The Feeling of Becoming Less and Less of a Person(theatlantic.com)
theatlantic.com
The Feeling of Becoming Less and Less of a Person
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/05/ben-lerner-transcription-review/686579/
2 comments
I would argue this division via tech is happening even without people recognizing it and having a feeling about it. People are influenced by media bubbles, social media moderation / censorship, marketing, and more. And unfortunately those that saw the introduction of the internet, smartphones, social media, etc and know what the world before was like, cannot explain to those born recently why they should want to go back. Soon people will only know a modern urban smartphone life and have little value for anything else that feels out of the ordinary.
I worry about this too. I wonder if this same fear was felt by those who lived through the shift in Western Europe from village to industrial town life two centuries ago, and those who likewise lived through the era of post-war growth and leveling of society towards the expanded middle-class into the cut-throat selfishness of the Reagan and Thatcher-era economic rationalism which would in turn foment today's populist backlash.