split realities

another orange tuesday piece after a couple weeks of radio silence. if you’re new here, i’m still actively experimenting with what i want this newseltter to become. getting closer to wanting these writings to accumulate as a form of modern day anthropolgy. not there yet, but one day. comparing internet cultutre and the technological advances of today with familiar social structures and and dynamics. most of what i read and consume is very opinion based and feels eerily similar. almost like we’re all regurgitating identical sentences just in a different language. a large reason for this has to be the fact that the foundations of certain trails of thought are often left out of the actual writing. i’m just chasing curiosity and want to let you all peek into how i think.

today, want to quickly chat about narrative and identity and misinformation. i’ve been meaning to write on this since seeing a tweet from a friend of mine, elisa

misinformation is largely seen as a negative aspect of modern day media. would have to argue that, many times, it’s a neutral force. the video below struck me as the premise is based off of the idea that many of us falsely pride ourselves in being rational.

the short: sometimes we can benefit from accepting things that are not entirely true and we should all be creating our own realities. not everything has to be proven as fact for it to benefit you.

recently saw a comparison between the original introduction to the buddha’s biography versus the introduction in the modern day text. the modern day “interpretation” involved inventing whole sections of writing. an encapsulation of spreading “misinformation” that is not entirely harmful. valuable takeaways are found in both the remix and the original and both are found below.

the first is the original text from life of buddha by tenzin chogyel and the second is from the editor’s introduction. placed together, we can see the trails of thought that led to the latter. but imagine someone solely reading the modern day text. their interpretation of the story of buddha varies greatly from what once was.

this concept carries over to countless modern day touchpoints. we live in an insidious ecosystem made up of a disconnection of shared realities. think that many times, we collectively share more similarities in belief to those we despise than we like to admit. an uneeded narrative trap fueled by misinformation and the human desire to use buzzwords to shape our identity. projecting a level of nuance onto things that just is not needed.

and that’s where i want to touch on identity and labeling. i’m conviced that if we didn’t feel the need to label everything we think or touch, the world would be a much more cohesive place. what do i mean by that? one example could be found in the battle between web2 and web3. another could be found in the pressures surrounding political party affiiliation. we attatch ourselves to vanity labels to feel like we’re apart of something unique when in reality, if you peel back a couple layers of abstraction, we have more similarities than differences.

ok i’m all over the place but hopefully you can piece some of these thoughts together. take a peek at this tweet from kai.

the most “valuable” use cases for these social media platforms are hidden behind what they were “meant for”. and most people will never extract that true value because it’s not how the apps are explicitly portrayed. we’re so used to abiding by labels that no other “reality” is accepted.

anyways, i’ll wrap with this. feel a strong conviction towards the need to remove labels in a world where everyone and everything wants to be labeled. like flowing water rather than hardened ice.

”i don’t necessarily believe in the “true self”, but i do believe that our own psyche can get incredibly crowded by others”

the upmost thanks to those who choose to give me some of your attention by reading. with something as scarce as spending time, unsubscribing will always be understandable. this newsletter is still finding roots and is currently just a place for me to leave myself random musings. all love!