. We now have a group that wants to use the lightening strikes to harness the chaos these people crave to seize power. I fear they will only encourage more bad weather ahead.
I don't think electronic communication with strangers can be fixed. People are social animals and will seek out social interaction, but the internet circumvents all the safeguards we have evolved with. A lonely person will turn to their devices as the most convenient way to socialize but, as with most digital conveniences, what you get is really a poor imitation of the real thing, increasing your happiness in the moment but diminishing it over the long run.
And there is a collective action problem at work here too. Maybe one guy decides to break the cycle, head to the town square (or the mall, or…), and interact with people IRL. Well, there's nobody there, they're all home on their phones. Remember the Amish!
An excellent and frightening piece. I've noticed that young women avoid and disdain the vapid non-coherence of these young men. All of which further isolates young men while increasing their rage and deepening their misogyny.
And yet, there is no mention of the effects of porn and it ability to turn things seemingly sexual into things rage-filled and distorted—further leading these fellows down the porn rabbit holes they seek out and inhabit.
I agree that digital communications have ruined our human relationships. I actually was in software development on a team introducing one of the first email products (tells you how old I am…LOL). Software developers are well known for not having the greatest social skills and they loved email. I would get these emails where some guy (they were pretty much all men at that time) would dump his bucket, yelling (they put everything in all caps) and saying we were all a bunch of idiots who didn’t know what we were doing. That same guy, when he came to my cube was very quiet and reasonable and would have never said that stuff to my face. It’s really easy to be hateful, unkind, and violent with other people when they can’t see the hurt on your face, your body language, and realize the impact of what they are doing and saying is having on you.
Hi Derek,
I disagree with your concluding sentences:
"This assassination was drenched in the digital consciousness that is co-created by you and me and everyone we know and everyone we don’t know. We cannot stop each lightning bolt, and yet we are the weather."
I do not accept any responsibility for these acts of lone madness and evil. I am responsible for the "weather" I create, nothing more. Collective responsibility, even when expressed as politely as you have, leads us down a very dangerous path.
Is what you're denying that "digital consciousness", a sort-of digitally-housed culture that can be realized in the "real world", is collectively generated? Or that you have any personal responsibility for a collectively generated digital consciousness?
I’m denying collective blame.
You have a substack blog. You are contributing more to the collective process of building a digital culture than the vast majority of people.
There are no "lone acts of evil" - only the results of many competing influences converging. Evil doesn't happen in a vacuum.
I don't think Thompson is saying "we are all collectively equally responsible for acts of violence", just that we are all contributors to a digital culture that's clearly producing violent outcomes. We should remain cognizant of how our participation can shape those outcomes.
It's a call to awareness and mindfulness - not an indictment.
“This assassination was drenched in the digital consciousness that is co-created by you and me and everyone we know and everyone we don’t know.”
I don’t know how else to read that as other than collective blame, which I reject.
THIS is the article for people to read and understand. It, unlike many others, talks about the psychology of what is happening. So, thank you Derek.
And thank you for not coming up with easy solutions.
All my wife and I can do is withdraw from this craziness. We are conscientious objectors in the culture wars.
And, whenever I can, I post this.
It is from Jesus, his the Sermon on the Mount:
"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire."
One doesn't have to believe in God to believe that the words of Jesus were inspired...almost metaphysical....coming in a time of dog eat dog in the world. Of brutality everywhere, practiced by everyone. These words of love and peace came out of nowhere.
I am listening to “The Rest is History” podcast on the start of the First World War, and one striking thing is that the assassins of that period, including Gavrilo Princip himself also tended to be isolated young men. The same was true of the 9/11 attackers. There is definitely a relationship between isolation and the need for recognition through chaos.
The difference now is that rather than hanging out in coffee shops and developing a coherent (if misguided) attachment to a cause young men with this mindset or hanging out online absorbing random conspiracy theories and arbitrary resentments.
As distressing as the shooting of Charlie Kirk was the aftermath has been somehow more terrifying. We now have a group that wants to use the lightening strikes to harness the chaos these people crave to seize power. I fear they will only encourage more bad weather ahead.
I don't think electronic communication with strangers can be fixed. People are social animals and will seek out social interaction, but the internet circumvents all the safeguards we have evolved with. A lonely person will turn to their devices as the most convenient way to socialize but, as with most digital conveniences, what you get is really a poor imitation of the real thing, increasing your happiness in the moment but diminishing it over the long run.
And there is a collective action problem at work here too. Maybe one guy decides to break the cycle, head to the town square (or the mall, or…), and interact with people IRL. Well, there's nobody there, they're all home on their phones. Remember the Amish!
An excellent and frightening piece. I've noticed that young women avoid and disdain the vapid non-coherence of these young men. All of which further isolates young men while increasing their rage and deepening their misogyny.
And yet, there is no mention of the effects of porn and it ability to turn things seemingly sexual into things rage-filled and distorted—further leading these fellows down the porn rabbit holes they seek out and inhabit.
This article makes a lot of really compelling points
All that being said wasn't charlie kirk's killer actually living with somebody. A trans boyfriend or girlfriend or something
Show they don't actually sound like they fit this profile
Sadly, the Palisades fire setter seems to be another of these https://wapo.st/4ouYSTV