Thanks for sharing my core concept, Jon. I'm glad you liked it. And the way you wove your analysis and examples around quotes from our conversation made for a strong narrative. The more I dive into the idea, the sticker it seems to get. So, I'm going to expand more on TechnoMedievalism next week and will keep you in the loop.
Thanks for making it available to me, John. I'll look forward to having you flesh it out further, and will restack whatever you post in order to keep readers informed.
Really enjoyed this, Jon. Your framing of Techno-Medievalism as a return to control, division, and top-down repression (just dressed in tech) is spot on. The comparison to serfdom and nobles really clicked for me, especially when you touched on how tech isn't freeing us, it's reinforcing the hierarchy.
The part that really stuck with me was your take on science being gutted by the same people who claim to champion progress. That contradiction feels like the heart of so much of this.
Looking forward to the next instalment. There's so much here to sit with.
John's thesis of the U.S. regressing to medieval feudalism ironically calls to mind the fears expressed by Friedrich Hayek in his "The Road to Serfdom," a fave of today's so-called conservatives. (Of course, irony is lost on today's regressives.)
We are deep, ever deeper, into a dark era. Technology allows the rampant production of lies that appear rational but are AI created and swallowed wholesale by a media that is either in the business of promoting the lies or a media that still believes that if the government produces it, it must be given respect and go basically unchallenged. Few communities are being bashed with this trend more often than trans people. Junk non-science is treated with respect; rebuttal is dismissed as one-sided. We have a long way to go to get back to the truth, let along to democracy, if we ever do.
Thanks for sharing my core concept, Jon. I'm glad you liked it. And the way you wove your analysis and examples around quotes from our conversation made for a strong narrative. The more I dive into the idea, the sticker it seems to get. So, I'm going to expand more on TechnoMedievalism next week and will keep you in the loop.
Thanks for making it available to me, John. I'll look forward to having you flesh it out further, and will restack whatever you post in order to keep readers informed.
Really enjoyed this, Jon. Your framing of Techno-Medievalism as a return to control, division, and top-down repression (just dressed in tech) is spot on. The comparison to serfdom and nobles really clicked for me, especially when you touched on how tech isn't freeing us, it's reinforcing the hierarchy.
It complements something I recently wrote, which zooms in on how this plays out on the ground. Less kings and castles, more dashboards and mouse movement. The same structure, just in a modern uniform. We’re not just being watched anymore, we’re being modelled to perform compliance and call it productivity. https://open.substack.com/pub/noisyghost/p/techno-feudalism-at-work-the-factory?r=5fir91&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
The part that really stuck with me was your take on science being gutted by the same people who claim to champion progress. That contradiction feels like the heart of so much of this.
Looking forward to the next instalment. There's so much here to sit with.
Can't wiat to read!!
"The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know."
John's thesis of the U.S. regressing to medieval feudalism ironically calls to mind the fears expressed by Friedrich Hayek in his "The Road to Serfdom," a fave of today's so-called conservatives. (Of course, irony is lost on today's regressives.)
We are deep, ever deeper, into a dark era. Technology allows the rampant production of lies that appear rational but are AI created and swallowed wholesale by a media that is either in the business of promoting the lies or a media that still believes that if the government produces it, it must be given respect and go basically unchallenged. Few communities are being bashed with this trend more often than trans people. Junk non-science is treated with respect; rebuttal is dismissed as one-sided. We have a long way to go to get back to the truth, let along to democracy, if we ever do.
We seem to be serfing the internet on our smartphones, or at least it feels that way. It would be funnier if it didn't suck so much out of us.
Well done!