Ad Profundis
In the past 30 years, the insatiable human desire for connection has invariably imprinted itself into the technology woven into everyday life. As such, in the 21st century, connectivity has risen to unprecedented levels, but many have observed that most people have less interpersonal relationships than previous generations. Specifically, the same outlets that previously housed the roots of online interaction silently forgo some of the most important aspects of mutual connection. The cascading effect from an entire generation pouring their livelihoods out onto screens has critically warped the perception of camaraderie that most people truly desire, and instead has ironically supplanted it with arbitrary symbols “representing” true connection. As such, the struggle for likes, hearts, follows, and subscriptions is not yet enough to fill the void within daily life, and thus, leaves millions of individuals subsequently stranded in their own sanctuaries.
As the disparity in access to fellowship grows between older generations and younger generations, it has left millions functionally unable to perform the act of bonding with other people. This is partially by design, as technological obsession has forged a society that is highly committed to keeping these interactions online. This has effectively allowed the individual to selectively lose their presence in the moment in exchange for the accompaniment of their own curated streams of content. This dilemma is a critically challenging one, as it would be hard for any individual to outright deny the need for connection, but the norms that have been enforced often leave an individual blind to the necessary steps needed to remedy this pit of longing in their stomach. This problem has only accelerated in recent years, producing an impetus for companies to make users dependent, stay chronically online, and keep them there.
Ultimately, the individual finds themselves in a state of limbo. Caught between the necessity of a social presence and the pragmatism of a chronically online existence, the individual—now transmorphed into the “user”—becomes fully embedded within a faux reality. This mental state, entrenched in empty verbiage and symbolic praise, is one that is highly vulnerable and almost entirely malleable. The user no longer acts for themselves, and instead attempts to find company amongst an invisible peanut gallery of nameless “viewers.” Through this lens, the user devolves into the “parasite,” constantly consuming, constantly shouting into ears that simply don't exist.
This fate is as unenviable as it gets, marking the final stage before psychosis and the death of the previously referenced individual as a concept. Because an individual can be rhetorically defined as someone capable of authentically imprinting themselves onto the surrounding populace—an ability now surrendered to consumption. Under this pretext, a person simultaneously loses their means to escape alongside the will to do so in the first place. These depths, this psychological abyss, is functionally the last frontier before the body itself becomes infected. Incapable of escape, the bedroom becomes a tomb, housing the remains of something that was once human. This may truly be the new postmodern horror, but it is far too common for it to be colloquially considered so.
In order to actively avoid this state, one must remain vigilant towards the consistent strides social platforms take towards keeping them addicted—for the aforementioned final, decrepit state is, maliciously, the most profitable for those feeding said content, and remains the point of highest wealth extraction that a user may provide. The first step towards actively denying oneself this terrible end remains first to being invariably committed towards an authentic existence. The consequences of doing so reveal themselves almost immediately—creation becomes the normative state of being, and consumption only rearises as a means to fuel more creation. Thus, the ascent is begun with a step into a higher plane of function. To iterate, in the previous context, blind consumption rears its head as a mundane, yet instinctual task, no different from eating or sleeping. Escaping this carnal, almost primitive state of living is achieved through the aforementioned thrust into creative craving.
Baptized by the flame of potential, the light of purpose can only be seen when the primal urges are adequately satiated. The next step is a redefinition of connection to suit the modern age. Specifically, the individual must understand that in order to be transformed by connection, one must allow themselves to be hurt by it. Without vulnerability, without a visible silhouette to interact with, connection over the online domain is robbed of the stakes that mortalize the words and feelings exchanged. There is comfort in this seemingly self-sacrificial methodology. As humans, we must bear our scars to reveal the truth behind the wounds that spawned them.
Finally, we stumble upon the active ingredient embedded within social existence, within its own continuum of exchange—virtue. The refraction of morality to fit daily life, the seal of human thought inscribed upon thoughts spoken as words; the virtue that we impose upon the connections that we cultivate is a basic epithet to freedom itself. The obtrusion of nuance, ethics, and causality upon the self through an unrequitable denial of the status quo, is by all means, the final act of self-conquest. This newfound autonomy, ironically, is a greeting for a neuroticism of its own. There are an uncountable number of psychological and existential epiphanies ready to knock on the entrance of one’s conscience, to forcibly pacify the newly risen person into the previous abyss. As such, to truly emerge from the depths is to be met with increasingly difficult challenges, and to fight simply armed with the clarity that proclaims: the obstacle itself is the path.
Written by Pranav Rajkumar, Design: Rutuju Wadekar, Social Media: Sahithra Kesavan