The Philosopher Who Predicted Instagram in 1846

Watch the full Commitment episode on the Solved podcast: https://mrk.mn/tc7phn0t. A philosopher in 1846 predicted your Instagram feed. After a tabloid roasted him for months, Kierkegaard wrote some of the sharpest criticism of media ever put on paper. He named the thing that happens when everyone is connected to everyone: leveling, the quiet pressure to never stand out. Drew and I get into why the 19th century looked more like today than the 20th did, and why young people now barely dance, drink, or ask each other out. He called his shot 180 years early. Chapters Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: Kierkegaard's Battle with the Press 00:01:02 The Personal Attacks: When Intellectual Debate Turns Ugly 00:01:52 Turning Pain into Philosophy: The Present Age 00:02:26 The Accountability Problem: Anonymous Opinions Without Consequences 00:03:09 The Phantom of Public Opinion 00:03:56 The Journalist's Trick: Manufacturing Consensus 00:04:40 The Infamous Quote: Prostitute vs Journalist 00:05:09 Leveling: How Media Destroys Individuality 00:06:27 The Commitment Problem: All Talk, No Walk 00:07:08 Social Media: Kierkegaard's Nightmare on Steroids 00:08:18 The Internet's Broken Promise 00:09:25 The Death of Dancing: Modern Examples of Leveling 00:10:26 The Global Homogenization: When Everywhere Becomes Nowhere ⇨ Sign up for my newsletter, Your Next Breakthrough. It will help make you a less awful person: https://go.markmanson.net/msub25ez ⇨ Get clarity on what actually matters. Try Purpose, Mark's AI mentor app that learns your patterns, challenges your blind spots, and helps you take action. Get started at https://go.markmanson.net/8owt1jc4 FOLLOW MARK Mark's IG: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/markmanson⁠ Solved IG: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/solvedpodcast/⁠ Twitter: ⁠https://x.com/markmanson⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmanson/⁠ #MarkManson #Solved #Kierkegaard #SocialMedia #Philosophy #Culture #Commitment