Tedpilling?

Parent Cafe
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I was today years old when I learned about Tedpilling.

“Online, there is a name for this experience: Tedpilling. To be Tedpilled means to read Paragraph 1 of Kaczynski’s manifesto, its assertion that the mad dash of technological advancement since the Industrial Revolution has “made life unfulfilling,” “led to widespread psychological suffering” and “inflicted severe damage on the natural world,” and think, Well, sure. To encounter Paragraph 156 (“new technology tends to change society in such a way that it becomes difficult or impossible for an individual to function without using that technology”) after asking Alexa to order new socks and think, That’s not so crazy. To read Paragraph 174’s warning of a near future in which “human work will no longer be necessary” and “the masses will be superfluous,” while waiting for the A.I. assistant to whip up the PowerPoint for your afternoon meeting, and think, Maybe an off-grid cabin in Montana wouldn’t be such a bad investment.”

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I would be quite happy to retire to our off-grid cabin in Maine. No people! :slight_smile:

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A related issue is the backlash to optimistic visions of the future, like this new book Abundance and the associated movement:

There’s a strong contingent of people who believe in de-growth, which has become so entangled with climate change that even abundant clean energy like nuclear is seen as a bad thing.

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I don’t disagree with some of the things Ted K said (although he took it much too far, and killing is never a solution to anything). Here’s what bothers me … people in positions of power agree with some of the things he said, but rather than use their power to put up guardrails against the bad stuff, they lean into it. Whelp, if it’s gonna happen, I might as well find a way to profit from the inevitable. It sickens me. I hope that’s not taken as a political comment, because it’s meant as an overall observation about people who have no problem exploiting others for profit.

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It seems to be the “broken clock is right twice a day” theory where he had lucid moments despite the madness.

I always say that most criminals aren’t criminals because they’re smart, but Ted K was obviously an exception.

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The “Ted” part is concerning, but to me the “pilling” part is the real problem in America (and elsewhere).

It’s almost like people want to be hypnotized or brainwashed so they don’t have to think too hard. They’d rather buy the whole stinking mess instead of picking through what makes sense and what doesn’t.

For some strange reason the allegory that comes to mind is Michael Jackson and
his reliance on propofol for complete obliteration.