Social Media Orthodoxy

The established, institutionalized set of beliefs and practices that define mainstream social media use—the often-unexamined assumptions about how platforms should be used, what counts as successful engagement, how identity should be performed, and what role social media plays in life. Social media orthodoxy includes commitments: that visibility is good, that sharing is connection, that metrics (likes, followers, shares) measure value, that personal branding is essential, that algorithms know what we want, that social media is simply how people communicate now, that criticism of platforms is Luddite. Like all orthodoxies, it shapes behavior and expectation, but it functions as ideology—making platform-mediated life seem natural and inevitable, obscuring how platforms shape us (attention, emotion, relationship), and delegitimizing alternatives (offline connection, platform cooperatives, non-commercial spaces). Social media orthodoxy determines what online behavior is "normal," what engagement is "successful," and who counts as "digitally literate" versus "out of touch."

Example: "She felt anxious about her low engagement numbers—not because she needed validation, but because social media orthodoxy had made metrics feel like measures of worth. The orthodoxy's power is making platform metrics feel like personal value."

by Dumu The Void March 17, 2026

Social Sciences of the Scientific Method

The application of social science disciplines—sociology, anthropology, political science, economics—to the study of the scientific method. The social sciences of the scientific method examine how social forces shape methodological practice: how power and status influence which methods are valued; how economic incentives shape methodological choices; how political contexts constrain or enable certain kinds of inquiry; how cultural assumptions are embedded in methodological standards; how institutions create and maintain methodological orthodoxies. They treat the scientific method not as a purely logical procedure but as a social practice—shaped by all the forces that shape any human activity. The social sciences of the scientific method reveal that method is never just about logic; it's always also about power, money, culture, and social structure.

Social Sciences of the Scientific Method Example: "His social sciences of the scientific method research showed how the dominance of quantitative methods in economics reflects not their inherent superiority but the political and economic interests that funded certain kinds of research over others. The method that won wasn't necessarily the best—it was the best supported."

by Dumu The Void March 19, 2026

Social Sciences of the Laws of Physics

The application of social science disciplines—sociology, anthropology, political science, economics—to the study of how physical laws are discovered, validated, and understood within social contexts. The social sciences of physical laws examine how social forces shape law-discovery: how scientific communities form around law-seeking programs; how status and authority influence which law-claims are accepted; how funding priorities direct attention to some laws rather than others; how cultural assumptions are embedded in our conception of what laws are; how political contexts constrain or enable certain kinds of law-research. They reveal that even the most fundamental physical laws are discovered and validated through social processes—that the community of physicists is a social system with all the dynamics that entails. The social sciences of physical laws don't claim that laws are social constructions (they describe reality), but that our knowledge of them is socially produced.

Social Sciences of the Laws of Physics Example: "His social sciences of physical laws research showed how the search for a theory of everything became a dominant research program not because it was the most promising, but because it captured institutional imagination, funding priorities, and career incentives. The science was real, but the direction was social."

by Dumu The Void March 19, 2026

Social Theory of Collective Dissociation

A sociological framework that examines how collective dissociation is produced, maintained, and reproduced through social structures, institutions, and practices. The social theory of collective dissociation investigates the mechanisms by which societies manage unbearable knowledge: educational systems that teach sanitized histories, media that frame events in acceptable ways, legal systems that define certain harms out of existence, cultural narratives that provide comforting explanations, and social norms that discourage uncomfortable questions. It examines how dissociation becomes embedded in institutions—how archives are organized, how monuments are built, how holidays are celebrated, how language evolves to obscure rather than reveal. This theory reveals that collective dissociation is not just a psychological phenomenon but a social achievement—something societies actively construct and maintain through countless small practices and large institutions. Understanding these mechanisms is essential for those seeking to confront rather than avoid collective trauma.

Example: "Her social theory of collective dissociation showed how textbooks, museums, and monuments worked together to create a national story that simply erased centuries of violence. The dissociation wasn't accidental; it was built into every institution children encountered."

by Dumu The Void March 19, 2026

Social Theory of Mass Dissociation

A sociological framework examining how mass dissociation is produced, maintained, and reproduced through large-scale social structures, institutions, and systems. The social theory of mass dissociation investigates how entire societies organize themselves to avoid unbearable knowledge: educational systems that teach comforting lies; media that frame crises as manageable; political systems that punish truth-tellers; economic systems that reward denial; cultural narratives that provide escape. It examines how mass dissociation becomes embedded in the fabric of society—in how cities are built, how resources are distributed, how work is organized, how leisure is spent. This theory reveals that mass dissociation is not a failure of individuals but a feature of social organization—something societies actively construct through their normal functioning, not their breakdown.

Example: "His social theory of mass dissociation showed how the entire economy was structured to prevent people from seeing the consequences of their consumption—supply chains so complex that responsibility disappeared, advertising so pervasive that desire overwhelmed knowledge, work so demanding that reflection was impossible."

by Dumu The Void March 19, 2026

Social Theory of Collective Dissociation of Late-Stage Capitalism

A sociological framework examining how late-stage capitalism produces and maintains collective dissociation through social structures, institutions, and practices. The social theory investigates the mechanisms by which capitalist societies manage unbearable knowledge: advertising that creates fantasy worlds detached from production reality; media that frames systemic problems as individual choices; education that teaches economics as natural law rather than human creation; workplaces that demand focus on immediate tasks over systemic awareness; consumer culture that provides endless distraction from structural awareness. It reveals that dissociation is built into the fabric of capitalist societies—in how cities are designed, how time is structured, how relationships are mediated, how value is measured. Understanding these mechanisms is essential for grasping how capitalism persists despite its contradictions: not through force alone, but through social arrangements that make full awareness nearly impossible.

*Example: "Her social theory of collective dissociation of late-stage capitalism showed how the 24/7 news cycle creates a kind of dissociation—constant information about crises, but presented in a way that prevents sustained attention or systemic understanding. We're informed and dissociated simultaneously."*

by Dumu The Void March 19, 2026

Social Theory of Mass Dissociation of Late-Stage Capitalism

A sociological framework examining how mass dissociation operates at population scale under late-stage capitalism—the large-scale social processes that enable entire societies to disconnect from systemic reality. This theory investigates how institutions (media, education, government, corporations) work together to produce mass dissociation: news that reports disasters without context; entertainment that provides escape from awareness; advertising that reframes consumption as identity; politics that offers spectacle instead of substance; work that consumes energy needed for reflection. It examines how mass dissociation becomes embedded in everyday life—in the rhythm of days, the structure of spaces, the flow of information, the possibilities for attention. The theory reveals that mass dissociation under late-stage capitalism is not a failure of the system but one of its essential features—a social achievement that requires constant maintenance through countless institutions and practices.

Example: "His social theory of mass dissociation of late-stage capitalism showed how the built environment itself enforces dissociation—windowless shopping malls, highway systems that hide neighborhoods, suburbs designed for isolation. The dissociation isn't just in our heads; it's in our streets."

by Dumu The Void March 19, 2026