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Yeah, I agree. A thing I read recently: We are entering an era where the old adage 'seeing is believing' no longer holds. A time is upon us where content—be it music, films, TV shows, or YouTube videos—is not just consumed but created, refined, and deployed on demand. This goes beyond entertainment; it extends to political content as well. With many news organizations; entertainment mixes with news openly, we can expect this trend to permeate all forms of media.

What this means is that the authenticity of what we see and hear, whether in digital or print media, is becoming as dubious as a tale from a cousin Ed I never had. We must approach calls to war, legislation, and social movements with a critical eye, especially when they are cloaked in the guise of popular causes like equality or democracy.

In this landscape, our personal interests and passions are at risk of being manipulated. Every niche hobby or interest could be targeted and used to placate us, creating content tailored in real time to our preferences. This phenomenon is coupled with an increasing culture of censorship and 'canceling', where unpopular opinions are suppressed by corporate or special interests.

This is the crux of the 'signal to noise' dilemma I've long discussed. Games like Caves of Qud, Dwarf Fortress, and CDDA, which use procedural generation for lore, illustrate this point—they can feel hollow, leading players to skim through content, seeking only specific keywords. The danger here is a society accustomed to skimming rather than engaging deeply, receiving complex information effortlessly but missing out on the learning process.

The bright side? If we step away from the machines, the corporate narratives, and the politicized rhetoric, and instead embrace the world outside, we might find that life has become easier for everyone. This ease can be a boon, as long as we don't lose sight of the value in facing challenges and learning from them. In a world where the line between the real and the artificial blurs, our grounding in reality becomes ever more crucial