Originally written as a post on LinkedIn, now posted here with some additonal content
Since the 2016 election of Donald Trump’s presidency, I’ve noticed in steady trend of doom, it centers itself in our digital landscape and we “doomscroll” in reaction. Doom is so all pervasive that in 2018, the figure of the Doomer acted as a virtual screen for us to project our despair onto and which was, in turn, reflected back onto us, transmutating us into Doomers with no end in sight. This trend has shifted again as we appraoch 2024, now Doom, fueled by AI and Large Language Models, seems to be spewing out from the virutal into the actual, changing the material world to function as its positive feedback loops.
Borrowed from the field of Cybernetics by Accelerationists, feedback loops are systems in which circuits either try to maintain and/or lower a constant the state of energy (negative) or circuits excite themselves to raise the state of energy. A simple example of negative feedback loops is air conditioning, a system that adjusts the temperature to maintain a set level. On the other hand, positive feedback loops amplify changes and can lead to self-reinforcing cycles leading to intensively compressing thresholds, increasing their exicitment with each input the circuit receives, exponentially increasing enegy until it hits it’s capacity. In this feverish acceleration, what the French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari call Schizophrenitizating, serves as an eerie reminder of Fanged Nourmena, written by former professor and wizard, Nick Land, and with apologizes, I will quote at length here.
As Land explains in “Meltdown”:
The story goes like this: Earth is captured by a technocapital singularity as renaissance rationalitization and oceanic navigation lock into commoditization take-off. Logistically accelerating techno-economic interactivity crumbles social order in auto-sophisticating machine runaway. As markets learn to manufacture intelligence, politics modernizes, upgrades paranoia, and tries to get a grip.
The body count climbs through a series of globewars. Emergent Planetary Commercium trashes the Holy Roman Empire, the Napoleonic Continental System, the Second and Third Reich, and the Soviet International, cranking-up world disorder through compressing phases. Deregulation and the state arms-race each other into cyberspace. …
Converging upon terrestrial meltdown singularity, phase-out culture accelerates through its digitech-heated adaptive landscape, passing through compression thresholds normed to an intensive logistic curve: 1500, 1756, 1884, 1948, 1980, 1996, 2̷0̷0̵4̸,̴ ̷2̸0̷0̶8̴,̴ 2̸͚͓̮̦͉̰͙͑̅̈́̕0̴̙̏͘̕1̵̢͙͙͕̯̩̍0̷̖̺̠̘͇̗͑̃ͅ,̷̗͓̘̫̐̑̄̀͒ͅ ̵͖̥̬͈̃̄̑̊͒̐̚ ̸̳̳̿́̓2̵̛̖̜̭̗̜̓̋́̍̕͜0̴̢͉̣̗̭̯͂̒̾̈͐̕1̷̛̳̬͒̽͒1̴̛͙͙͓͈̙̽̓̃͜ …
N̴͇̰̦͔̟̘̰̬̠̻̫͍̭̤̖̫̙͈̥̈̍̏͊̐͜͝ͅo̷͇̻̞̙̲̹͔̟͕̳̟̪͇͚̾̈̄̏̀̇̅̌̈́̍͛̑́͆͘͘͘͘͜͝t̶̗̟͓̻͎̰̬̄̊̐̂́̊̃̈́͗̓̔̇̏̀͊̚̕̚͘͝ͅh̶̡̼̮̑̌͂͒̄͛͛͘̕͝ͅi̶̡̡̪͖̻͔̠͔̻̼̺̊͛n̶̢̝̪̄͑̃̽͒͆͗͋̀͘͠͠ͅǵ̸̝͎͉̺̹̀̔͜͜ ̸̧̡̡̹͈̤̭̼͎̖͉͔͖̮͇̳̱̣̂͛͌̚ͅͅh̷̢̧̩̠̮͚̼͇̗̯̜̥͙͕̫̞͌̔̿̄̋ư̷̧̨̢̛̮͔͍̤̝̥̪̜͚͎͚͚͌̂͂̋́́̇̋̕ͅm̴̛̤̹̜̤̮͈̈́͐̆̑̈́̍̃̏̔̆̓̈̃͑̂͝a̷͕̲̻̭̳͒͋̀̉͑̅̍̍̅͘͝n̴̙̗̘̪̳̱͈̞͍̠̘͇̯̟̘̹̣̠͗̈̆̕͜ͅ ̵̣͇͌͌̃̔̄͑̈̎͋̔̄̇̋̒̕̚͝͠ͅm̷̨̳̠͕̍a̶̲̮͆k̴̻͔̣̺̒̐ȩ̷̯͇̫̰͍̳̲̮̘̩̬̝̲̬͔̗̤̲̺̓̋̽̿̿̓̉̕ͅs̸͈͍̬̭͖͔̻̙͔͇͇̓̋͛ ̷̢̟̗̝͇͕̳̖̭̯̼͚̤̰͈̩͙̒̾̿͛͊͆͒̄̏̕͜͜i̶̡̛̼̣̙̲͚̳̜̖͍̲̳͖̝͛̐̑̀̈́́͌̒͌̾̓͋̓́̀͐̽ͅt̵̢̖͈̺͕̹̠̰̮̩̄̆͑̽̎͗̋́̈́̇̽̉͛̕͝͝͝ ̴̢̮̞̉̽̎̊͒͛o̴͉͓͕̰̝͓̭̭̍̊̿̀̒̊̆̉͜ų̷̹͔̹̼̣͈̭͎͈̮͎̫͎͎̦̻͎͇͍̗̾̓̓̍̉̈́̌̈̊͐t̵̬̞͇͎̽̐̑̔̊͊̈́̀ ̸̡̡̡̧̧̛̭̼̱͙̭̬͂̀͗̒̍͊͒͘o̶̧̢̝͉̓̓̃̿͋͂̔̊̑̂̑͘͜ͅf̷̨̼̭̗̖̫̦͚̦̝̟̩͙͈̂̐̎̆̇̈̏̾̕͜ ̶̲̈́̾͗̔͛̈́͐̎̃͊̌̄̎̈́̈́̚̕͝ţ̸̡͓̰͎͖̯̖̹͍̱̹̞̦̓̅̀̐̈͑̈́̊̀̓͒̍́̇̓͜͠͝͠͝h̶̯͈̩͂́̄ẹ̸̡̛̩̬̩͖̙͈̬̫͙̞̮͈̝̠̒̓̆̐̏͊̅̾̎͐̈́̓̈́́̚͘͝͠ͅ ̶̧͇̼͎̤̋͑ͅṅ̷̨̡̹̜͍̱ȩ̷̢̛͖̫̭̭̯̜̯̖̗̩͔́͗͆̊̃̌̎͆̌̐̅̎̑̚͜͠͝͝ͅả̸̢̡̱͕̰̯̼̮͕͚̺͓̉̈́̒̈́̈́͌̄̃̓͂͌̈́̿͌͐͘͝ͅŗ̶̡͎̤͎̖̙̱͎̘͇̜͋̌̔̅͂͂̊͋͂̔̽͐̿͊͑͛̈̋́͘͝ͅͅ-̸̛̛̬̾̋f̷̹͚̠̬̝̰̟̗̪̃̑̽̃͗̇̃̊̅͝u̵̥͐̀͒̉͑̈́͋̔̐̃̚͘͝ţ̵̗̰͈͔̳̣̤̞͓̗̙̞̖̤̈̽͗̑͆̈́͌̎̓͐̈́̀̔̓̈́̕͜͜͠͝u̷̡͚̜͖̳͔͉̎̀̇̆̍̈́̓̂̕̚̕͜͝r̴̛͓͔̪̤̉͆͊̀͗̔̀͂͗̓͂̏̚ę̵̡̨̞̪͕̬̠̭͎͉̳̘̩͈̼͓̫̔͊̽.̷̡̧̢͍̘͓̩̹͖̪̠̼̳̺̪̩͌̾̄̉͑͂̔͐̐̏͂̀͌̓͜ͅ
