I had to teach myself how to be ok with the fact that I did not have a mom, a dad, a family. I had to teach myself how to be ok with the fact that I did not (do not) have friends. I had to teach myself how to be ok with the fact that according to the world, I am hard to love and easy to leave. I did it. I did it all. Yes, I now know that I am easy to love and hard to leave. Yes, I now know that my parents could not know […]
Retrolanguage, Language Models, & a Hidden Crisis: Understanding & Responding to the Risks Shaping Human Thought
Large Language Models (LLMs) are reshaping communication, information exchange, and human decision-making at scale. While their capabilities offer efficiencies and new forms of connection, they also introduce substantial risks—ethical, psychological, social, and technological—that demand urgent consideration from technologists, policymakers, and the public.
This report synthesizes current research, expert analysis, and ongoing conversation to explore these risks, focusing on the unique concept of retrolanguage—the subtle and potentially dangerous drift in linguistic meaning enabled by LLMs.
Impetus, inertia, and individual coping skills
Troubled times often gather in tangled knots—personal, societal, and global. When life takes a sharp downturn, why do so many freeze, become rigid, or imagine the worst? Why do humans sometimes treat converging troubles as doom, inescapable and insurmountable?
The Human Crisis: Our Struggle For Cohesion
Look around, and you’ll see a paradox: in a world of technological marvels and vast resources, billions still suffer from hunger, homelessness, and hatred. We’ve mapped genomes, explored distant planets, and shrunk the world through digital connections, yet we can’t seem to guarantee everyone a full belly, a safe place to sleep, and mutual respect.
The repeated story is that this is “just the way things are.” But is it really? Or are we missing something deeper that cuts across borders, politics, and technologies?
Jul 07, 2025 – Human Superiority (hah!)
The Perplexity conversation with full citations below.
