I continue to reduce screen time. When I am “scrolling”, I’m simultaneously trying to figure out what ties me to it. For example, am I scrolling for hope or for doom? Is it something else?
Coming to understand how important it is to remain a creative person as opposed to being a full time consumer was a significant piece. But I still scroll twitter, though my feed degrades each day.
I don’t see the human people I want to see. I only see only the large, promoted accounts aka propaganda, social engineering, influencing and whatnot. It’s getting boring which is probably a good thing. Bore me right out of town! But today, I had a different realization.
Scrolling the daily BS, I realized what I was doing is judging. I was not discerning. There was a time I was a discerning twitter user but that time passed at some point. I don’t know when. I didn’t notice!
So I’m scrolling and it’s basically like this in my head, “this is bs, this is bs, stupid, should I click the vid – no, should not have clicked the vid…”
Never mind the time I am wasting, what’s I’m doing here is passing judgment.
I’m pretty sure I’m passing judgement on mostly bots or the equivalent, but it doesn’t matter because I’m conditioning myself to behave this way. I’m training myself to make snap judgements about everything I see or hear. I don’t want to do this. You may.
I think of how children learn via repetition. If I scroll Twitter (or wherever), judging the content in half-second bites, what am I leaning?
One thing I’ve learned is if I scroll to wherever I stopped and then scroll back up, there will be a fresh bunch of crap for me to judge. Marvelous, right! Take the bait, then. The constant supply is maintained ’round the clock.
Supply. I’m using the word, deliberately.
It turns out if I am supplied with things to judge all day, I’m likely to spend quite a bit of time on this activity and for what payoff? What am I creating? What am I contributing?
Ask me how I got so judgmental.
Twitter!
I also see this as shallow. I’m talking about myself here. What did you do today? I judged tweets!
I can’t cry, “programming”. Twitter’s not shoving twitter down my throat. It’s my hand on the mouse.
Can anyone relate to this? How much time to you spend per day, judging content created by people like me or other entities or machines? Are you fairly compensated for your effort? In what way?
Love this post , thank you for the perspective .
Addiction compulsion I don’t know but our brains apparently get a dopamine hit every time it’s given a story that seems to make some kinda emotional sense to us. Then we run with that story regardless whether it’s factually true or not.
Knowing that helps me get a little less hooked. Reminds me that I gotta be creating my own stories.
Creating your own stories is a perfect way to say it.
Yes! I love this!
Thought provoking post. I had the idea that judging is a behaviour we utilise as a consumer. Deciding something to purchase, this or that, select or reject. In that specific context, when needed it can be a valuable skill, like if you’re comparing flights or items in a supermarket. However, many websites are now so interwoven with adverts, like TV and newspapers/magazines, that you are mostly looking at adverts with some pushed to the side “content”. And now we find the content is being made so that really it’s just advertising in disguise, promotion (you could say some people are now just adverts in disguise, depending how far they have identified with this approach). And of course there’s the bots encouraging people, by pretending to be other consumers, competition, peer pressure. Originally there wasn’t advertising on the internet, just websites, unless it was computer related, I can’t recall seeing any. So now it seems we’re to apply that consumer judging behaviour to everything, on screen and off, and especially to ourselves because, over time, exposure to this paradigm effects your sense of self, which is very destructive and reducing of all that we are. As you say, it’s anti-creation, thus anti-life. It’s the mind at work, dominating, and out of balance, driven by fear and insecurity, a sense of lack rather than natural abundance and love. It definitely needs pushing back on.
I agree with all of this. It puts a person in control – you’re the master of the universe, but the universe is ?
So that’s what you’re doing, but what are you not doing?
It’s one hell of a daily sacrifice from what I can see.
I hadn’t thought of that – the consumer who judges feels in control. But we all know from buying things that we can be manipulated to feel we’re in control, because the options we think we have are determined. So it’s an illusion of control in this context, which has now taken over the internet. Then the question is, why are we attracted to feeling permanently in control, to the extent we allow ourselves to be manipulated in order to feel that. It’s a false reality, which also leaves people vulnerable to other things happening that can suddenly upset that sense of control, either natural or organised events, etc. It’s like a false stability that is actually very vulnerable. Which is really an exterior manifestation of the human psyche (ego defences.. believing you are in control, until you’re suddenly not, if what is unconscious breaks through).
