#SASAH 2230

[aesthetinet]

Welcome to the Net...

Hey Net-Heads!

We are so happy to be coming to you today with our inaugural post on the blog. aesthetinet is a special place built by us, Aestheticaste, where we will reflect on various genres that have either been erased, been massively overhauled as a result, or been given brand new definitions as a result of the creation of the Internet.

This week, we’re talking about the book Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future by James Bridle, more specifically, the first chapter of the book “Chasm.” This chapter speaks about the dangers technology can pose when it is used in ways we are unaware of. This chapter speaks about how technology has helped shape the planet, our communities, and ourselves but how it has not transformed our understanding of the issues we face. Bridle goes on to say that It has only been helpful in that it allows us to stop thinking, but that technology also works to promote some of the greatest challenges we face today.

For these reasons, Bridle calls on us all to be critical of technology, not only of its use but also of who made it, who it was made for, and what its intentions are. Bridle then brings up the cloud, which was invented in the 1950s?! and notes that it began as an idea among the developers as a way to reduce the complexity of explaining how it worked. However, it became much more important as the internet grew, to the point that clouds are so big that they have become a resource that can do various processes. This brings us to the present, where the cloud is more of a business buzzword. It goes further than this, though, as we know, the cloud doesn’t really exist in the sky but rather in various warehouses in various countries owned and operated by various companies.

All this to say that from where the cloud began, it has moved far beyond to the point that the creators of the cloud might not even recognize it. This is a very interesting and important piece from the reading to highlight because it brings us into aesthetinet. From its conception, the idea of the cloud has gone through various hands and experienced change through time interaction with the internet. It went from being something that was used as a shorthand into a buzzword, into various ecological and moral crises.

Here is where we come in: Aestheticaste, is here to investigate some of your favourite aesthetics to see how, throughout time and exposure to the internet, they have changed aspects, transformed in nature, or been given completely different names. This reading, while not pertaining to aesthetics at all, touches on the capacity that technology, and therefore the internet, can change and distort. This is one of the scariest parts of technology to Bridle, as it allows the technology to hide its intentions and harms that may be present within, such as the clouds that have all of everyone's information that we don’t often think about for the reason of it being “in the cloud.”

The reading ends with a reflection on where the internet is now and where the world could be heading as a result, into a new dark age. Various factors such as the insistence on simplistic narratives, conspiracy theories, and post-factual politics, Bridle believes will bring in the new dark age. One where the value placed on knowledge is destroyed by the abundance of profitable commodities. This reading was very interesting as This decline can literally be observed on your devices every day, think about what the internet has done irreparable damage to the idea of News. While the internet provides many opportunities to see different sources of News, it does not care which ones hold the most variety but which will work for their algorithms.

You'll here from us again soon,

Aestheticaste

Link to the reading of the chapter can be found below:

James Bridle, New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future Chapter "Chasm"