note the inevitability of the causes. rising income inequality, rising asset prices, increasing speculation and online dating. these trends will only get stronger, and thus long degeneracy.

crypto goes up. sports betting grows. buy now pay later grows. savings decrease. attention spans decrease. money is now numbers on a screen. discord is the new church. parasocial relationships replace real ones. birthrate falls. happiness falls. outcomes continue to separate into winners and losers. unemployment rises. neets rises. hikimoris rise.

long degeneracy is your college friend sports betting. long degeneracy is your uncle trading options. long degeneracy is your participation in an online community instead of an irl one. these trends are modern efficiency applied to human nature - the shortest-term reward cycles.

forces like ai only accelerate long degeneracy - at its core there is an understanding that the time to “make it” is running out, and any new developments only shorten the clock.

and though one might be tempted to try and save the world with this knowledge, it is a very large ship headed for the rocks. it is far more practical to ensure you have a safe spot on a lifeboat than it is to turn the ship around.

David Whyte, the Irish poet and philosopher, views poetry as a way to explore the sacred and hidden parts of our lives. In an interview, he spoke about how moments of doubt and feeling lost are not signs of failure but signs that you are on the right path, because the true path often disappears as you walk it. When asked, “What do I do when I am lost in the forest?”, he recited David Wagoner’s poem, which begins with: “Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you are not lost.” The poem urges us to be still, listen, and let the world find us. Whyte believes poetry teaches us to pause, pay attention, and trust the silence and uncertainty. It’s a guide that invites us to slow down and rediscover ourselves through presence and attention, even, especially, when we feel most lost.

Meanwhile, mainstream conversation continues to move further away from intellectualism entirely. Dominant media platforms prefer fleeting distractions and sensationalized headlines rather than a space to prioritize substance and intellectual discussion.