Agree.
On the question of why, how about it’s easy. No one ever judging you.
The situation you described played out on this blog yesterday when this man called me out for refusing to do what he’s told me to do, behind the scenes, more than once.
https://elsaelsa.com/astrology/jupiter-retrograde-september-4-2023-sudden-reversal-of-fortune/
I did not respond to his “internet thumbs down” so he escalates. You always get your way on the internet – people forget this. But I am person and I am not here to placate people or addict for my nefarious purpose. I’m just a regular chick who writes about astrology for nearly 25 years. Why would someone who reads here thing they can control me.
So I think that man’s issue – the thing he does not want to learn – is very small. There is no way he cannot learn what the four FIXED SIGNS are in just a few minutes but instead he thinks it’s smart to get me to cater to him and he’s not above telling me I suck and I am stupid if I don’t comply. This is what idiot me does and it causes 75% of the people reading to be lost, according to him.
In my opinion, this man is a victim of the internet. That he would even think that bothering me was a good or right thing to do. He’s the Master Commander and I am not responding and doing his bidding. Well, why would I? I don’t even know this man’s name!
I preached long and hard, back when Saturn was in Virgo. GUARD your mind. Mental Boundaries!
Well, I don’t think anyone listened. What’s your mind? Nothing! What’s Virgo? Nothing! Now these the results. And people blame anyone but themselves… including me, obviously, like that chick with the messed up back is the one ruining you life.
It’s not a banana peel you want to slip on!
Currently if you don’t utilise the internet with a strong sense of self (integrity) which allows for discrimination, then in general it’s about entering a state of powerlessness, abandoning or dissociating from the self while surfing (which has its attractions, is seductive, like a respite of sorts from the burden of self responsibility). I think this can be seen in that person’s post to you, except they are projecting their underlying sense of powerlessness/helplessness onto you, along with the anger which goes with this state (it’s dependency in a word). Like you said, the person, if an astrologer, would know the modalities as they are an essential element. And could also quickly look them up if they didnt. But it’s not about the surface matter, it’s about where they are operating from and the implications of that, mostly negative if you are on the receiving end.
i agree with this too, as this is a good kind of judging. we need to judge /discern for ourselves about good products for us, and also over what we can buy or what not to buy. judging can be very good. Even in court, thats a good kind of judge as long as its not corrupt.
Timely post – thanks. Have spent the last week clearing and sorting my inbox. Deleting 1000s of emails, sorting those to keep into folders (a system!) and unsubscribing from loads of content providers. To what end? To waste less time online, cursing (judging) BS, and so to have more time for reading and for my own creativity.
And I have never done Twitter. Never seen the point, tbh. I prefer depth and there’s none on Twitter so never been attracted to it.
I subbed to a number of substack letters… realized right away, I was reading AI created propaganda. How about no! 🙂
The question of how much time spent is frightening!
I usually look at internet after lunch, maybe for an hour.
I just look at news & mainly skim, more out of curiosity than anything else because no matter what I read I don’t feel I can do anything about it. It’s not very positive content. And I can’t really say I “judge” it – it mainly freaks me out.
After reading your post I suddenly feel like I’m more or less wasting time.
One of my friends sends me (political) videos, maybe a dozen or more per week. Some are over an hour long. Impossible for me to even look at all this. Too depressing or ennerving.
I know I’m not answering your questions! Just describing what all this internet stuff makes me feel like. Doesn’t compensate anything, as far as I can tell…
I was never even a TV person.
It could be simply a piece in the progression you are making. Others are making it too. Your relationship with Twitter has probably reached its end. I think Saturn in Pisces works this way and will judge some b.s. You won’t be wasting much more time with it would be my guess.
For the most part the little time that is spent online or scrolling twitter (even though i do not ever participate on social media) is fruitful for me. I have a timer clock (the ones we use in the kitchen) set and I have high yielding gardens so that balances things out.
I do think its fairly easy to discern a bott from real person. I scroll thru topics that empower my resilience and help me anticipate. I want to stay on top of things.
I understand but I’ve come to the conclusion, it’s not possible to stay on top of things. This is just my opinion. The internet can make me think I am on top of things but – psych!
Pattern recognition is key!!
As one scrolls that is only a small part of it. The mind is picking up cross referencing with experience be it daily or history you once read or so many other factors come into play plus * intuition.
