Annual Pie Comas and Returning to the Dark Forest
Hey friends,
Now that I've recovered from my Annual Pie Coma, it's time to get back into it in this tiny sliver of time we have before Christmas!
Thinking Too Hard 🤔
Erin Kissane is as thoughtful and pointed as ever with her new piece: "Against the Dark Forest" where she revisits the "Dark Forest" theory of the internet, context collapse, and the degradation of public surfaces by AI.
She encourages us that retreat is not the only option to our current situation. That it doesn't have to be this way.
Erin believes current platforms will not live forever and that the future internet will resemble more of a real forest, not just a Dark Forest, full of niches, local norms, and self-governing ecosystems — advocating for resilient human networks. In this sense, retreat is an abdication of responsibility for helping untwist our tangled networks.
I am optimistic for this future forest, but I worry that niche-ification means more echo chambers and confirmation bias. Too often 'safe' means 'same'.
I agree with Erin that global enlightenment as a solution is impossible, but I do think we have a personal responsibility to seek circles where your thinking is challenged and empathy is increased. Because without these things, what prevents you from falling into a niche-spiral?
So how are you increasing your awareness and empathy? How are you practicing selfless humility? And I'm not talking about the Big Things™ — I mean in little ways. How are your interactions with the people you encounter playing out? It's worth spending time thinking about.
Interesting Web Bits 🍿
- The DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome 😯
- Whoa. I haven't been to a LAN party in quite some time, but if I did, I'd want to do it here.
- An interesting prototype of AI incorporating paper.
- A fascinating look at something I didn't know existed until today: Genji-ko.
- Meanwhile, PHP keeps on keeping on.
- Fernando Rojo talks about his mistakes in his first rodeo with React Native.