Constantly Buffering
Constantly Buffering
We have modelled our lives to match the internet protocols that run the world
There was a time when the only way to reach another person was a phone call. A traditional phone call was seen as a huge waste of bandwidth because the data flow was consistent from both sides. If you started speaking it was not like the other side was cut out or muted.
The creators of the internet saw this as inefficient. They felt there was a possibility of sending data in small packets especially when the line was silent.
The internet relies on sending packets of information and waiting for a response. Those packets go through in milliseconds rather than minutes. A whole new paradigm of connectivity had to be invented to accommodate for it. And this came TCP/IP.
The internet protocol did not insist on the other side being willing to receive. It would send and check, if the other side did not get it, it would send it again. This gave a lot of room for optimisation. This process would go on till the other side received it.
This information transfer was moved from telephone lines to fibreglass as time went on. Today, the network is constantly buffering. When the other side is ready, the data pours in.
Unfortunately, that analogy has extended to our lives as well.
In 1980, if you were on vacation someone could knock on your door and if you were not there, they went away.
Now when you go on a vacation, they leave you an email. You come back to find 250 emails in your inbox waiting for you, optimised to make your life miserable. What is worse is when you realise that you need not have read 150 of them because the issue mentioned therein no longer exists.
As a result, we are never on a break. At best, we are buffering to get back into the grind all over again.
Work never stops. It is destroying us mentally.