Pattern recognition is so critical right now and its something that happens without knowing. It builds something within that is way to complex to go into here but so insanely valuable.
One can be military in the field in the midst of war or be a homesteader scrolling twitter every now and again and living day to day life – no difference in terms of quicksilver (mercury). The more pattern recognition is developed naturally the better you get at it and the quicker you discern and the more ‘on top of it’ you are.
I thought of something else. It also lets you “hang out with the cool kids”.
ha ha ha
How about doing the opposite? Check out stuff that’s Not pleasing to you. What we already know and like is our comfort zone, our brains are too relaxed and we age. I love films and regularly go to the cinema. But my habits for the past few years have changed. I now watch movies that I actually don’t want to watch, I make a point to see them and I enjoy the experience because I learn something that way. It’s a mini-challenge for the brain.
Love this. Eyeopener.
Thank you.
Well yeah…sometimes I even look up stuff I disagree with just so I can disagree with it more and firm up on my disagreement.
My physical social life has gone to near zero over last few years. Internet is not a good substitute, not anymore anyway.
I learned to be judgmental at a young age. Remember AOL profiles where people would list their hobbies, favorite music, and personal quotes? That’s where it all started for me. I judged people mostly based on their taste in music.
But I had a change of heart shortly after my accident. My last memory before I got knocked out was my judgement of another person, who ended up dying. I didn’t even know the guy, but I had made up my mind about him based on appearances. I was wrong. That experience changed me and how I perceive others, and viewing people online is no different for me.
When I’m scrolling, it’s usually to avoid feeling pain.
I have found myself doing this also, and I don’t like it. It’s so easy to do. At least I am aware and can work on self correction.
i stopped being so judgemental after i married my husband;he really changed my views in life because he made me happier, safer, and i think people judge harshly because they are miserable or unhappy in their lives; there’s a missing void and to fill it, they want control. It’s sad, but many times it is true. to love and forgive and to be understanding and tolerant of others makes you feel peace and very good inside and out.
When I first wake, my phone is beneath my bed with an alarm so I shut the alarm off, and I go check the weather the news, the weather, the news, a horoscope Elsa and then I hop in my day I get up and go when I return to my home, finally inside ,don’t go to TV anymore I pick up the phone news weather news, weather it has such a wild collection of pictures and reading. I’m not sure if it’s judging my own placement against all ?this as a backdrop I did like to read I like to write? I tend paint and sew when winter hits. I was on Facebook. Probably six hours had somewhat of a relative send a rather lewd picture I was done. I tried on line dating after my divorce disaster!!Men intense liars? stopped at that rather fast. I have six sisters. I’m really blessed if I need conversation I check who’s not busy, I’m not sure the phone is in my hand more than an hour a day. You also have been a delight to read and exchange things with I like knowing about the heavens, I like the history of what has happened under certain stars I like the connections to options of personalities etc. , but my wants this year are that I include a small 20 minute walk every day for the rest of my life as I think this will keep my mobility as I age ..
wow thank you again Elsa!!! you are so right.
I learned the other day that there is a homepage – an AI web software page -that lets you create 9 (9!!!) smaller videos from 1 YouTube video link, and it already fits the IG Reels format and TikTok, complete with subtitles.
And it’s free.
So, that’s fine for a company who wants to use their own videos…. But what about the scammer and the person with a “I am God on the internet” type of person?
It’s rather hilarious, because these people behind the software aren’t realizing that in time this service becomes redundant. Because when this happens with increased frequency and by even more profiles, the users leave the platforms due to being swamped in the same type of content. (unless they’re hooked in a “judging loop”)
Up till recently, you paid with your data.
Now, you’re paying with your visual content if you want any traffic and/or attention/engagement…. unless you make your content private/locked in. Which is really kinda cross-purpose with the social media. .. it’s pretty fucked up, if you ask me.
“Now, you’re paying with your visual content if you want any traffic and/or attention/engagement…. unless you make your content private/locked in. ”
Yes. It’s going to put all independents out of business. You’ll be left with corporate people acting like they rose to the top, organically.
Such thoughtful and intelligent replies 🙂.
I think my scrolling may be related to trying to get out of my own head (a distraction). I also think I may be procrastinating as well. How we spend our time is so important ⏰.