Have to admit that it was work finishing this book. Also believe it was worth the effort. His argument is subtle, but my takeaway is that Crawford is saying that in our haste to be autonomous, self-sufficient individuals - to be liberated from authority - we have lost connection our heritage, our traditions, our past. This "isolation" creates a feeling of discomfort or anxiety. To ease that tension, we take a poll - see what others are thinking. Helped by the latest in technology (social media) to see what others are thinking, us "rugged individualists" become part of the herd, and in turn that herd gets manipulated by the latest in technology. Ironically, Crawford seems to be saying that the path to true individuality is to be willing to be "in conflict with the world" and in collaboration with others - past and present - and the world. Not accepting abstractions or representations but taking the world as it is - warts and all. "Arguably, what it takes to be an individual is to develop a considered evaluative take on the world, and stand behind it. Doing so exposes one to conflict, and in the conversations with others that follow you may revise your take on things. Such developments can't occur if you're not attached to anything to being with, or never put it forward to others as being choiceworthy."
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