It’s a Vibe

In the still timely Greek myth, Narcissus looks into the pond and falls in love with his own reflection. But in the modernized version of this story, Narcissus’ reflection would be accompanied by his follower count. And the only reason Narcissus would even go outside in the first place would be to post a travel vlog: Hey guys, today we’re visiting the top ten ponds in Thespiae. In today’s tech-addled world, even those who have little interest in others are vying for their attention. The trouble is that each of us only has so much to give. That’s why, with all due respect to meme coins, attention is is the currency of the modern world. Chris Hayes in The Atlantic (Gift Article): You’re Being Alienated From Your Own Attention. “The battle to control what we pay attention to at any given instant structures our inner life—who and what we listen to, how and when we are present to those we love—and our collective public lives: which pressing matters of social concern are debated and legislated, which are neglected; which deaths are loudly mourned, which are quietly forgotten. Every single aspect of human life across the broadest categories of human organization is being reoriented around the pursuit of attention. It is now the defining resource of our age.”

+ I used to be so addicted to a notification bell that rang every time one of my tweets was liked or reposted that if my family didn’t hear the bell for a few minutes, one of of my kids would hold a finger under my nose to make sure I was still breathing. Obviously my kids learned from my internet addiction and spend their time outdoors, beyond the reach of even a cellular connection. Well, not quite. My son described last weekend’s TikTok outage as the longest night of his life. He wasn’t alone. WaPo (Gift Article): ‘The vibes were off’: How half a day without TikTok changed everything. Of course, the nature of the vibes is beside the point. The point is where you are scrolling those vibes.