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A Treatise on How to Use the Internet without Committing Philosophical Suicide

I want you to use the internet without committing a philosophical suicide.

Let me explain.

I'll tell you what I mean by internet later. Now let me explain the term “philosophical suicide." It is not my phrase–it was coined by a philosopher (who did not commit suicide fwiw).

Philosophical suicide is when you kill your capacity for independent judgment and self-correction to instead allow external incentives or figures to rewrite your beliefs and evaluations. You outsource your epistemic agency.

This is a major risk because those who have already committed philosophical suicide will want you to do the same for their own good.

The internet connects people and is therefore a tool that transmits mental states. It is a contagion. Compressed symbols are transmitted and amplified by algorithms and social pressure on the internet, and the effect is philosophically lethal.

Too vague. Let's discuss examples. These categories, like all categories, overlap in ways that invite nitpicking. This taxonomy is a snapshot of a fast-moving leviathan. It is limited.

There is the Aspirational Set:

There are the grifters. Imagine the audience captured influencer who will say any slogan if they get more attention and money.

There are the ass-kissers. These tend to revolve around a central Master (see 3 below) who has tremendous wealth and power and on whom the ass kissers rely for their own popularity and income. Imagine a popular podcaster/comedian (who is a Master) with a satellite group of comedians who broke out by appearing on that podcaster’s podcast.

Then there are the masters. These are the ultra wealthy, the owners of platforms, the megastars who have millions or many millions of people's attention. Imagine the ideologues, the conspiracy theorists, and indeed the grifters above who through luck, talent, timing, or a mix of all three gather a massive audience.

All of these, regardless of outward appearances, have committed or are at extreme risk of committing philosophical suicide. Few know this. None will admit it to themselves, others, or you.

There is also the group you're statistically likely to be in, namely the Ordinary set:

Political fanatics. These are people who have compressed most or all of their identity into one lens (politics of a particular nation). They are too confused to know what matters anymore because their worldview is a category error.

Aspirants. These want to become Grifters, Ass-kissers, or Masters. Some are actually successful, and the more they succeed the faster their philosophical suicide ends in philosophical death.

Speculators. These are people who place undue value in the spectacle and bet accordingly. This can take the form of arbitrary tokens of pseudo financial products, or it can be in the parasocial fandom of musicians, writers, or often one of the groups above.

Ego seekers. The obverse error as that of Political Fanatics, this group sees the internet as an opportunity to prove their identity exceeds that of the group. The forum denizen or social media commentator eager to explain why someone is “actually" wrong. This is the most pathetic group, and the one I am desperately trying to escape.

All of these people commit philosophical suicide by misusing the internet. Sometimes that misuse is intentional, sometimes subconscious. It does not matter; the end result is the same.

The internet is a system that allows people to send and receive artefacts (text, images, sound, video, programs, probabilistic systems). The relationship between the people and those artefacts can take many forms, and people can choose what relationship they want to adopt.

The more you identify with your artefacts, the higher the risk of others’ artefacts controlling your emotions, your limbic system, your mind.

The more you identify with the artefacts of others, the higher the risk of others’ artefacts controlling your emotions, your limbic system, your mind.

You are expressing a small part of yourself on the internet, and it is a part you might throw away later. Maybe expressing it on the internet IS throwing it away. You are expressing a stance, a viewpoint, a belief, a value. These are tools to serve you, they are not your masters. Identifying with them makes you vulnerable.

Identity is disempowering. If you use the internet without anonymity, you will be vulnerable to the attacks of others. If you are anonymous, their attacks can never land on you, because they quite literally do not know you.

Never get attached to the internet. The makeup of internet users will always...