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One of the ways we can think about social relativity as it relates to philosophical ideas derived from the findings in quantum theory is the phenomenon of "context collapse" in social media.

On the social "web", spaces like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, etc., there is a very limited space and opportunity for interaction. Because of this, identity is reduced in order to occupy the space that the environment permits. This reduction happens IRL too, but is pronounced differently and more distinctly in social media.

Context collapse happens, essentially because it's impossible to be or show ones full self in these spaces. In real life, this reduction is the result of the matrix of social "norms" that are enforced in the specific domain. On social, it's all this, plus the additional layer of platform restrictions, limitations on contact format, curated performativity among other things, not least amongst these the fact that the platforms typically are used to commodify ones self,...

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Our identity is fictional, written by parents, relatives, education, society.
Genesis P-Orridge

There is this haunting phenomenon, that has only become increasingly ominous and palpable with the emergence of AI. That is this experience of being in predominantly white or generally non-black spaces, that is spaces where there are very few or no Black people, but these same spaces being enlivened with the spirit of Black culture. I think of countless restaurants, cafes, bookstores, shopping centers, etc. oftentimes but not always in now gentrified neighborhoods, that will be playing Black music with no Black people anywhere in sight. This isn’t a phenomenon localized to the US. Take mental note of it next time you enter a public space. It’s not hard to see this recurring experience as a window into a world “freed” from the “white mans burden” of Black existence, all the while subsisting off the cultural output of Black lives.

Can the code of Black culture be synthesized?

This is the inevitable result of the naively “post-racial” worldview under surveillance techno capitalism.

One of the other, more subtle but insidious things the thing does is make it difficult for you as a Black person to find camaraderie with other Black people. I think of the isolation of a fictional character like Huey Freeman or the same feelings held by Nina Simone, who felt herself in a perpetual state of unbelonging in both Black and White spaces.