((hot)): Fomsfun

Consider the rise of "doomscrolling"—the compulsive consumption of bad news. Fomsfun is its cheerful, more insidious cousin. Doomscrolling makes you anxious. Fomsfun makes you numb. It is the infinite feed of "satisfying" videos (oddly specific: kinetic sand cutting, power washing, pimple popping) that provide a micro-dose of dopamine without a trace of meaning. If Fomsfun is the diagnosis, what is the cure? The antidote is what philosopher Byung-Chul Han calls the "deep boredom" that precedes true creativity. To escape Fomsfun, we must reject the tyranny of optimized leisure.

This is not depression. This is the friction between authentic joy and manufactured delight. Fomsfun is the uncanny valley of happiness. fomsfun

So the next time you find yourself clicking through a “relaxing” mobile game or forcing a smile at a corporate team-building event, whisper to yourself: This is fomsfun. And then close the app, leave the event, and go do something useless and glorious instead. That is where the real fun begins. Fomsfun makes you numb

Try this experiment: For one hour, do something that cannot be measured, photographed, or shared. Stare at a wall. Walk without a destination. Whittle a stick. Write a bad poem. Cook a meal with no recipe and no camera. The antidote is what philosopher Byung-Chul Han calls