- 31 Oct, 2025 *
An alarming trend I have noticed is that the third spaces people used to occupy are being overwhelmed by people trying to sell you something. It is as though every place billed as place to relax is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Maybe I am looking back on my undergraduate with rose-tinted glasses, but I miss genuinely meeting people who loved to build things and learn. You could walk into a class or a club and meet people who genuinely wanted to learn and explore. There was motivation for jobs, but the overwhelming majority were there because of passion.
Now, since…
- 31 Oct, 2025 *
An alarming trend I have noticed is that the third spaces people used to occupy are being overwhelmed by people trying to sell you something. It is as though every place billed as place to relax is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Maybe I am looking back on my undergraduate with rose-tinted glasses, but I miss genuinely meeting people who loved to build things and learn. You could walk into a class or a club and meet people who genuinely wanted to learn and explore. There was motivation for jobs, but the overwhelming majority were there because of passion.
Now, since graduating, it feels as though the world’s spaces for learning and connecting have become overwhelmed with scummy sales tactics. If I go to a club or a social gathering for people interested in a specific professional area, then I find it is overwhelmed with sales people. If I go to an online forum, it’s blatant sales tactics or disguised sales tactics.
Where are the people trying to learn, explore, and build?
That is what I had hoped X would evolve to after its ugly caterpillar phase, but it seems to have doubled down on negativity - becoming a place to peacock and put others down.
I miss my communities. I think it is a shift in the world we live in with folks becoming more withdrawn post-COVID. When I speak to people in undergraduate and master’s programs it is like speaking to people living in the Terminator universe. Each is trying to figure out what thing is least likely to result in the robots coming for them. They’re all trying to find the niche they can exploit, not the thing they can learn, develop their minds, and find fulfillment in to start their career in.
It feels lonely.