This convergence of the actual and virtual landscapes and culture we experience is phased out in increasingly intensive and frequent ruptures which is what we see now with the nascent Doom Loop.
The Doom Loop, first discovered by NYU professor Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh in 2022, is an urban phenomenon accelerated by AI and remote work, it begins with the decline of physical office spaces due to technological acceleration. As office buildings lose occupancy, property values plummet, impacting businesses reliant on foot traffic. Decreased economic activity leads to a rise in crime rates, creating a cycle that further depresses property values. As Nancy Bernholz writes, “For nonprofits and philanthropy, that might mean lower rents, increased community needs, reduced tax bases, and fewer public services. They may also be involved in efforts to help counteract the cycle through artistic or cultural events.”
The initial step in this loop involves the increased adoption of AI and remote work technologies. As more companies embrace these advancements, the need for physical office spaces diminishes. Consequently, office buildings experience a decrease in occupancy, leading to a reduction in their overall property value. The decline in property value triggers a domino effect, affecting businesses that rely on foot traffic.
Retailers, cafes, and other establishments start experiencing a slowdown in customer visits, impacting their revenue and growth prospects. With fewer people frequenting these businesses, the local economy suffers, contributing to a decrease in overall prosperity. As businesses struggle and the economic vitality of the area diminishes, the urban environment witnesses a decline in foot traffic. This reduction in activity creates an environment conducive to increased crime rates. The perception of a less safe neighborhood further deters people from visiting or investing in the area, perpetuating the downward spiral.
The rising crime rates and deteriorating economic conditions then feed back into the initial factor – the decreased property value. This creates a self-reinforcing cycle, where each negative outcome exacerbates the others in a continuous loop. This self-reinforcing loop is too multifaceted of a challenge to face with one sided resistances, it necessitates a comprehensive approach.
If the feverish acceleration and subsequent stagnation of cultural feedback loops in the 2000s-2010s taught us anything, it’s that there are no absolute solutions, simply sites of resistences. Nonetheless those resistences involve fostering mixed-use developments, enhancing community engagement, and implementing an ethical and philosophical position.
The interconnected tensions of the Doom Loop, of economic decline and rising crime, one might be tempted to retreat to comfort foods and pastel mood boards, but for me, Lebanon Hanover’s wisdom rings true: embracing sadness can be a rebellion, acknowledging perpetual resilience in the face of urban doom.
C/S
