This sounds close to Yanis Varoufakis’s idea of “techno-feudalism.” The shift is no longer just from labor exploitation to consumption... it’s from physical exploitation to mental extraction. Platforms profit most when information produces endless engagement but minimal real world action: maximum attention, minimum agency.
Also known as “Infinite Jest.” The video tape you watch until you die. Once you start watching, you cannot stop. Quite the novel in its time. Now it’s just today’s news.
I'm glad you mentioned this! I'm a big fan of Wallace, and will always recommend listening to (if you haven't already) the commencement speech he gave under the title of This Is Water, which is relevant to Paul's article. Attention is a limited resource, and one of the few resources that each of us ourselves has control over: where to direct it, who to share it with, and what to use it for; Wallace's speech highlights this importance with regard to everyday life (which might also tie in nicely to the Heidegger course).
This whole piece can be summarized: Humans are born in need of care-giving (altruism and selflessness - or the infant perishes) then something about adulting ego - fears, scarcity, economics societal pressures must offer the toddler fears - yet humans have no predators - Then it must be about leaders and leaderships - controls over the mind, body and spirit of another... So, I ask which is more important - care-giving or allowing owners of resources the power of control over humanity by means of behavior - The creations of objects by means of destruction. Can we, together, build objects without ownership? Freedom (travel, discoveries, group building together) without controlling the resources?
These are some big questions Kevin. I would have to write a few more essays to answer them. I do think that it is possible to avoid many of these problems, but we must take them very seriously and recognize the dangers they pose for us. It's not easy, but its doable.
These questions are answered within a 32 page work housed within The Berggruen Institute as well as with the lead librarian within The Masonic Library in Boston, Massachusetts. This work is not light, but it solidifies the findings University of Michigan — Felix Warneken’s Research on Early Altruism
Core finding: Infants and toddlers spontaneously help others without being taught. This research overturns the old assumption that children are born selfish and must be trained into cooperation.
Key Observations
• Children as young as 18 months show spontaneous helping behaviors.
• They will put another person’s interest ahead of their own, even without reward or instruction.
• This includes helping adults solve problems and sharing resources.
• Warneken’s work is featured in the Netflix series Babies, highlighting how infants naturally act from social concern and relational awareness.
• A related Michigan project investigates the neural circuitry of altruism, showing that caregiving and helping behaviors activate brain systems associated with parental care and social bonding. This suggests altruism is biologically rooted, not culturally imposed.
Fourteen years of developmental psychology research, which includes Felix Warneken’s work at the University of Michigan and the University of Washington’s food-sharing studies does validate infants display spontaneous, untrained altruism. They help others solve problems, share resources, and even give up valuable food when hungry. These behaviors appear before language, before identity, and before social conditioning. This research confirms that selflessness is the biological baseline of the human being, and that selfishness emerges only after collapse enters through fear, scarcity, and ownership... For the survival of Humanity... We have a choice, by means of free will - I Ego (star unto a black hole and removal of life and wisdom - One winner take-all approach, or selfless care-giving for all not just the infant then offering the toddlers doctrine = fears = The tantrum. Look at where following the tantrum has led humanity... Are we better off as a species, or worse? The key being joys can be found in caregiving, as well as winner take all and disregard for everyone and everything beneath....
You’re welcome Jen. But it can also happen to the best of us as well. I have spent months at a time on YouTube watching video after video and wondering afterwards whether my life was any better.
Is not uncommon at all that modern platforms deliberately design for endless, pleasurable consumption that severs information from action, creating a new, subtle form of exploitation of human attention, this is by design, even the head of claude code, mention this, when he said we need to build apps that people feel joy using it. It's the easiest way to monetise, the extraction model...
It was not Dario, it was Boris Cherny. But this is a trend in most tech companies, I have witness this and my colleagues in the field. We need to think about the user experience and the monetisation of it.
Paul - I always love your work and what you are helping others including myself think about and try to think through. I have to personally protect my time out in nature and my head in an old fashion book. Going to read Camus The Stranger in a bit as I am starting to feel estranged from enjoyment in this almighty digital age. I don't want to kill off that part of myself I used to know and related to.
*Closes 7 tabs* ... *yeets laptop into river* ... *bashes cell phone with baseball bat*
Honestly, getting out into nature is one of the only ways I stay sane these days (and then I'll get yet another notification about public land selloff or some Government/Corporate plot to turn Yosemite into a retreat for the ultra elites - this last one is exaggerated).
The prequel to the Matrix seems to be writing itself these days. Human greed is turning their fellow men into the batteries.
Another beautiful aspect of our book club I was mulling over: in a world that's increasingly bombarding us with content and trying to capitalize on our attention, we're doing the opposite. We're intentionally slowing down and working through think physical books containing language written in a slower era. It requires more. But that intentional slowness is like a breath of fresh air, allowing us to truly contemplate these books. Allowing us to slow down (to a pace that's probably more biologically suited for a Dasein's true attention).
