technological trends – Stepping Stones

“Future Shock” and the Arrival of ‘Future Work’ in the Post-2020 World | Old Drafts

An old draft of a commercial article written for someone’s ‘remote work’-related business blog. Based on Alvin Toffler’s 1970 book, this abandoned piece was to be slightly rewritten (to smoothen the language) and accompanied by images.

In recent decades, the forms and conduct of work have been changing with increasing rapidity. The ceaseless march of technological development has largely been the catalyst for this transformation, primarily by a revolution in telecommunications but also due to the huge advancements and commercialization of computing technologies. Thus with the innovations of the internet and email, followed by Wi-Fi and smartphones, Progress has been changing not only the way in which work is conducted but also the type of work needed to be done.
Technological progress can therefore be considered as the overarching context of the changing world of work, both from an historical and futurist perspective. Recently, however, this overarching context has been abruptly augmented as a result of the global pandemic that emerged in early 2020, in that the developments and repercussions of it were immediately instated as an ongoingly exigent context of life (evidenced by its domination of both social and industry news—and indeed, News in general). In particular, pandemic control measures have affected all normal life in the most radical of ways, forcing culture and society at large to adapt from the habitual conventions of 21^st century modernity to newly designed forms and means of social and occupational activity.
A profound effect of this process – most salient to those aware of the overarching context pre-existent to it – is the catalyzation of the techno-generated transformation of work; for effectively, the pandemic has fast-tracked the very trends that Progress had established in recent decades, whilst also prompting novel developments which, nevertheless, seem to be in keeping with the cultural ideologies that advocate and facilitate Progress.

So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, by Jon Ronson – Notes & Themes + Related Media

Thematically organised book notes (enhanced extracts) from Jon Ronson’s seminal book on modern (online) public shaming, supplemented by references to relevant media.

So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed: A Micro Book Review

The book So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson (2015) is a seminal examination of the modern form of public shaming – namely, online shaming – which been made increasingly prominent by the expansion and intensification of social media culture.
Although the text is a little lightweight for my preferences, the writing is effective and revealing of its topic. Ronson’s documentary style approach that blends some philosophy into investigative interview is quite fitting here, particularly in introducing the world of online shaming. Shamed seems especially valuable in that it appears to be the first popular work to explore and assess the nature of online shaming in its social and personal effects.
Since the book is based on a broad variety of personal insights that are revealing of human nature and cultural conditions, I imagine that most would find interest in its content even if not particularly engaged with social media (ironically, it so happened that I only signed up to ~~Twitter~~ 𝕏 a few months after having read this book).

The Book Notes

The notes featured in this post are composed from my extracted highlights of the book and consist largely of my paraphrases of the original text. However, I have also altered, elaborated, and added to Ronson’s details and points to represent what I considered to be the essential significance of each passage. Thus, instead of creating a notes summary of the book I’ve compiled its most substantial information such to enhance the reception of its significance.

Solitude in Context – Part I: Being and Culture

The first in a series on solitude and solitary activity, this article outlines the personal, interpersonal, and social modes of being before discussing how postmodern culture obscures solitude and attenuates personal being.

*A consideration of* *personal being in the postmodern world.*

Solitude is an integral aspect of human experience, hence its eternal relevance. By intention or by circumstance to either positive or negative effect, people experience periods of aloneness to some extent and degree. More fundamentally, a human being is a separate sentient entity prior to his associations with others, no matter the degree to which he is immersed in a social environment. Thus, solitude is an inherent aspect of life whether one cultivates it personally or suppresses it collectively.

Based on my regular practice of solitary activities (which are to be the topic of subsequent articles), this article establishes solitude as an important yet misrepresented aspect of life. After outlining modes of being I then discuss the sociocultural status of solitude in the postmodern world, specifically, the various ways it has been disassociated from its authentic meaning and demoted from its traditional value.

Russia-Ukraine for ‘Years and Years’ – Part IV: Concentration Camps (Neo-Fascism)

Part IV of an article series examining themes from the British dystopian series Years and Years that have become pertinent following the Russia-Ukraine War.

From beginning to end Years and Years – through the character Vivienne Rook and her Four Star Party – illustrates the process by which pantomime politics produces perilous populism—and how Britain becomes a mirror image of its historical Nazi nemesis.

Parts I, II, and III of this article series examined the various societal and international themes derived from the prophetic fiction series Years and Years, specifically those that have become ever more pertinent due to the Russia-Ukraine War and its emergent consequences. Respectively, the themes discussed were Refugee & Housing Crises, Nuclear Attack & World War, and Financial & Employment Crises. Furthermore, this particular succession of socio-international themes was shown to comprise a logical chain reaction of crises that can be traced through the series’ narrative, implicitly when not explicitly.
Part IV presents the culmination of this chain reaction of developments in what can be thought of as their sociopolitical ‘endgame’ and the ‘comeuppance’ of accumulated follies: neo-fascism*.

*To avoid ambiguity in using this term, the Wikipedia definition will suffice here: “Neo-fascism is a post-World War II ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia and anti-immigration sentiment as well as opposition to liberal democracy, parliamentarianism, liberalism, Marxism, capitalism, communism, and socialism.”

Russia-Ukraine for ‘Years and Years’ – Part III: Economic Collapse (Banking & Employment Crises)

Part III of an article series examining themes from the British dystopian series Years and Years that have become pertinent following the Russia-Ukraine War.

‘…and War begat **Sanctions**… and Sanctions begat **Banking Crash**… and Banking Crash begat **Financial Crisis**… and Financial Crisis begat **Unemployment**… and *Unemployment* begat…’ So continues the *Years and Years* prophecy…

Part I and Part II of this article series discussed the themes of housing crisis and limited nuclear war, as represented in the prophetic fiction series Years and Years and in relation to the ramifications of the Russia-Ukraine War, both primarily with concern to British society.
The theme explored in Part III is one emphasized in the second episode and remains a consistent theme throughout Years and Years: Economic Collapse. In fact, the series shows multiple economic crises to be indirect effects of the nuclear attack, thereby suggesting the consequences of an equivalent action in the real world; and more specifically, the political (re)action to it and the ramifications of such an action.

RETROverdose (on Strangely Familiar Things) | Stranger Things & Retromania

An article on Stranger Things (SPOILER: it’s duffing long!)

Retromania: from the 2000s onward, pop culture has lacked the creative, future-oriented, dynamic energy of the previous decades: rather than opening the future, it inaugurated the ‘Re’ era, i.e. dominated by the ‘re-’ prefix – such as in revivals, reissues, remakes, re-enactments – thus representing endless retrospection.
The post-millennium ushered in an era of unoriginality that feeds on its own history, trades in references, and quickly begun to rework material from a past that is increasingly immediate—thus has pop culture turned into an endless act of regurgitation.

What does this have to do with Stranger Things? With the debut of this series in 2016, pop culture has seen a particular development of retromania: from the mania of retro, i.e. the cultural pervasiveness of it; to the intensification of retro, i.e. the artifactual over-dosage of it.

And hence: Retroverdose (on strangely familiar things)…