Current Doggishness | [repack]

To reject doggishness, then, is to reclaim the dignity of the working dog over the pathetic image of the lapdog. It is to ask of ourselves: Are we acting out of conditioned obedience, or reasoned choice? Are we seeking the comfort of the kennel, or the responsibility of the watch? Are we waiting to be fed, or are we learning to hunt for truth?

This doggishness extends beyond technology into our political and social lives. The archetype of the citizen has been supplanted by the archetype of the loyal pet. We no longer seek leaders who challenge us, who demand we be better, more thoughtful wolves. Instead, we crave masters who will reassure us, who will scratch us behind the ears and tell us we are good. Partisanship has become less about ideology and more about pack loyalty. To bark at the strange dog on the other side of the fence is not an act of discernment, but of reflexive tribal affiliation. We have forgotten how to growl thoughtfully; we only know how to yap in unison. current doggishness

We see this first in our consumer culture. The algorithm has become the new master, and we, eager pets, perform tricks for treats. We scroll, we like, we swipe—not out of necessity, but out of a conditioned response to a digital clicker. The “dopamine loop” of social media is a perfectly engineered reward system, reducing complex human beings to salivating subjects awaiting the next pellet of validation. We have learned to be good dogs: we sit when the notification chimes, we stay within the walled gardens of our chosen platforms, and we roll over for the belly rub of a viral moment. Our wild instinct to roam the open plains of ideas has been replaced by the domesticated comfort of the echo chamber. To reject doggishness, then, is to reclaim the