Journal Entry 5: Davis: Ch. 6 (Sara Loughran)

The main concept that Davis seems to be trying to outline in this chapter is about sub-cultures, particularly online, and how technology and the Internet have aided in their growth. He touches on the influence of LSD and "flower power" culture, and its effect on these communities, and how it often goes hand in hand with Eastern religions and types of Spiritualism.

Davis has been going deeper and deeper with each chapter in exploring groups of people and how they intertwine with technology. There is even a connection back to Libertarianism from Chapter 4, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, mentioned by Davis in this chapter, are even part of their sub-culture of "computer geeks" who ended up creating something revolutionary. The fact that the Grateful Dead had such an influence in the creation and success of the Internet, and that many of the early webpages were home to small niche communities of Wiccans, Mystics, or people interested magic, conspiracies, or drugs like LSD, shows that the Internet itself is only a byproduct of these cultures and mysticisms. They are all intertwined in some way, and while some early webpages might have been dedicated to mind-altering substances, the Internet has become a pseudo-drug itself.

Now, fandoms, or "media tribes", as Davis calls them, have become one of the biggest parts of the Internet, from Reddit, to Tumblr, to "Stan Twitter", and even Facebook and YouTube. There is something to be said for the way these communities shape people's minds and make them feel like they themselves are part of an alternate reality, like some sort of substitute LSD. People feel invincible when they are online, and are then drawn back into the real world when they log off, often times regretting things they did or said because they would have never done them in real life. The Internet has become an entity of its own, containing a new type of magic that it uses to draw people in. "Tribes", like Davis mentioned, from thousands of years ago, haven't disappeared, they have just increased, have become even more specified with each culture, and have moved to the Internet, and maybe possibly alternate forms of technology as they develop.