Difference between revisions of "18: Slipping the DISC: State of The Portal and Chapter 2020"

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What I find is that since Lindbergh it has been very rare to elevate any individual to the point where they can oppose our institutions. The Pete Seegers and Albert Einsteins of the world, who fought against McCarthyism, were a huge danger to the industry that was cropping up around anti-communism. When it came to the Vietnam War, it was very dangerous to have popular entertainers, like John Lennon, who were against it.
What I find is that since Lindbergh it has been very rare to elevate any individual to the point where they can oppose our institutions. The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Seeger Pete Seeger]s and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein Albert Einstein]s of the world, who fought against [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism McCarthyism], were a huge danger to the industry that was cropping up around anti-communism. When it came to the Vietnam War, it was very dangerous to have popular entertainers, like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon John Lennon], who were against it.


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We have been frightened about individuals coming to rival our institutions, in terms of power. And that's what's so great about the new revolution in long-form podcasting, and all of these other forms of social media. Now, we have a great danger in that most of these platforms are mediated. We saw what happened to Alex Jones. It's quite possible that if these powerful institutions come to believe that a particular individual should be removed, they can always choose to enforce the rules in a different way. We saw recently the advent of Terms-of-Service changes to include deadnaming. Now if I say that Walter Carlos composed the album Switched-On Bach, or performed the album Switched-On Bach, that is a true statement. But because Walter Carlos became Wendy Carlos, I have no idea whether or not I can be accused of deadnaming. Now imagine that you have a hundred such rules, rules that are never spelled out, never clear, that can be enforced any which way to deny someone access to the major platforms. This is the great danger with this moment. We have unprecedented access, but we also have a gating function, which can be turned on at any time if we fall out of line with the institutions.  
We have been frightened about individuals coming to rival our institutions, in terms of power. And that's what's so great about the new revolution in long-form podcasting, and all of these other forms of social media. Now, we have a great danger in that most of these platforms are mediated. We saw what happened to Alex Jones. It's quite possible that if these powerful institutions come to believe that a particular individual should be removed, they can always choose to enforce the rules in a different way. We saw recently the advent of Terms-of-Service changes to include [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transphobia#Misgendering_and_exclusion deadnaming]. Now if I say that Walter Carlos composed the album [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-On_Bach Switched-On Bach], or performed the album Switched-On Bach, that is a true statement. But because Walter Carlos became [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Carlos Wendy Carlos], I have no idea whether or not I can be accused of deadnaming. Now imagine that you have a hundred such rules, rules that are never spelled out, never clear, that can be enforced any which way to deny someone access to the major platforms. This is the great danger with this moment. We have unprecedented access, but we also have a gating function, which can be turned on at any time if we fall out of line with the institutions.  


I want to read you one tweet that has been on my mind for quite some time. This tweet came from a contributor to The Washington Post, who is a professor at the Fletcher School and it said, "Good Morning Eric"—I'm going to leave out the parentheses—"So I read up on a few of your notions, and I have some thoughts, but my basic conclusion is simple: What's true isn't new, and what's new isn't true."
I want to read you one tweet that has been on my mind for quite some time. This tweet came from a contributor to The Washington Post, who is a professor at the Fletcher School and it said, "Good Morning Eric"—I'm going to leave out the parentheses—"So I read up on a few of your notions, and I have some thoughts, but my basic conclusion is simple: What's true isn't new, and what's new isn't true."

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