Creature Comforts N°13
Your weekly newsletter coming in to slay the Sunday Scaries! Replenish and reset yourself for the week ahead, and why not lean on your journal for support?
Happy Sunday, you lovely Creature!
Let’s get weird.
The weirdest thing on the internet these days isn’t bardcore, or valley girl chickens, or even Carrington’s fake prison boyfriend—it’s the algorithms that led you there. Feared and adored, these almighty algorithms are in the building to stay.
Have you ever really thought about algorithms? Are they harmful? If so, should they be more regulated? What kind of data do they collect? Where does our data go? Is there ever an ethical way to use algorithms for profit?
There’s so much to love and hate about algorithms that my mind is exploding just thinking about it. Let’s dig in a little and see what we can unpack.
Weighing the pros and cons.
Pro: You’re likely to find more of the people, places, music, pictures, and ideas that you love in much less time. Unless I know you personally, you probably found this newsletter thanks to an algorithm.
Con: Since the al’ studies your behavior, it learns the nuances of your personality, such as your style, aspirations, desires, triggers, likes, and dislikes. That’s, ahem, kinda creepy.
Pro: Since the algorithm knows what lights you up, it can bring you joy, hope, useful tools, a sense of community, and inspiration (like rollerskating rats).
“Algorithms are called the aunties. They’re self-organising and so nobody fully understands them.”
― William Gibson, The Peripheral
Con: Since the algorithm knows what you desire, it can take advantage of you. It can give you what you desire, serving you a hot little rush of dopamine. It can get you addicted to viewing content.
Pro: You somehow found this newsletter! In our current climate of widespread for-profit algorithmic reign, subscribing to a humble newsletter is almost a radical act of rebellion. We have the unique opportunity to interact inside the internet, but outside of algorithms.1
Con: Our attention is now a commodity for sale. It’s extremely profitable, too, but unless you’re into e-commerce or data harvesting, that dollar probably isn’t landing in your bank account.
It’s easy to slip into a victim mentality when it comes to this stuff. After I watched The Social Dilemma, I felt kind of hopeless about social media. More recently, however, I feel more hopeful about the potential good that can find us online.
In the end, we can’t obsess on algorithms forever. We can only educate ourselves about them, be careful consumers, and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Don’t forget that. I hope this empowers you to celebrate what’s within your control—like journaling!
Thank you for being here ♥︎ I’ll talk to you next Sunday!
XX
CZ
This Week’s Journal Menu
Reflection: Jot down any thoughts you might have on algorithms. Do you love them or hate them? Or do you not give a rollerskating rat’s ass about them? All valid answers!
Temp check: What was the weather like where you live this weekend? How do you feel about it? Contentment? Dread? Tired? Grateful?
Expand: What’s an expansive wish that you have? This can be huge or small, major or minor, near or farfetched. Don’t pollute the wish by writing about whether or not you think it’s realistic. Just describe it in great detail, picturing it as real. Notice how you feel after this journal exercise. Optional bonus: write that feeling down too.
Craving more?
Peek into peoples’ journals, get extra journaling tips, or pick up some more comfort in the Creature Comforts Archive. Paid members also get special access to the Secret Garden, a monthly digest of inspiration, creative tips, journal prompts, and special strategies for feeling your best (or at least a little better than before).
Unless you’re reading this on Substack’s website or app instead of as an email. Substack certainly has its own elusive algorithm, which verywell may be how you discovered this!
I try not to click 'like' on the mainstream socials. I certainly constrain myself from commenting, having to have having an opinion on everything and further - expressing those opinions outside my journal.