Slowness and contemplation are severely underrated.
Exactly Jared. That's my vision... To raise the deep cutting critique and also start to build the solution through the internet. To show what's possible online and create a new renaissance for the humanities and serious thinking.
You couldn't pick a more timely time. Are you still in the ideation phase of what the potential solutions look like?
An odd opportunity in disguise: the world is about to be filled with people with technological abilities being displaced by AI. So "help" shouldn't be too hard to find to build things!
The increasing channeling of human energies towards literally nonsensical goals (Matrix anyone?)
Physical and now psychic energies are being sucked out of people, resulting in a paradoxical emptying of inner life and intentionality, but a saturation of extraneous (and, as you said, uncontextualized, random-like) tiresome stimuli.
I'm wondering, is the appropriation of "the contents of our own minds" a new process, or has there just been an enormous technological leap in effectiveness? What were the ideologies and religions over the past millennia about, if not the appropriation of our thoughts and attention for the benefit of a few?
Like always, giving Paul a read is a good use of my attention. It always ends up in a new question...which is a good thing.
People will refuse sharing with others, donating to church or support someone in need, but will gladly give away their most precious and scarce asset: time.
I’m guilty to having over consumed social media and it’s a difficult habit to break.
This sounds close to Yanis Varoufakis’s idea of “techno-feudalism.” The shift is no longer just from labor exploitation to consumption... it’s from physical exploitation to mental extraction. Platforms profit most when information produces endless engagement but minimal real world action: maximum attention, minimum agency.
Thanks matt, haven’t heard of this but sounds right up my alley! I will look it up.
Also known as “Infinite Jest.” The video tape you watch until you die. Once you start watching, you cannot stop. Quite the novel in its time. Now it’s just today’s news.
I have never read it, and I had no idea what the title referred to. So cool.
I'm glad you mentioned this! I'm a big fan of Wallace, and will always recommend listening to (if you haven't already) the commencement speech he gave under the title of This Is Water, which is relevant to Paul's article. Attention is a limited resource, and one of the few resources that each of us ourselves has control over: where to direct it, who to share it with, and what to use it for; Wallace's speech highlights this importance with regard to everyday life (which might also tie in nicely to the Heidegger course).
I have quoted tha speech before, it’s great. Him and I seem to be on a similar wavelength. I should read his work!
He did indeed. Long term meds stopped working. Broke my heart. ❤️🩹
Maybe we (humans) will need to develop a “brain” to better filter the information.
Something I am planning on writing about charles… haha
This whole piece can be summarized: Humans are born in need of care-giving (altruism and selflessness - or the infant perishes) then something about adulting ego - fears, scarcity, economics societal pressures must offer the toddler fears - yet humans have no predators - Then it must be about leaders and leaderships - controls over the mind, body and spirit of another... So, I ask which is more important - care-giving or allowing owners of resources the power of control over humanity by means of behavior - The creations of objects by means of destruction. Can we, together, build objects without ownership? Freedom (travel, discoveries, group building together) without controlling the resources?
These are some big questions Kevin. I would have to write a few more essays to answer them. I do think that it is possible to avoid many of these problems, but we must take them very seriously and recognize the dangers they pose for us. It's not easy, but its doable.
These questions are answered within a 32 page work housed within The Berggruen Institute as well as with the lead librarian within The Masonic Library in Boston, Massachusetts. This work is not light, but it solidifies the findings University of Michigan — Felix Warneken’s Research on Early Altruism
Core finding: Infants and toddlers spontaneously help others without being taught. This research overturns the old assumption that children are born selfish and must be trained into cooperation.
Key Observations
• Children as young as 18 months show spontaneous helping behaviors.
• They will put another person’s interest ahead of their own, even without reward or instruction.
• This includes helping adults solve problems and sharing resources.
• Warneken’s work is featured in the Netflix series Babies, highlighting how infants naturally act from social concern and relational awareness.
• Neurobiological Extension (Michigan Psychiatry Collaboration)
• A related Michigan project investigates the neural circuitry of altruism, showing that caregiving and helping behaviors activate brain systems associated with parental care and social bonding. This suggests altruism is biologically rooted, not culturally imposed.
Fourteen years of developmental psychology research, which includes Felix Warneken’s work at the University of Michigan and the University of Washington’s food-sharing studies does validate infants display spontaneous, untrained altruism. They help others solve problems, share resources, and even give up valuable food when hungry. These behaviors appear before language, before identity, and before social conditioning. This research confirms that selflessness is the biological baseline of the human being, and that selfishness emerges only after collapse enters through fear, scarcity, and ownership... For the survival of Humanity... We have a choice, by means of free will - I Ego (star unto a black hole and removal of life and wisdom - One winner take-all approach, or selfless care-giving for all not just the infant then offering the toddlers doctrine = fears = The tantrum. Look at where following the tantrum has led humanity... Are we better off as a species, or worse? The key being joys can be found in caregiving, as well as winner take all and disregard for everyone and everything beneath....
