Mencius Moldbugman

It’s not just games, it’s existing passive entertainment too. One of the most popular shows in the U.K. is Gogglebox - a TV show where you can watch others watch TV shows.

Websites post “recaps” of TV episodes so that you don’t have to invest 45 minutes in actually watching an episode of Game of Thrones but still know the talking points to highlight on your Twitter feed.

At every level, at every age, at every step, we are removing ourselves from reality step by step. Creating ever more layers between ourselves and anything that might cause actual joy or pain.

I believe that this is one of the reasons why we are seeing a rise in autism numbers. As we distance ourselves from anything of real substance, we lose our ability to understand it, like an autist who can’t understand the emotions of others.

The reverse is true too. The overly emotional don’t know when to stop because they are increasingly removed from real life lessons that would teach them when their sympathy, empathy and emotion reaches dangerous extents.

I don’t know where this will end, but I do know that we are unlikely to advance much as a species if we continue in this way.

There is a theory about The Great Filter: that theory about why we don’t see the universe teeming with alien life despite its infinity. Maybe it is due to rogue AI. Maybe it’s energy entropy. Some believe it is because of innate destructively warlike tendencies.

Perhaps though the reason for our future doom is something closer. Perhaps it is introspection. Perhaps it is narcissism. Perhaps it is the barriers you create between yourself and reality - and thus the path to learning. Perhaps it’s in the palm of your hand right now.