THE GOBLIN NEWSLETTER 112

It is so wild to see the whole set of cultural rules change over the last ten years. Things are obviously always changing & the last 100+ years have been marked by rapid change, but the change has really accelerated since the dawn of people having access to the internet in their pocket. I sometimes wonder if this change is as dramatic in more ancient societies, but I’m, as usual, speaking of my own limited, American, West Coast experience (I could dial down further but I’m not convinced of the point, especially when you should view ALL opinions as individual). So much of what I was used to growing up was being starved for things that I liked & this was the impetus for much of the works I set up as an adult, a lack, plus a strong dislike for what I was presented with. We live in a moment now where people can look up anything they want on their phones & for the most part it exists. With the advent of AI, it can be generated, albeit with too many fingers & some impossible angles. The real world is starved & falling apart. It’s like a lover that is starving for some attention. I can see the novelty of the internet wearing off & it settling into the status of cigarettes in the 80s. “I know it’s unhealthy, but…” The thing is, I know the internet is just a part of human society now & will be in some form for a long time. I am under no delusion of that, the interconnected world is very useful. The DUNGEON DEGENERATES team is made up of people all over the world, a lot of the work is conducted on Google Docs & Slack. It’s great. But in this there is a lack. I haven’t hung out with any of these guys, we haven’t gone out to a bar together, nothing. While I am aware of more things that I am frankly surprised exist, they still aren’t making an appearance in public & that public offering seems to have gotten more homogenous, more conservative & because of this more boring. This is part of the reason why restaurants & food in general is such a thing right now. You can’t experience these things on a screen. I really look forward to the moment when the need for certain cultural vehicles that have been plowed under by the advance of technology are seen as essential to the quality of life.