Living Communication: confronting the power of the 01s over media, debt and narratives

When I say 01s, I’m talking about two things at the same time:

• the 0.1% richest who live from the State and from financial extraction,
  
  

• and the zeros and ones of digital code that now mediate almost everything we see, feel and decide.
  
  

Today, the power of the 01s works like this:

• a small group concentrates media ownership and political influence;
  
  

• platforms and algorithms decide what appears or disappears from our screens;
  
  

• the financial system tells a permanent story of debt, scarcity and guilt;
  
  

All this acts directly on brains, emotions and bodies.

My proposal with Living Communication (Comunicação Viva) is simple and radical:

take communication back to the living body,
to presence, to direct dialogue,
and to a public sphere that cannot be fully captured
by the 01s of capital and code.

The focus I want to light

Among all possible angles (media theory, law, economics), I choose one focus:

communication is not just the transmission of information;
it is the regulation of nervous systems in common.

The 01s know this and use it to control attention, fear and desire.
Living Communication is our way to reclaim this regulation for life, not for extraction.

Media concentration, platform power and opinion

Classic debates about media already warned:

• when a few groups control most of the media,
  they gain power not only over markets,
  but over the formation of public opinion and the “agenda” of what can be discussed.
  
  

Recent analyses show that:

• digital platforms dominate advertising markets,
  draining resources from independent journalism;
  
  

• media ownership is becoming more concentrated in the hands of economic and political elites,
  threatening pluralism and democratic oversight;
  
  

• laws designed for old mass media are often insufficient to regulate opinion power in the platform era.
  
  

At the same time, social media have generated:

• echo chambers and filter bubbles, where people encounter mainly views similar to their own;
  
  

• patterns of polarisation around political and health topics, such as COVID-19.
  
  

In this environment, the 01s can:

• amplify certain narratives,
  
  

• silence others,
  
  

• and “naturalise” debt, inequality and extraction as if they were inevitable.
  
  

Brains, likes and the hijacking of reward circuits

Neuroscience helps explain why the 01s’ communication strategies are so effective.

Studies on reward processing show that the ventral striatum and related regions (like the nucleus accumbens) respond not only to money and food, but also to social rewards – approval, status, reputation.

Research using fMRI found that:

• increases in social reputation activate the same reward circuitry involved in monetary gains;
  
  

• activity in the ventral striatum in response to social feedback predicts intensity of social media use;
  
  

• problematic use of platforms like Instagram is associated with patterns of activation similar to behavioural addictions.
  
  

In simple terms:

“likes”, notifications and viral content are engineered taps on the brain’s reward system.
The 01s use this to keep nervous systems hooked, agitated and available.

When this reward hijacking mixes with fear and uncertainty (crises, pandemics, elections), it pushes people into:

• compulsive checking,
  
  

• emotional reactivity,
  
  

• impulsive decisions.
  
  

Exactly the state of mind that benefits:

• speculative markets,
  
  

• authoritarian politicians,
  
  

• and the expansion of consumer debt.
  
  

Debt, stress and the brain

Financial stress is not only a number in a spreadsheet; it is a neurobiological state.

Research shows that:

• chronic financial hardship is associated with differences in amygdala and prefrontal cortex, regions that regulate emotion and decision-making;
  
  

• persistent money stress can increase amygdala activity (fear, anxiety) and impair prefrontal function (planning, self-control);
  
  

Under these conditions, people tend to:

• focus on immediate survival,
  
  

• accept abusive contracts and jobs,
  
  

• be more vulnerable to manipulation and narratives of guilt.
  
  

The 01s’ narrative often goes like this:

“if you are in debt, it’s your individual fault;
work more, buy more courses, trust the market.”

Living Communication proposes another reading:

debt, as it is organised today, is a systemic tool to keep nervous systems under chronic stress,
making populations more governable by fear and less capable of long-term collective action.

Living Communication vs. 01 communication

01 communication is:

• mediated by platforms that optimise for engagement, not for truth or health;
  
  

• aligned with the interests of those who profit from clicks, polarisation and indebtedness;
  
  

• designed from top to bottom using data, algorithms and neuromarketing.
  
