I Like Trees

Wikipedia, that great optimistic launchpad of knowledge, became a lowest common denominator of information, rather than a specialised encyclopedia of accomplished study. 4chan is a troll haven. Digg and Reddit compete with each other, both trying to be information portals and a social groups at the same time. Fark came in at the top of the snarkpile, the epitome of the ironic self-awareness if the Interlightenment. It’s one person’s user-submitted stockpile of news plus commentary, and this is what the new age looks like- layers of reality. Unlike surrealism or post-modernism, in the new version, you get to vote down what you don’t like. This anonymous, sarcastic explosion, while really fun, wasn’t an enlightenment so much as a rapid, massive introduction to one another, and a chance to laugh at everyone at once. That’s postmodernism, right there- the demolition of social structure.

Those of us with ageing, ordinary faces are displayed as ugly or ill compared to the photoshopped and often surgically enhanced ideal. One of the risks of designer drugs is that they allow for the same kind of mistaken idea about what a healthy mind is, and how far we should go to reach that template. They offer an illusion of reaching “perfect” mental health without risk or effort.