I identified with this post immediately -- both because of the Cixin Liu reference and my own behavior recently.
Before: good opsec, ad blockers, minimal social media under my own name, anonymous and pseudonymous accounts, etc.
Now:
Between 5 and 10 spam, scam or phishing voice calls every day to mobile phone, home phone and office phone.
So now I never answer any phone unless I'm expecting your call and all ringers are always off.
Political operatives of every persuasion are knocking on my door at home several times a week, and there's not even an election on right now. They all have mobile apps, logging every interaction in a central database.
So now I don't answer my own door at home.
Used to enjoy discussing current events, economics, geopolitics, tech policy with family and work friends. We usually disagreed, but it was fun to talk and often I learned a new perspective.
But now these discussions are amped up to 11, emotionally charged in every direction, so these conversations only happen with intimate friends now.
I'm either living in a dark forest or I'm a turtle withdrawing into its shell.
Meanwhile, others in my neighborhood are emerging from their shells, flying confederate flags and more obscure but hateful symbols, and advocating neighborhood militias on Nextdoor.
Before: good opsec, ad blockers, minimal social media under my own name, anonymous and pseudonymous accounts, etc.
Now:
Between 5 and 10 spam, scam or phishing voice calls every day to mobile phone, home phone and office phone.
So now I never answer any phone unless I'm expecting your call and all ringers are always off.
Political operatives of every persuasion are knocking on my door at home several times a week, and there's not even an election on right now. They all have mobile apps, logging every interaction in a central database.
So now I don't answer my own door at home.
Used to enjoy discussing current events, economics, geopolitics, tech policy with family and work friends. We usually disagreed, but it was fun to talk and often I learned a new perspective.
But now these discussions are amped up to 11, emotionally charged in every direction, so these conversations only happen with intimate friends now.
I'm either living in a dark forest or I'm a turtle withdrawing into its shell.
Meanwhile, others in my neighborhood are emerging from their shells, flying confederate flags and more obscure but hateful symbols, and advocating neighborhood militias on Nextdoor.