What is “the cloud”
The cloud is this relatively new, nebulous, metaphysical object that holds lots of power. Because of the fact that it is unseen to us, but holds so much power, there’s a quality there of being a sinister, omniscient being.
The sinister nature of the cloud, and its relation to truth
As a result of the cloud’s creation, even the idea of what “truth” is is being corrupted. It’s pretty relevant and present nowadays considering in this political climate, even science is “suspicious” to many people. Anthony Discenza talks about this in his piece The Truth as We Know it.
I think that the beliefs that people hold now as a result of what they read online are in response to their relation to the cloud. When you can’t perceive the source of what you’re learning, when this nebulous concept exists, we become skeptical of what the truth is. To give an example, one narrative I have seen online is that “the vaccine is dangerous”. I don’t hold this belief, and it’s hard for me to understand how you could logically come to this conclusion based on the information that I know about the vaccine. But, nonetheless it exists. Why does it exist? One explanation to me might be as a result of “the cloud”. A person with this belief is sent information online about the vaccine that suggests that it is dangerous, maybe through facebook. It’s difficult to analyze what the “truth” is, because we are so skeptical about the means by which we’re given this information. What’s strange though, is that instead of revolting and believing nothing, we have to believe in something. So why do we revert to the information that is initially presented to us? Or is that untrue?
My vague illustration of what i’m talking about here:
