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Comment by keiferski | Hacker News Reader

There’s a weird gap in the modern world when it comes to travel, which is traveling as a group / society. In the distant past it was very common for entire societies to be nomadic. You’d have both your friends and family + movement around the globe.

On the other hand, the solo traveler is a recent phenomenon largely enabled by 20th century technology and political developments.

I know there are programs which travel the world as a group, but they tend to be very ends-focused (“startup travelers”) etc.

So, the era of time when the Earth had open, undefined spaces (“smooth space” as defined by the philosopher Deleuze) seems to be basically over forever, barring an apocalyptic event. We might have to wait for new planets to see nomadic societies existing again.

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The idea of "smooth space" being gone is kinda haunting. Everything's mapped, monetized, reviewed on TripAdvisor. There's very little true unknown left to stumble into

According to the authors of the idea capitalism and globalization actually create smooth space. I don't fully get that part to be honest

While that is definitely true, you can ignore it and choose local options. I often try to ask locals where they go to eat. Most people are excited to share a recommendation or two and why they like it.

Another thing I do, is avoid online menues at least ahead of visiting a spot and make my selections once I arrive. I can't say it's better, but it definitely keeps the serendipitous and suspense that I remember from my younger years before everything was online and had a million reviews.

Deleuze mentioned on HN? I'll have to check my window for aerial pigs come the morning.

> when the Earth had open, undefined spaces

For physical spaces, you're correct, but it is worth noting that other spaces have appeared and thereafter made the same transition. The internet, for example, is a pretty clear-cut case of a striated system today -- it facilitates desires into tightly-controlled pathways and channels by which means value can be extracted. But in its early years, it was almost totally smooth: communities like Geocities and MySpace demonstrate this through their total stylistic incoherency. While it is of course different than actually going to a new place, it's still a rare thing -- to experience a "totally new" place, unblemished and unoccupied.

And it's not impossible for striated spaces to be deterritorialized: as Deleuze points out, this is in fact a natural tendency of striated space, and it takes active effort (e.g. by a capitalist world-system) to maintain the existing striation.

Hah, I think I've mentioned Deleuze a few times on HN over the years.

The early internet definitely was a smooth space and the 90s cyberpunk mood really echoes a lot of Deleuze. Nick Land, the CCRU, and similar thinkers were very influenced by D&G. Great reading, if a bit sad now looking back.

I'm not sure how the Earth itself would be deterritorialized, though, as I feel like you'd need to undo basically everything from property rights to the Westphalian concept of a state. Seems unlikely to me, barring anarchy/apocalypse or some kind of AI god that confiscates all land and enforces a ban on property ownership. Perhaps if the northern European model of free range, open access to lands could be extended over more area.

> On the other hand, the solo traveler is a recent phenomenon largely enabled by 20th century technology and political developments.

I think people like Marco Polo were not so uncommon for most of history.

Marco Polo was uncommon, which is why we remember him today. He also didn’t go entirely alone, and spent years traveling to places that can be reached in hours today. Not the same thing.

If we got to space colonization, I guess that could count as new, physical, smooth space?

Yeah I suppose we wouldn’t need a new planet, merely self-sustaining space colonies.

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