Is Reality Collapsing?

Ted Gioia sure thinks so!

Ted Gioia is one of my favorite writers here on Substack, and his exploding popularity suggests I’m not alone in my admiration of his erudition, critical thinking and writing style. Much of his popularity is probably due to the fact that he’s very good at seeing and articulating problems that are coming at us, but haven’t quite arrived. When I read Ted, I often feel like I’m a little ahead of the curve, so I can anticipate and prepare for the storm just over the horizon. He’s very smart and very well-informed, so he’s very often right on the money.

But sometimes, he overshoots the target.

Ted’s latest piece, alarmingly called “Our Shared Reality Will Self-Destruct in the Next 12 Months,” is a case in point. I’m sure that title is attracting a ton of attention, but does the urgency of the alarm match the actual danger of the situation? I don’t think so.

“At the current rate of technological advance,” Ted warns, “all reliable ways of validating truth will soon be gone. My best guess is that we have another 12 months to enjoy some degree of confidence in our shared sense of reality.”

First off, Ted’s argument is wildly over-stated. Turns out, what Ted means by “our shared reality,” is really just that part of our shared reality that we access on our devices. I realize that most of us live at least part of our lives in this on-line realm, so I don’t mean to dismiss this part of our shared reality. But it is hardly the totality of our reality. I mean, if the internet disappeared tomorrow, we’d still be here. Dating existed before dating apps. Food existed before Door Dash. Jobs existed before LinkedIn. And should that online reality disappear, the reality to which they refer will persist.