This is basically “atomization” and it’s a hot topic: certainly it can be comfortable and convenient and even profoundly important to many individuals, esp. peo

This is basically “atomization” and it’s a hot topic: certainly it can be comfortable and convenient and even profoundly important to many individuals, esp. people whose authentic selves are not accepted in broader society. At the same time there is such a thing as social cohesion. Ultimately we do have to cooperate beyond our friend groups on projects like the economy, government, defense, etc. Or we will get eaten by a culture that does. Already people were concerned that the kind of peers we meet at work and school are too much like us, too much of a bubble… now we are talking about not meeting even those people. Already we have tribes that cannot agree on fundamental conceptions of reality depending on which cable channels they watch… how’s it going to work when there are millions of totally independent information environments? If we are going back to the many-independent-clans structure our ancestors had, we probably also going back to their material standard of living and their exposure to violence. For a while, until we get slaughtered by or assimilated into a culture that can get people who aren’t necessarily friends or family to have lunch together in between raiding our huts.