The Internet as the Astral Plane. The Internet as Fairyland

from the Philosophical Research Society panel with Tara Isabella Burton, MemeAnalysis, and Gary Lachman

For years—truly years and years and years and years and years and years—I’ve been working on a single insight: “the Internet” behaves less like a tool and more like a portal, a separate plane of existence layered atop everyday life. In other words, it’s the astral plane, or Fairyland. The same charms, rituals, and yes, old superstitions that guide travelers through those worlds prove surprisingly helpful for navigating the Internet, too.

A fuller, better edited version of the below is slated to appear in Tablet later this year. It’s also the introduction of a book. My grand theory below the cut.

And for all those who don’t feel like paying the $5, keep your eyes on Tablet!

Some other housekeeping:

• The paywall on my Comment piece, “Internet Overexposure Syndrome,” about the ways Internet overuse mimics personality disorders but really are necessary adaptations to a different environment has now dropped. Read it here.

• In about an hour, the CURSED HOTEL LINE is open. Remember to tune in!

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