🧵 View Thread
🧵 Thread (19 tweets)
one of the coolest things about 7 year old visa was that he saw the WWW and almost immediately thought, in less articulate terms, "I have to get on it. it is the most obviously important thing I should do with my life. get online and post stuff. it is my ticket to freedom" https://t.co/pTN3KHbNXu
well idk if I thought in terms of freedom at the time. I was probably thinking in terms of libraries. libraries = heaven. the internet = mega-digital-library where you can write without asking for anybody's permission. even a child can post on the internet, and I did. a lot.
I used to play in bands as a teenager – I don't think I would have done that if not for the fact that there were music websites. I didn't know for sure that youtube and streaming were going to become things – we wanted to record and sell CDs. but we wanted to sell them online
but just. there are millions!!! of people online. surely SOME of them will want to be my friend. if I am earnest, and kind, and thoughtful, and friendly, and funny, and interesting. surely. 0.1% of people would want to be my friend
this was even before I knew about google!!! I was just thinking, i could tell people about my homepage. I would put it in my forum signature, and if people like my replies, they might check out my homepage. maybe sign my guestbook. aw fuck yeah,,,, guests!! on MY homepage!!
so when I was like 12 years old... the most important thing in my life was posting on internet forums. I was arguing passionately with people about the power levels of video game characters instead of doing my homework. On retrospect THAT WAS 100% THE CORRECT THING TO DO
IMHO, people keep saying this bc they don't realize how risky a "low-risk life" actually is. I'm seeing it happen now. so many of my peers from childhood who took the "safe, verified paths" that were designed for them are anxious, depressed, feeling empty https://t.co/ABusbCW0I6
I don't think of myself as a risk-seeking person at all. I don't gamble. I don't go out much. I was a picky eater. I married the first girl who showed any interest in me. I don't seek out risk. Posting on the internet was, for me, an exercise in de-risking my life. Still is
was talking about a related-ish thing with my wife recently – iirc, hunters back in the day would hunt big game. and you can't eat a mammoth by yourself. so you share it with your buddies. and they share their mammoth with you next time. de-risking via social networks
this is what de-risking actually looks like, to me. making friends with people everywhere in the world. if my country goes to shit tomorrow (for eg), I can go to another one and trust that people will hook me up, set me up https://t.co/BSS6XbqAwu
to me, it is risky to not have: - alt models of reality - alt sources of meaning - alt scenes and social graphs to hang out in - alt identities - alt jobs/income sources they don't teach *any* of this in school, & people end up depressed, suicidal, abusive... it's insane to me
vaguely feeling now like I had at least 1 or 2 friends who had family members who committed suicide in the wake of the 1997 asian financial crisis men with "Stable Jobs", the kind you wear ties in the 1st time I wore a tie in sch, I knew I never wanted to wear one for work
Me, aged 17: how can you trust employers? the economy? Everything is built on lies and manipulation Friend: lol chill out you conspiracy nerd *12 years later* Friend: I got fired, haven’t paid off my student loans, and people tell me to code Me: *deep breath* I’m so sorry
to be clear, I do not look down on people for being bad at thinking about risk, understanding risk, or taking appropriate actions to mitigate risk i love people. i thought that was obvious, lol i'm just saying, there is a systemic problem here https://t.co/ssji2vF0Zf