Bloody roots. Sepultura sung it perfectly. Return to your roots.

I've been seeing a few people returning back to the hobby, and the B&C forums, after long or short hiatuses. I did the same, after all. I also had a discussion with some friends, recently, where I explained how much I disliked the way social consoles, such as facebook, organise their information and threads, and how everything is extremely ephemeral, with the only purpose to try to make you create, and consume, more context.

I've also seen an older member returning back to the B&C forums, and pickup from where they left their ongoing project, five years ago. If that's not a forum flex, I don't know what is.

Part of my dissertation's basis was about a book I read a while back called 'Present Shock', by Douglas Rushkoff. In his book Rushkoff coined the term 'Digiphrenia', which is used to explain why today's people feel overwhelmed in the digital world of ours.

To put it in simple terms, digiphrenia is the feeling of having your attention and identity split between the digital world and the real world at the same time.

Think of it like this:

You're having dinner with friends but at the same time, you're replying to work emails, you're also checking WhatsApp and posting on LinkedIn. Part of your mind is in the room, part is at work, and part is online. Over time, constantly juggling these different "versions" of yourself can leave you feeling distracted, stressed, or mentally fragmented.

Covid-19 and working from home didn't help either. Nations had to amend their legislature to ensure that the people have the 'right to disconnect', so me and you won't be bothered at home, for work related matters, and had the right to not reply or look at your phone without the fear of being reprimanded the next day for not being stuck at your device.

I find myself more and more disconnected from the world I used to know. I understand that I am pretty much preaching to the choir at this point, but B&C feels like one of the last bastions that things continue to make sense.