Superbloom

1. Communication Technologies Promised Connection, Delivered Division

We spend our days sharing information, connected as never before, but the more we communicate, the worse things seem to get.

Initial optimism. From the telegraph to the internet, each new communication technology was hailed as a force for unity and understanding, promising to bring people closer and make the world a better place. Figures like Charles Horton Cooley and Mark Zuckerberg envisioned a more harmonious society through increased communication efficiency.

Unintended consequences. Despite these hopes, the relentless acceleration and expansion of communication have led to unforeseen negative outcomes. Instead of fostering empathy and bridging divides, the constant flow of messages has exacerbated social pathologies, including mob action, shaming, hate speech, and political polarization.

A perpetual superbloom. The digital age has created an environment of overwhelming messages, a "perpetual superbloom" of information. Like the invasive poppies in Walker Canyon, this abundance, while initially thrilling, has proven garish, invasive, and ultimately detrimental to social well-being, tearing us apart rather than bringing us together.

2. The Shift from Analog Boundaries to Digital Collapse

The combination of deregulation and digitization erased the legal and ethical distinction between interpersonal communication and broadcast communication that had governed media in the twentieth century.

Analog's structure. For centuries, communication technologies were specialized, creating distinct boundaries between private correspondence (like letters, protected by secrecy doctrines) and public broadcasting (like radio/TV, governed by public interest standards). This "epistemic architecture" helped sort information and regulate its flow.

Digital's dissolution. Digitization dissolved these boundaries, turning all information into undifferentiated "content" (text, images, sound, video) that could flow through a single channel (the internet). Deregulation removed the legal and ethical frameworks that had imposed order and civic responsibility on media companies.

Loss of control. The collapse of these distinctions meant the loss of control over who sees what. Private messages could be scanned, and public broadcasts were freed from public interest obligations. The physical and legal "friction" of analog media, which maintained human scale and allowed for deliberation, vanished in the frictionless digital environment.

3. Algorithms Became Editors, Prioritizing Engagement Over Meaning

If judged from a semantic perspective, the perspective of, say, a human editor, the resulting stream of content appeared random.

Automated filtering. With the overwhelming volume of digital content, human curation became impractical. Platforms like Facebook introduced algorithms (like the News Feed) to automatically filter, rank, and present content to users, replacing human judgment with machine calculation.

Efficiency over meaning. These algorithms operate based on statistical analysis of user behavior, prioritizing content that maximizes "engagement" (likes, shares, comments, time spent). The "semantic aspects" or meaning of the content are irrelevant to the algorithm's calculations.

• Content is reduced to data points.
• Relevance is defined by predicted interaction.
• The goal is attention capture, not understanding.

Editorial power. Despite claiming to be mere technology companies, platforms wielding these algorithms gained immense editorial power, shaping what billions see and influencing public discourse. This power is exercised in secret, driven by commercial interests rather than public good, effectively outsourcing the stewardship of speech to Big Tech.

4. Fast Communication Reshaped Language and Thought

The language we use shapes not just how we express our thoughts; it shapes the form of our thoughts.

Language adapts. As communication speed increased (from mail to telegraph to email to instant messaging/texting), language evolved to match the pace. The formal, reflective style of letter writing gave way to the terse, symbolic, and compressed style of textspeak.

Efficiency's cult. Textspeak, initially driven by technical constraints (like SMS character limits), persisted and spread because it served the need for speed and efficiency in navigating the "information flood." It prioritized rapid composition and skimming over careful reading and nuanced expression.

• Words pruned (u, b4, ttyl).
• Punctuation ignored or used for emphasis.
• Visual symbols (emojis, memes) incorporated.

Thinking fast. This shift in language style reflects and reinforces a reliance on "System 1" thinking—quick, intuitive, emotional judgments—over "System 2" thinking—slow, deliberative, rational analysis. The constant demand for immediate reaction in the digital environment makes deep, contemplative thought difficult and less rewarded.

5. More Information About Others Breeds Enmity, Not Empathy

Although people believe that knowing leads to liking, knowing more means liking less.

The proximity paradox. While physical proximity often fosters friendship through casual interaction, studies show that increased exposure to others' habits and opinions can also breed animosity ("environmental spoiling"). Digital media creates a form of "digital crowding," exposing us to far more people's lives than ever before.

Dissimilarity cascades. Research indicates that while we are inclined to like those similar to us, encountering differences carries more weight. As we gain more information about someone, instances of dissimilarity become more salient, leading to a "dissimilarity cascade" where more knowledge results in less liking.

Envy and rivalry. Social media's encouragement of self-disclosure and constant display fuels envy and rivalry by making a wider range of outcomes and lifestyles visible and seemingly attainable. This constant comparison, combined with reduced empathy from screen-mediated interaction, exacerbates resentment and makes differences stand out more sharply.

6. The Internet's "Democratization" Fueled Polarization and Misinformation

The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man.

The "democratization" narrative. The internet was widely hailed as a tool for democratic renewal, giving everyone a voice and creating a vibrant "marketplace of ideas" where truth would prevail. This optimistic view shaped early policy and public perception.

