SOME LOOSELY ORGANIZED THOUGHTS ON THE CURRENT ZEITGEIST - TERENCE TAO

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

The systems, incentives, and technologies in the modern world have managed to slightly empower the individual while massively empowering large organizations, at the significant expense of small organizations. The imbalanced system provides significant material comforts and some limited feeling of agency, but it has led to individuals feeling disconnected, alienated, lonely, and cynical or pessimistic about the ability to influence future events or meet major challenges. Much of the current debate on societal issues is framed as conflicts between large organizations, conflicts between large organizations and average individuals, or a yearning for a return to a more traditional era.