Wow thanks for putting this into words by connecting the modern attention economic with the Information / Action Ratio.
Got some great value out of it.
I believe the ones that “need” perspectives like this the most are unfortunately the ones that will never read it.
What a world we live in….
You’re welcome Jen. But it can also happen to the best of us as well. I have spent months at a time on YouTube watching video after video and wondering afterwards whether my life was any better.
Is not uncommon at all that modern platforms deliberately design for endless, pleasurable consumption that severs information from action, creating a new, subtle form of exploitation of human attention, this is by design, even the head of claude code, mention this, when he said we need to build apps that people feel joy using it. It's the easiest way to monetise, the extraction model...
You hit the nail on the head. Do you know where Dario says that?
It was not Dario, it was Boris Cherny. But this is a trend in most tech companies, I have witness this and my colleagues in the field. We need to think about the user experience and the monetisation of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlGRN8jh2RI
Gonna need to go re-evaluate everything. Cheers
Let me know how if I can help brother.
Paul - I always love your work and what you are helping others including myself think about and try to think through. I have to personally protect my time out in nature and my head in an old fashion book. Going to read Camus The Stranger in a bit as I am starting to feel estranged from enjoyment in this almighty digital age. I don't want to kill off that part of myself I used to know and related to.
I love that book Bronce. Have you read it before?
No I’ve been meaning to. I’m reading a book by Adam Phillips about half way through and then a book by James Hollis next. Both very “short”.
Then it is The Stranger. I already have it on my nightstand.
I’m carving time out of each day to read “the old-fashioned” way.
Love that. I am curious what your reaction will be. I love Camus.
I will definitely come back and share it. And I’ll wait to ask your thoughts on him after I get a bit of sense what mine might be.
*Closes 7 tabs* ... *yeets laptop into river* ... *bashes cell phone with baseball bat*
Honestly, getting out into nature is one of the only ways I stay sane these days (and then I'll get yet another notification about public land selloff or some Government/Corporate plot to turn Yosemite into a retreat for the ultra elites - this last one is exaggerated).
The prequel to the Matrix seems to be writing itself these days. Human greed is turning their fellow men into the batteries.
This is on point.
I would love for them to produce a prequel to the matrix!
Also, the follow up to this piece is how we are (our book club) trying to use this technology for good by promoting real learning and connection.
We aren’t doomed, we just need to be aware of the problem and resist!
Another beautiful aspect of our book club I was mulling over: in a world that's increasingly bombarding us with content and trying to capitalize on our attention, we're doing the opposite. We're intentionally slowing down and working through think physical books containing language written in a slower era. It requires more. But that intentional slowness is like a breath of fresh air, allowing us to truly contemplate these books. Allowing us to slow down (to a pace that's probably more biologically suited for a Dasein's true attention).
Slowness and contemplation are severely underrated.
Exactly Jared. That's my vision... To raise the deep cutting critique and also start to build the solution through the internet. To show what's possible online and create a new renaissance for the humanities and serious thinking.
You couldn't pick a more timely time. Are you still in the ideation phase of what the potential solutions look like?
An odd opportunity in disguise: the world is about to be filled with people with technological abilities being displaced by AI. So "help" shouldn't be too hard to find to build things!
👏
Thanks for the clap evan.
Timely article. It evokes a few thoughts:
The increasing channeling of human energies towards literally nonsensical goals (Matrix anyone?)
Physical and now psychic energies are being sucked out of people, resulting in a paradoxical emptying of inner life and intentionality, but a saturation of extraneous (and, as you said, uncontextualized, random-like) tiresome stimuli.
Who benefits.
There are work arounds to this problem. Not easy but practical. https://anirudhchakrahari.substack.com/p/the-deepest-knowing-might-be-the?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=28cxbt
They’ve taken our presence, agency and will and substituted it with dopamine.
I'm wondering, is the appropriation of "the contents of our own minds" a new process, or has there just been an enormous technological leap in effectiveness? What were the ideologies and religions over the past millennia about, if not the appropriation of our thoughts and attention for the benefit of a few?
Like always, giving Paul a read is a good use of my attention. It always ends up in a new question...which is a good thing.
People will refuse sharing with others, donating to church or support someone in need, but will gladly give away their most precious and scarce asset: time.
I’m guilty to having over consumed social media and it’s a difficult habit to break.
Thanks for the article!
this is horrible….what are they even doing to the masses?