Visakan Veerasamy

Not necessarily pushing away, but they keep out the B people, I guess. But yeah, so if you are not rigorous about your information environment and who you allow to take up your time and energy and attention, cynicism becomes a natural response because you keep seeing failures and you keep seeing evidence of people bullshitting you.

And if you look out into the world, there's always people bullshitting. I have an essay I want to write. I haven't written yet. It's called Shitwatch. And it's like, it's already funny. It's like the social media algorithms incentivize high arousal emotions. And so there are people who, whether coordinated or not, end up... So the analogy I give is, imagine there's a group of people in your city

And if you look out into the world, there's always people bullshitting. I have an essay I want to write. I haven't written yet. It's called Shitwatch. And it's like, it's already funny. It's like the social media algorithms incentivize high arousal emotions. And so there are people who, whether coordinated or not, end up... So the analogy I give is, imagine there's a group of people in your city

And if you look out into the world, there's always people bullshitting. I have an essay I want to write. I haven't written yet. It's called Shitwatch. And it's like, it's already funny. It's like the social media algorithms incentivize high arousal emotions. And so there are people who, whether coordinated or not, end up... So the analogy I give is, imagine there's a group of people in your city

who go around looking for like the worst public toilets they can find. And then they look for the shit and then they scoop up the shit and they present it to you. And he say, Hey, Hey, here, look at this shit, smell it, taste it. I don't know. And you'd be like, that's disgusting. What's wrong with you? Right. But we do the equivalent.

who go around looking for like the worst public toilets they can find. And then they look for the shit and then they scoop up the shit and they present it to you. And he say, Hey, Hey, here, look at this shit, smell it, taste it. I don't know. And you'd be like, that's disgusting. What's wrong with you? Right. But we do the equivalent.

who go around looking for like the worst public toilets they can find. And then they look for the shit and then they scoop up the shit and they present it to you. And he say, Hey, Hey, here, look at this shit, smell it, taste it. I don't know. And you'd be like, that's disgusting. What's wrong with you? Right. But we do the equivalent.

equivalent with, like, information and content and be like, oh, here's these people fighting. Here's this... And it's like, you know, in a city of millions of people, there's going to be someone fighting somewhere. And if you can scroll through some feeds where it's, like, fight compilations and it's just, oh, my God.

equivalent with, like, information and content and be like, oh, here's these people fighting. Here's this... And it's like, you know, in a city of millions of people, there's going to be someone fighting somewhere. And if you can scroll through some feeds where it's, like, fight compilations and it's just, oh, my God.

equivalent with, like, information and content and be like, oh, here's these people fighting. Here's this... And it's like, you know, in a city of millions of people, there's going to be someone fighting somewhere. And if you can scroll through some feeds where it's, like, fight compilations and it's just, oh, my God.

In five minutes of scrolling, you would think that the whole world is, like, full of people fighting. But if you go out into a restaurant, everyone's just sitting around having lunch or dinner, you know? And it's... So there's that... With regards to cynicism, I think it's very much a function of how well you curate your information.

In five minutes of scrolling, you would think that the whole world is, like, full of people fighting. But if you go out into a restaurant, everyone's just sitting around having lunch or dinner, you know? And it's... So there's that... With regards to cynicism, I think it's very much a function of how well you curate your information.

In five minutes of scrolling, you would think that the whole world is, like, full of people fighting. But if you go out into a restaurant, everyone's just sitting around having lunch or dinner, you know? And it's... So there's that... With regards to cynicism, I think it's very much a function of how well you curate your information.

And I think there's this unfortunate tendency for people, especially intellectual types, who want things to be objective. And I remember thinking this way as well. I need to know all of the bad things. I need to know the truth. You know that somewhere out there, there is shit. True, you don't need to be in denial of that. But you also don't need to go around sniffing it. You know what I mean?

And I think there's this unfortunate tendency for people, especially intellectual types, who want things to be objective. And I remember thinking this way as well. I need to know all of the bad things. I need to know the truth. You know that somewhere out there, there is shit. True, you don't need to be in denial of that. But you also don't need to go around sniffing it. You know what I mean?

And I think there's this unfortunate tendency for people, especially intellectual types, who want things to be objective. And I remember thinking this way as well. I need to know all of the bad things. I need to know the truth. You know that somewhere out there, there is shit. True, you don't need to be in denial of that. But you also don't need to go around sniffing it. You know what I mean?

You don't need to immerse yourself in that. So my recommendation is always to do an audit of what you have been consuming, what you have been reading, who you're talking to. How does that make you feel? Does it inspire you towards action? Does it inspire you to make things better? If it doesn't, if it's making you feel more helpless, more angry, all of those things, then what's the point? Yeah.

You don't need to immerse yourself in that. So my recommendation is always to do an audit of what you have been consuming, what you have been reading, who you're talking to. How does that make you feel? Does it inspire you towards action? Does it inspire you to make things better? If it doesn't, if it's making you feel more helpless, more angry, all of those things, then what's the point? Yeah.

You don't need to immerse yourself in that. So my recommendation is always to do an audit of what you have been consuming, what you have been reading, who you're talking to. How does that make you feel? Does it inspire you towards action? Does it inspire you to make things better? If it doesn't, if it's making you feel more helpless, more angry, all of those things, then what's the point? Yeah.

And even just knowing that you can experience different realities by modifying what you allow in, I think that's a huge... As a way of overcoming cynicism. And to be fair, as a species, we are new to having smartphones. It's been like 15 years, 16, 17 years. And it takes time for the collective... to develop antibodies and proper protocols.