Reality bites. This narrative ignored human psychology (bounded rationality, confirmation bias) and the nature of information flow in networks. Instead of fostering reasoned debate, the abundance of information and ease of sharing led to:

• Fragmentation into echo chambers.
• Amplification of biased or false information (illusory truth effect).
• Increased tribalism and animosity towards out-groups.

Repeaters and cascades. Social media users act as "repeaters," amplifying messages through sharing. False stories, being more novel and emotionally charged, spread faster and farther than truth. This creates "local cascades" within groups, reinforcing existing beliefs and driving them to extremes, often fueled by antagonism towards opposing views.

7. The Self Becomes Dislocated, Trapped in a Hyper-Mediated Reality

When we are everywhere, we are also no place.

The looking-glass self online. Our sense of self is shaped by how we imagine others perceive us (the looking-glass self). Social media provides constant, fragmented feedback (likes, comments, views), turning the self into a "mirrorball self" of scattered reflections.

Loss of context and solitude. Digital media dissolves the traditional boundaries between social contexts (work, family, friends) and eliminates interludes of solitude. We are always "onstage," performing for multiple audiences simultaneously, leading to a "crisis of self-presentation" and a sense of perpetual observation.

Identity management. To cope with this dislocated, fragmented self, people rely on "identity" as a defense mechanism—a curated set of tribal markers (hashtags, symbols) suitable for transmission. This reduces the self to legible codes, prioritizing group affiliation and self-stereotyping over complex individual character.

8. Machines Who Speak: AI and the New Truth

Every new medium is a machine for the production of ghosts.

AI as clairvoyant. Generative AI systems like LLMs act as mediums, channeling and blending vast amounts of past human text (a digital "Spiritus Mundi") into new, seemingly original outputs. They are not creating from scratch but interpolating from a compressed model of human knowledge.

Compression and hallucination. LLMs create a "blurry JPEG" of the web's text. This compression allows for fluid generation but also leads to "hallucinations"—fabricated information resulting from imperfect interpolation. The more creative the interpolation, the smarter the bot seems, but also the more prone to error.

The new truth. AI accelerates the blurring of truth and falsehood. Deepfakes make it hard to distinguish real images/audio/video from fabrications, eroding trust in mediated information. As AI-generated content proliferates, the "new truth" may become whatever is most aesthetically pleasing or fits a desired narrative, rather than what is factual.

9. Hyperreality: Trading the World for Simulation

Every reality is absorbed by the hyperreality of the code and simulation.

The simulated world. Digital media, particularly social media and its immersive features, creates a "hyperreality" where representations of things take precedence over the things themselves. Events like the "superbloom" are experienced primarily as online phenomena (#superbloom) rather than physical occurrences.

Seeking instinct unbound. The material world's boundaries (space, time, friction) tame our innate seeking instinct. The internet, a stimulation machine, offers limitless novelty and instant gratification, bypassing these constraints. Features like infinite scroll and personalized feeds constantly feed this drive.

Simulation's appeal. The programmed delights of the virtual world can feel more stimulating and rewarding than the real world, which seems dull by comparison. This leads us to prioritize simulation over reality, not necessarily because we are manipulated against our will, but because the simulation is engineered to align seamlessly with our "primal" desires for novelty and stimulation.

10. The Friction Problem: Resistance is Futile (for the tech)

The public is rarely willing to suffer delays and nuisances once it has been relieved of them.

The call for friction. Recognizing the harms of frictionless digital communication, reformers propose "frictional design"—reintroducing deliberate inefficiencies (delays, limits on sharing, small fees) to slow down interaction and encourage deliberation, akin to traditional "time, place, and manner" restrictions on speech.

Obstacles to reform. Implementing frictional design faces significant challenges:

• Public resistance to losing convenience and speed.
• Concerns about free speech and government overreach.
• The difficulty of imposing a single set of values on diverse users.
• The inherent momentum of established technological systems.

Systemic inertia. Complex technological systems, once deeply integrated into society and user habits, become resistant to fundamental change. The internet's early, unregulated development solidified its frictionless nature, making it difficult to alter its core design now, regardless of the negative consequences.

11. The Core Conflict: Human Nature vs. The Design of Digital Media

Mechanisms of communication, as Cooley understood, don’t change our nature, but they do accentuate certain aspects of it while dampening others.

The mismatch. The fundamental problem is the mismatch between human nature—which thrives on embodied interaction, bounded social contexts, solitude, and slow, reflective thought—and the design of hyper-efficient digital media, which promotes disembodiment, boundless connection, constant stimulation, and fast, intuitive reactions.

Worldliness vs. Virtuality. Human intelligence and well-being are deeply tied to engaging with the material world ("Dr. Johnson's rock"). Living in a simulation, optimized for efficiency and pleasure, risks reducing us to superficial beings whose thoughts and words become mere outputs of prediction algorithms.

The challenge. Escaping the trap of hyperreality requires conscious, willful acts of "excommunication"—creating personal boundaries and prioritizing embodied experience and deeper engagement over the easy, fleeting satisfactions of the virtual. It means resisting the machine's design and reclaiming agency over our attention and our selves.

Last updated: May 21, 2025