18.05.25 media roundup
Notes on boredom, ChatGPT, under-consumption, insomnia, performing, and more.
Welcome to this week’s installment of media I consumed instead of doomscrolling! I have been struggling with insomnia (hence the lack of post last week) but I think especially in these moments it’s important to first, allow myself to rest, and second, to find ways to ground myself and I think all of the pieces I found were a great anchor to find my footing again and to slow down. Hope you enjoy <3
Video essay dissecting the societal shift towards visually boring and dull elements throughout an array of areas of our lives, including social media, product design, interior design, architecture, movies, and more.
Kurtis has been one of my comfort creators for almost 8 years now, usually, I look to him for comedic relief, however, this video essay was that and so much more. He creates a lot of content around revisiting childhood, from movies to toys to ads, and he really does capture this nostalgic essence of childlike wonder. I think my generation was the last one to live in a truly colorful, tactile, and most importantly, fun world. How sad.
This video made me think about the concept of boredom, its importance, and how the solutions to it have greatly shifted over the years. Think back to when you didn’t have a phone, or maybe even any sort of device. What did you do? What did the world look like? To me, boredom was a driver for creativity and fun, which makes me realize I am not nearly bored enough these days. In a world where everything seems to be boring, we must take this boredom and use it as a spark to create a world that can evoke the feelings from our childhood.
Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College on Intelligencer
Article exposing and evaluating the damage that AI has caused for the ChatGPT generation of students from different perspectives in the academic world, questioning the consequences of having intellectually stunted individuals entering the workforce.
As it turns out, I am unfortunately part of the ChatGPT generation of students. Even though I don’t actively use it, I see that my peers and teachers are constantly using it, and I can already see the immense consequences that this is having. I am on my third year of my undergrad course and even just observing the differences between AI use from my first year to the current one, I’ll just say it’s looking dire.
This whole phenomenon raises not the question of why students are overusing AI, but rather what is so flawed in the education system that led us to this point. I believe that the intrinsic need for results that has been instilled in us our whole lives has made us lose focus from what school is actually for: learning.
Substack post providing a guide for creating meaningful habits to improve our attention spans, mindful media consumption, creativity, and curiosity. It includes a really great list of references and resources.
Yesterday I was having a conversation with one of my classmates, and she was telling me how she has picked up reading again, and how she felt she was getting dumber, but books are helping her greatly. I think this is a sentiment a lot of us share, this is the reason I started sharing my journey in the first place. It seems like this combination between media over-consumption, optimization, and AI fueled digital landscapes has numbed us out.
As a very chronically online person, I think finding a balance between creating our own digital gardens and seeking out experiences in the digital world is probably the way to go. Social media used to make me feel so isolated and fatigued. In the past few months, I have come to realize that social media is a double-edged sword because, yes, while my feelings cannot be negated, social media is largely what you make it out to be. Becoming more mindful of the people we engage with, the communities we want to be involved in, and how often we use these platforms can turn them into an incredible tool for expansion, connection, and entertainment.
Why 2025 is Becoming the Year of Living With Less on Atmos
Essay breaking down what it means to own things in the current social landscape and how it has led to a movement towards more mindful consumption, particularly in Gen Z.
This essay reminded me of the underconsumption trend on TikTok that was going on a few months ago. I remember seeing it and thinking that most of these showcases that were either perceived as extreme or as poverty, I found this so mind-boggling as to me, it was just normal consumption.
I have never been one to over-buy; my parents always tell me that when I was little, even when they told me I could get absolutely anything and everything I wanted at the store, I would only get what I genuinely wanted. This sentiment has stayed with me throughout the years, and especially now that I am studying the fashion industry and gaining clarity regarding my role in a capitalist society, the fewer things I want.
The essay touches on the act of simplification and detachment as a form of rebellion against a materialistic value system that gives us the illusion of control. Dare I say that letting go of things is the ultimate act of freedom and connection, connection to the planet, to the things we actually value, and to ourselves as we are ruled by our own needs instead of some corporations agenda to generate revenue.
Podcast featuring writer Ocean Vuong in which, through an emotionally loaded and vulnerable re-telling of pivotal moments of his past, gives us a glimpse of the story behind his new book titled The Emperor of Gladness.
Ocean Vuong has been one of the authors that has genuinely changed me. His words have reached places not even I knew existed within me and made me understand the importance of poetry. He creates magic out of the mundane and transmutes pain and suffering into tenderness.
I have been looking forward to this book for a couple of years now, I went and got it on its launch day at my favorite bookstore and now it’s sitting on my desk, waiting for me to get over the fear of having to cope with the fact that once I read it, it will be over. In the meantime, I decided to listen to this podcast. I like listening to podcasts while doing something to be able to focus. In this instance, I was making myself lunch, so I just popped my headphones on and started listening as I cooked. I was soon hit with the fact that this was absolutely not a casual listen, and I was then left in tears, standing in front of my half-cooked meal.
One thing that he brought up that really stood out to me was the Buddhist term satori. He described this occurrence as those fleeting moments of clarity that we get in the middle of the night, where we see our flaws and feel the need to do something about them. This whole social media journey that I have taken on came to fruition because on this one trip to Naples with one of my best friends, I told her that sometimes, in the middle of the night, I get the urge to share all of the things that I have learned. I thought it was such a crazy idea and was even a bit embarrassed to say it out loud, but with her encouragement, a couple of weeks later, I embarked on this journey. The moral of the story for me is that holding on to my moments of satori a little longer can bring wonderful things into our lives.
The Rise and Shine of Sleep Capitalism on Byline
Essay exploring how sleep has been capitalized on through the instillation of a need to pursue perfect sleep, in which the sleep-productivity industrial complex is built by pushing countless products to achieve it.
As I mentioned previously, I have been struggling with insomnia lately. This isn’t anything new, I have struggled with it for most of my life, it comes in waves of destruction and leaves me to pick up the pieces once it’s gone. It is one of my greatest battles, and the frustration it brings me has, of course, led me down the route of trying to fix this with mostly useless gimmicks that the internet will tell me will work.
I actually found this essay as I was done with lying restless on my bed for hours without being able to sleep. I think it was me desperately trying to find a way to induce sleep by understanding it as a way of rebellion, and if I managed to sleep, it meant I was actively working against the system that wants to keep me awake to produce and to consume. A bit of a reach, I know, but just put yourself in the mind of my sleep-deprived, anxiety-riddled self. Either way, the essay was deeply insightful and put my feelings into words, and shortly after reading it, I did manage to fall asleep.
Substack post reflecting on how the act of performing has permeated every single area of our lives, inspired by the perspective of author Milan Kundera on his book The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
I perceive myself as a multi-dimensional being, each version of myself adapting herself to her given context. I understand myself through alter egos, each one knowing exactly what to do and say as they play the character that always knows what the right thing to say is. I think of the Marilyn Monroe effect and how this shift makes me visible to others when, otherwise, it seems like people just see through me.
I have been constantly performing my entire life, to be seen, to be accepted, to just be. I have recently started to unpack this, who am I if not an act? This post really resonated with me not in a way that gave me solutions but perhaps a bit of perspective. It made me want to keep peeling back the layers and breaking down the walls that I have built to find the version of myself that exists when no one else is at play.
Thank you, these rounds ups have been helping me to expend my perspective on various subjects that I will not think of on my day to day.
these round ups have been healing me, and the article on how to get smart again is a game changer