Should You Keep Playing Along?
Neurodivergence, Alienation, and the Data Economy
Hey, I’m glad you’re here. If you’ve stumbled across this note, you might have noticed some common themes popping up in the world lately—exhaustion, feeling out of sync, and how so much of our lives seem like performances, especially online.
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Let’s walk through some of the conclusions I’ve been working through in my essays. If anything resonates, I’ll point you toward more detailed reads.
Exhausted Yet? Yeah, Same.
These days, it feels like everyone’s tired. But for folks like me—who are neurodivergent—there’s an added layer of exhaustion that comes from “masking.” Masking is when we feel the need to hide our true traits just to fit in, and it can be completely draining. You might have heard this concept discussed in relation to autism or ADHD, but it’s bigger than that. Almost everyone does some form of masking. Whether it’s at work, online, or even with friends, we all end up editing ourselves to fit the expectations of others.
In You’re Exhausted, Aren’t You?, I dive into how this constant performance wears us down, leaving us disconnected from who we really are. Even if you don’t identify as neurodivergent, this idea of performing for others is something I think most people can relate to. Think about how much energy it takes to be the “right” version of yourself, just to survive another day of work or social interaction.
But here’s the thing—it’s not just personal. This need to perform is baked into the systems around us. Capitalism, for example, thrives on productivity and conformity. It pushes us into roles that prioritize output over authenticity. In Critique Should Give Power Indigestion, I explore how even when we push back against these systems, we often end up performing resistance in ways that don’t actually challenge the status quo. Instead, our resistance is neutralized and commodified, ensuring the cycle continues.
This systemic pressure to mask isn’t just a burden on individuals; it’s a societal mandate. By constantly performing, we avoid confronting the deeper structural reasons for our exhaustion and alienation, as our attention remains focused on superficial participation.
Connected but Still Alone
We live in a time when technology has made it easier than ever to connect, yet so many of us feel disconnected, isolated, and alienated. Have you ever found yourself scrolling for hours, liking posts, but still feeling utterly alone? That’s by design. Social media thrives on keeping us engaged but never fully connected. It keeps us in a loop of shallow interactions, feeding off our need for validation while leaving us feeling empty.
In Another Day in Hell, I explore how this loop of surface-level engagement leaves us numb, always chasing a fleeting sense of connection but never really finding it. The platforms we use aren’t neutral—they are designed to keep us hooked, drawing us deeper into the digital void without providing real emotional nourishment.
Even platforms that were once seen as neutral spaces for knowledge, like Wikipedia, are caught in this web. In Wikipedia’s Subtle Betrayal of Knowledge, I dig into how these platforms, far from being liberating, subtly reinforce existing power structures. They shape the knowledge we access in ways that uphold the status quo, ensuring that we remain informed enough to function but not empowered enough to change the system.
The disconnect between what we think we’re engaging with and the reality of how our experiences are shaped by algorithms and corporate interests creates a sense of dissonance that many of us carry daily.
What Happens When the Mask Drops?
So, what happens when you stop performing? Sometimes, it takes something drastic—like psychedelics or moments of deep introspection—to break down the walls we’ve built around ourselves. In The Masked Psychedelic Experience, I explore how psychedelics can force us to confront who we really are, stripping away the layers of performance that we’ve come to rely on. This unmasking process isn’t always smooth—it can reveal parts of ourselves we’ve long ignored or hidden away.
Unmasking isn’t just about being true to yourself in social situations—it’s about reclaiming parts of your life that have been commodified, like joy and pleasure. In Reclaiming Your Right to Pleasure, I delve into how even our capacity for joy has been commercialized. We’ve been taught that pleasure must be bought—through products, experiences, and social validation. But what if pleasure is something we can reclaim outside of capitalist transactions? Unmasking, in this sense, becomes a radical act of self-recovery, an effort to feel without the filters imposed by market logic.
Capitalism: Selling You Back to You
Here’s the thing: It’s not just about masking or social media. The entire system—capitalism—is designed to commodify every part of us. In The Commodification of Behavior in the Age of AI, I look at how every click, every scroll, and every like is turned into data that’s sold to shape our behavior. We’re not just consuming content—we are the product, and our actions are sold back to companies, shaping the very ways we engage with the world.
Even creativity gets commodified. In Plagiarism, Creativity, and the Capitalist Machine, I argue that even rebellion and originality are commodified, stripped of their radical potential, and turned into products that ultimately reinforce the system they claim to oppose. The challenge isn’t just to be authentic but to resist the constant pull to turn our identities into something marketable.
Even Caregiving Isn’t Safe
If you think personal relationships are untouched by commodification, think again. Even caregiving, one of the most fundamental acts of love and support, has been co-opted by neoliberal logic. In Caregiving Anxiety is Unique to Neoliberalism, I examine how caregiving has been transformed into a transactional, measurable product, turning what should be a personal and emotional connection into something that’s monitored, controlled, and sold.
The same goes for basic needs like housing. In Health Insurers in Housing: A Critical Analysis, I explore how health insurers are now turning housing into another tool for profit, under the guise of providing care. This commodification runs deep, affecting everything from our homes to our relationships. The very systems that should protect and nurture us are now instruments of control.
So, Should You Keep Playing Along?
If this all feels overwhelming or frustrating, you’re not alone. The good news is that unmasking and resisting these systems is possible, but it’s not easy. It starts with recognizing that the exhaustion, alienation, and performance aren’t personal failures—they’re structural problems created by capitalism and the systems that benefit from our participation.
Unmasking is not just about rejecting societal pressures; it’s about reclaiming the parts of yourself that have been commodified. It’s about choosing to live in a way that aligns with your values, even in the face of systems designed to turn you into a product. It’s about asking the uncomfortable questions and refusing to play along just because it’s easier.
If you’re ready to dive deeper, the essays I’ve linked here explore these ideas in more detail. Whether you choose to engage with them or not, remember: you have the power to stop playing along and start living authentically. The system is set up to keep you performing—but you don’t have to.