The enshittified highlight of my morning went thusly:

Call to reschedule appointment. Greeted by new AI assistant. Dance verbally with AI assistant who can’t actually help and tries to connect me to a human being. No human being answers. AI assistant comes back and instructs me to leave my voice message for some human being. AI assistant cuts me off 5 seconds into my message. AI assistant asks if there is anything else I want to add to my message. AI assistant cuts me off again and thanks me for calling. Curse the universe and all that has led to that phone call and go back to family and kids. I miss a callback from a human being who leaves a voicemail saying to call back at “x” number. I call “x” number only to be greeted by the AI assistant. More cursing. 

How have we let it come to this? I ask why I’m losing my mind and what I can do about it. Then I remember Matthew Crawford’s point that these interactions presuppose “your willingness to suspend those capacities and dispositions that form the basis for self-respect.” 

“Such resignation only feels like defeat for a little while,” he adds, “until the numbness sets in.” 

So society increasingly gives me only two options: become more numb, less human, and thus remain at peace, or just lose my farking mind.

I can’t help some of the former, but I’m leaning toward actively choosing the latter.

Insanity is the only way.