Over ‘digitaal junkfood’

Dagelijks krijgen we meer informatie te verwerken dan een goudvis met een koffiediklezende TikTok-verslaving aankan. Daarom is het cruciaal om niet gedachteloos alles naar binnen te werken. De gerespecteerde historicus Yuval Noah Harari, beter bekend als ‘die man van Sapiens’, deelt in een recent interview met journalist Danny Ilegems enkele verontrustende gedachten over ons dagelijkse mediadieet.

Harari stelt dat volledig offline gaan inmiddels net zo realistisch is als proberen te overleven op lucht en optimisme. Bovendien moeten we kritisch leren denken, en dat terwijl we overspoeld worden door halfgare feiten, opgewarmd nepnieuws, en digitale snackbars vol pseudowetenschappelijke lekkernijen. Hoe zou Harari zelf omgaan met deze non-stop informatiestroom? En hoe kunnen we onszelf beschermen tegen de digitale junkfood, het equivalent van een dieet bestaande uit suikerspinnen en cheeseburgers?

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Napoleon (2023)

On a brisk December evening in Antwerp, the city was cloaked in a typical winter chill, the kind that makes you question why you ever leave your house. It was the kind of night that beckoned for the comfortable seats of a warm cinema. The streets shimmered with rain, the air thick with the scent of damp cobblestones and existential contemplation. It was the perfect setting to hurl ourselves headfirst into Ridley Scott’s latest historical epic, Napoleon. Because nothing warms the soul like watching Europe’s most ambitious short king march his way to infamy.

Our group, a mix of history nerds and part cinephiles, settled into our seats, bracing for a deep dive into the life of a man who managed to conquer half of Europe and still find time for so many love letters. A minor tragedy struck when my companion’s popcorn met an untimely demise, scattering like the remnants of Napoleon’s army post-Russia. We took this as an omen and pressed on.

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Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, by Paul Hawken

Let’s face it: reading about climate change usually feels like being trapped in a monologue delivered by a doomsday prophet. Fire, floods, famine… fun times ahead! But what if, instead of grim inevitability, we were handed an actual plan? Enter Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. The book that doesn’t just shake its head at humanity’s poor life choices, but also offers a roadmap for redemption. A rare mix of scientific rigour, economic pragmatism, and unwavering optimism, Paul Hawken’s book dares to ask: what if we actually did something?

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State Surveillance Capitalism, with Chinese Characteristics

Welcome to the brave new world of state surveillance capitalism, where your data isn’t just being harvested for ad revenue — it’s also being catalogued for national security, social order, and probably a bit of light amusement by an omnipresent algorithm somewhere. In most places, this is a job best left to Silicon Valley. But in China, the lines between the tech industry and the government are less “separate entities” and more “two heads of the same data-consuming dragon.”

This essay will examine this unlikely fusion, breaking down how these systems evolved separately and then became best friends who share everything. We will explore the implications of this model, from privacy concerns to global repercussions, and take a deep dive into censorship — both imposed by the state and, more insidiously, self-imposed by citizens who have learned the rules of the game all too well.

Together, we will delve into the conceptual underpinnings of state surveillance and surveillance capitalism, examining how these elements have evolved separately and how, in China, they have merged into something quite distinct.

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50 Things that Made the Modern Economy, by Tim Harford

Have you ever stared at a barcode and thought, “Wow, this little strip of black and white lines is basically the linchpin of global capitalism”? No? Well, Tim Harford has. In Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy, he takes the seemingly mundane detritus of human progress: things like barcodes, shipping containers, and artificial light. Harford spins them into a web of economic cause and effect so intricate, you’ll wonder why history books aren’t all written this way.

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