A Life You Can Touch
Why we're returning to craftsmanship, conversation, everyday pleasures, and everything that still feels real. Also inside: seven ways to create a more beautiful life.
The funniest thing I read this week was about a wildlife sanctuary in the east of England that took in five African grey parrots, only to discover they had a habit of swearing at visitors. Whenever one let fly with an expletive, the others would erupt into what could only be described as laughter, egging each other on until the keepers eventually had to separate them.
The most alarming thing I read this week was altogether less amusing: it was the realisation that I had misunderstood social media all along. I had always assumed its purpose was simply to capture our attention long enough to sell us something. It turns out that selling us something may only ever have been the means to another end: these platforms are trying to alter the way we think, what we believe, even who we become. It’s a troubling idea, and one I haven’t been able to stop thinking about.
For years the internet rewarded whatever could scale. Platforms grew larger, cities became more alike, careers moved behind screens, and culture bent itself towards algorithms. This week, though, a different pattern emerges: people are choosing trades over degrees, restaurants are prized for being particular rather than interchangeable, and writers are wondering whether an audience curated by algorithm can ever be called their own. Even luxury brands are creating experiences that cannot be downloaded or generated. It feels as though we're reaching the limits of optimisation, and beginning to rediscover the value of what remains stubbornly, reassuringly real.
LAST TIME /at hyperreality
The Unfinished Self
On consciousness, perception, beauty, and the systems shaping how we understand ourselves.
Last week’s letter included a closer look at artificial intelligence and human judgement, the changing nature of reading and attention, the algorithms influencing beauty and taste, and the question at the centre of everything: what remains distinctly human when so much of our experience can be replicated, predicted or optimised?
Inside for paid subscribers: seven ways to create a more beautiful life, why Substack doesn’t love you back, London’s best restaurants, the philosopher who explains why the world feels so strange, and more.