social technology has weakened the signal of collective prescence
in the 60s, public demonstrations were a marker of very significant political discontent. it was hugely difficult to organize a major rally - coordination by landline phones, flyers, and community groups for months in advance took very significant effort by organizers. so seeing tens or hundreds of thousands of people in the streets for a cause was a demonstration of the political strength of a movement, it’s ability to rally people. now, it’s so much easier to assemble and coordinate people, we have many more large rallies, and they are less potent than they used to be, because they are weaker proof of a strong, serious coalition and individual dedication to the cause. this feels related to AI. producing a report or a memo used to be a strong indicator you had spent a lot of time thinking about a thing - shaping your thoughts, reading deeply, weighing trade offs. now, it can be the result of very little effort. the product no longer represents depth.