While watching the video in the context (a discussion of the ending of Oppenheimer - the video does include spoilers), I was struck by something interesting (my comments here shouldn't constitute spoilers in any sense beyond a vague "feeling" - this isn't about the facts of the historical events but some artistic decisions made).

There is a mention that Oppenheimer's youth included visions of the meaning of the quantum realm as something as exciting and almost musical. It was a promise of optimism to scientists of his generation. However, later in his life the visions had been replaced by only those of destruction and apocalyptic outcomes.

While I obviously haven't been involved in any breakthrough which changed the world, like he was, this reminded me of at least my feeling around the software industry and the internet, more specifically.

Around the turn of the millennium, these things were still quite new to the mainstream world and there was a lot of innovation, creativity, function, and optimism about where this could go and what we could do. However, now that I have seen where it has gone and where it is likely to continue, I no longer see an open world of possibilities but an endless and bottomless prison for all of humanity.

What we though would be a tool to liberate us and open the world was corrupted into a weapon of control which is likely moving us into a dark age (which I think started around 15-20 years ago). Whether it be companies wanting to spy on our every action in order to make us into more efficient products for advertising and special interest groups, governments wanting to spy on everyone in all places at all times, manipulative groups wanting to control information to control thought, or any of the other nightmares we now just call "normal", there is definitely cause for concern.

While it may not be as flashy as a world consumed by fire, "a boot stomping a human face forever" isn't exactly a pleasant future.

I think this is why I am so pessimistic, these days. We are seeing the problems caused by this, already, and we know that it is absolutely going to get worse. I don't want to be part of the problem but I am not sure that there even is a solution. We may be trapped in this spiral by the most trivial aspects of our own human nature,
...Nights