Oliver Burkeman's a hero.
I was feeling sad, overwhelmed, unmanaged, and then I read his latest newsletter, and then I felt better. Unbelievable how people can do that, I think, isn't it?
There's a quote below from Karl Ove Knausgaard that he put in his newsletter. It's definitely worth reading, it’s definitely worth searching out. The essence of it, though, is this. It's absolutely possible to have knowledge of anything in the world now, right at the tip of your fingers.
You can see pictures better than those you can see through your own eyes from almost anywhere, but you cannot experience them.
In 2018, I got to travel to the Great Wall of China in a car with two Chinese guys that I'd never met. I've seen images and images of it my whole life, I knew you could see it from space. The truth is, I was disappointed, but I stood on it, kicked it, ran up it, ran back down, at least the bit I was at.
I experienced it rather than just having knowledge of it; I got to make up my own mind.
One of the things that was missing there was somebody to share it with, to talk to about it. I think I would have appreciated it more if it were someone I cared about with me. I think that's the same for all sorts of experiences (like the cinema club).
What we've lost in life, though, in a great way, is the understanding that looking at something on a screen is the same as looking at something, or being somewhere virtually is the same as being somewhere.
It isn't, and it will never be until the cyborgs take over.
As we spend more and more of our time in cyberspace and less and less of our time experiencing the things it shows us, we will get worse and worse.
Still time to turn the old tanker around.
Blog Post Number - 4321
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