Sanitized and Sanitized
My sticky notes from Jon Ronson's The Castle:
On ChatGPT:
Millions were falling for the machine's obsequiousness. It felt like another ripple from the downfall of the old institutions. Structures fall apart, people become directionless, and the tech companies swoop in with new ways to monetize our feeling of purposelessness -- our desire to be of use -- by telling us we aren't worthless.
On the era of public shaming:
People didn't like being told what to do by groups of ideologically driven or bored strangers, and they hated feeling scared that Twitter might turn on them at any moment. And as a consequence of the overuse of shame as a weapon, transgressors hardened. They mutated like hospital superbugs, sanitized and sanitized until they became impervious to treatment. Refusing to feel ashamed was healthy if the shaming had been inappropriate, but people started brushing the shame off no matter the seriousness of their wrongdoing.
And maybe now we are seeing another mutation, from unashamedness to the next level, disinhibition -- impulsive, unconstrained behaviour.
Tech moguls like Elon Musk appeared to be delighting in the chaos. X's For You section, the curated content, was now awash with murders and car crashes and torture. It was as stomach-churning as #Elsagate, but intentional this time, not an algo rhythmic glitch.
On directionless men:
he'd decided that if society didn't have a stake in him, he'd reciprocate in kind.