The Resurgence of Ancestral Technologies in the Digital Age
Written on
As digital technologies and traditional medicine evolve rapidly, we are witnessing a corresponding revival of ancestral practices and technologies.
In a world dominated by screens, where even children are increasingly immersed in digital interactions, it's natural to feel uneasy about whether this trend represents true "progress."
Before discussing the resurgence of ancestral technologies and remedies, it's crucial to examine the troubling dynamics of a reality driven by corporate interests, especially within digital technologies and conventional medicine.
Skepticism about the monopolistic power of tech giants like Facebook, Google, and Airbnb is common. Many of these platforms are designed to be addictive, and while they promise increased convenience and connectivity, the reality is often a more sterile and isolated existence. People are starting to recognize the importance of face-to-face interactions, often referred to as "meatspace" in tech jargon.
These major tech corporations continue to privatize our interactions, mining our data and making us more dependent on their platforms. The level of control they exert can indeed feel insidious.
Take OkCupid, for instance; it exemplifies the current era of techno-fascism. The app profits from users remaining on the platform rather than forming lasting relationships, leading to a culture where users cannot express certain desires or share outside interests unless they pertain to dating. This encourages superficial interactions while capitalizing on the overwhelming number of choices that hinder genuine connection.
Are Women More Censored and Surveilled in Online Dating?
I’ve been banned from three dating apps, and no, I did not harass anyone.
medium.com
The crackdown on content by companies like Skype, Microsoft, and Reddit is becoming more pronounced, with many users facing removal or shadow-banning for posting anything deemed objectionable. As we navigate this digital landscape, women are facing increased censorship and harm.
If these legislative measures are not genuinely beneficial and are making life riskier for women and marginalized groups, why have they gained traction? According to Aja Romano's article in Vox, “A network of corporate giants stands to gain significantly from the SOSTA-FESTA bill package” (2018).
Why We Need Earth Technologies to Counteract Conventional Medicine and Digital Technologies
Living in the matrix of late-stage capitalism with exponentially accelerating digital technologies, you likely have…
healinglivmama.medium.com
Romano further explains how this legislative package threatens free speech and consolidates power within large tech companies: “Whether or not Section 230 is ultimately weakened overall because of FOSTA-SESTA, it seems clear that we’re in a moment when many freedoms and protections we previously assumed were part of the web are being systematically unraveled” (Romano, 2018). Four years later, we find ourselves in a techno-fascist surveillance state.
Digital technologies were born from the promise of empowering individuals and democratizing global communication (as noted in Markoff’s What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry, 2006). While many perceive the internet as a realization of the idea that "information wants to be free," few understand the complete context of this phrase. The original author, hacker Stewart Brand, also stated that "information wants to be expensive." This paradox has exacerbated misinformation and censorship online while fueling the privatization and data mining of users.
Brand's full quote is: “Information Wants To Be Free. Information also wants to be expensive. Information wants to be free because it has become so cheap to distribute, copy, and recombine — too cheap to meter. It wants to be expensive because it can be immeasurably valuable to the recipient.” The tension between these two desires complicates the ongoing debates surrounding pricing, copyright, and intellectual property, ultimately worsening the situation with each technological advancement.
As access to information increases, its reliability often declines. Google, for instance, functions more like a commercial search engine than a library, ranking information based on algorithms rather than credibility. Big Tech thrives on this paradox, profiting from both the idea that information should be free and its inherent value.
Anna Wiener, in her memoir Uncanny Valley, notes that “Data collection and retention were unregulated. Investors salivated over predictive analytics…” (2020). Similarly, conventional Western medicine often distances individuals from their own bodies and connections with others.
Sex worker and activist Olivia Snow discusses the implications of SOSTA/FESTA, stating that it effectively criminalizes sex workers’ online presence. Under such scrutiny, discussing sex work becomes a risk (2022). She highlights that the surveillance by Big Tech and financial institutions foreshadowed the overturning of Roe v. Wade and escalating state oversight.
Snow emphasizes that combating this surveillance begins with rejecting any misplaced trust in the state. The intent behind FOSTA and related measures is not to eliminate sex work or abortions; rather, they are about power (Snow, 2022).
alt: Photograph representing the current state of surveillance and control
In a time when surveillance and control are on the rise, and women have lost autonomy over their bodies and choices, reclaiming a sense of self and learning to communicate beyond these systems is a powerful act of defiance.
While Big Tech and Big Pharma may persist, it is unsurprising that individuals are pushing back, seeking to restore earth-based medicines to their rightful place and decentralize the Internet. The green wave and psychedelic renaissance are gaining momentum as the medicinal benefits of substances like cannabis and psilocybin mushrooms become increasingly recognized. Information, after all, is both free and costly; it simply requires knowing where to look.
Sources:
Grinspoon, Peter, M.D. (August 11, 2021). “The endocannabinoid system: Essential and mysterious.” Harvard Health Publishing. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-endocannabinoid-system-essential-and-mysterious-202108112569
Lattin, Don. (2017). Changing Our Minds: Psychedelic Sacraments and the New Psychotherapy. Synergetic Press: Santa Fe and London.
Mader, Stewart. (2009). “Stewart Brand: Information wants to be free. It also wants to be expensive.” Retrieved from https://www.stewartmader.com/stewart-brand-information-wants-to-be-free-it-also-wants-to-be-expensive/
Markoff, John. (2006). What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry. Penguin Books.
Merry Jane. (2020). The CBD Solution: How Cannabis, CBD, and Other Plant Allies Can Change Your Everyday Life. Lauren Wilson, Ed. Chronicle Books.
Mushroom References. (October 19, 2022). A Curated List of References Relevant to Physicians, Scientists and the Intellectually Curious. Retrieved from https://mushroomreferences.com/
Pollan, M. (2018). How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/529343/how-to-change-your-mind-by-michael-pollan/
Romano, Aja. (July 2, 2018). “A new law intended to curb sex trafficking threatens the future of the internet as we know it.” Vox.com. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/4/13/17172762/fosta-sesta-backpage-230-internet-freedom
Snow, Olivia. (June 27, 2022). “Are You Ready to Be Surveilled Like a Sex Worker?” Wired. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/story/roe-abortion-sex-worker-policy/
Wiener, Anna. (2020). Uncanny Valley: A Memoir. Picador: New York.