  

Living Communication (Comunicação Viva) is the opposite movement:

• putting bodies back in the centre of the communicative process;
  
  

• favouring spaces where people can breathe, listen and respond without constant digital noise;
  
  

• using technology, yes, but subordinated to living cycles, not the other way around.
  
  

Practically, Living Communication means:

• small assemblies, circles and councils where people see each other’s faces and bodies;
  
  

• slow media formats that privilege context and depth over speed and shock;
  
  

• transparent algorithms and local digital infrastructures controlled by communities, not distant corporations.
  
  

It also means:

• treating journalism, education and community media as part of the nervous system of democracy,
  
  

• protecting them from capture by the 01s through regulation, public support and citizen oversight.
  
  

Draft constitutional article (in Spanish)

Artículo X – Comunicación Viva y Regulación del Poder de los 01

1. El Estado reconoce la comunicación como un proceso vital mediante el cual las personas regulan en común sus emociones, percepciones y decisiones, y no únicamente como transmisión de información o contenido.
   
   

2. Se adoptarán medidas para prevenir la concentración excesiva de la propiedad de los medios de comunicación y de las infraestructuras digitales, a fin de evitar la formación de poderes de opinión predominantes por parte de grupos económicos o políticos —los 01— que puedan socavar la deliberación democrática.
   
   

3. La ley regulará la actividad de las plataformas digitales de gran escala, garantizando la transparencia de sus algoritmos de recomendación, la protección de los datos personales y la prevención de prácticas que, mediante la manipulación de la atención, el miedo o el deseo, generen daños significativos a la salud mental individual y colectiva.
   
   

4. El Estado promoverá y apoyará formas de Comunicación Viva, incluyendo medios comunitarios, radios locales, espacios de deliberación presencial y contenidos educativos que fortalezcan la capacidad crítica, la alfabetización mediática y la regulación emocional de la población, en especial de niñas, niños y adolescentes.
   
   

5. Se establecerán mecanismos de supervisión ciudadana sobre la relación entre entidades financieras, medios de comunicación y plataformas digitales, para impedir que la narrativa de la deuda, la escasez y el consumo sea utilizada de manera sistemática para mantener a la población en estados de estrés crónico incompatibles con el ejercicio pleno de sus derechos.
   
   

Suggested references (up to 8, with comments – at least 3 neuroscientific)

1. Livingstone, S. (1994). “The mass media, democracy and the public sphere.” In Media and Democracy.
   Classic discussion of how mass media shape the public sphere and democratic debate, asking whether they enable genuine citizen deliberation or primarily reflect elite perspectives. It grounds the critique of media power in democratic theory.
   
   

2. Seipp, T. J. (2024). “Between the cracks: Blind spots in regulating media concentration and platform dependence.” Internet Policy Review.
   Analyzes how traditional media-concentration law fails to address the new opinion power of platforms. It supports the argument that the 01s can dominate narratives through both old and new media.
   
   

3. Observatory on the Information and Democracy Partnership (2023). “News Media, Information Integrity and the Public Sphere.”
   Examines platform dominance, advertising market concentration and their effects on news media, trust and disinformation. It provides an up-to-date picture of how platforms reshape the public sphere.
   
   

4. Crone, E. A., & Konijn, E. A. (2018). “Media use and brain development during adolescence.” Nature Communications.
   Reviews how social media and digital environments engage adolescent reward circuits, especially the ventral striatum, and how sensitivity to social feedback may reinforce intensive platform use. This is central to understanding likes and notifications as taps on reward systems.
   
   

5. Meshi, D. et al. (2013). “Nucleus accumbens response to gains in reputation for the self relative to others.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
   Shows that social reputation gains activate the ventral striatum and that this activity predicts Facebook use. It empirically links social media feedback to reward processing in the brain.
   
   

6. Butterworth, P. et al. (2011). “The association between financial hardship and amygdala and hippocampal volumes.” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
   Demonstrates associations between financial hardship, changes in brain regions (amygdala, hippocampus) and emotional regulation. It supports the idea that debt and money stress are literally embodied in neural structures.
   
   

7. Jiang, J. et al. (2021). “Social Media Polarization and Echo Chambers in the Context of COVID-19.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
   Studies the structure of echo chambers and polarisation on Twitter during the pandemic. It gives concrete evidence of how platform-mediated communication can fragment public debate.
   
   

8. Equality Trust (2025). “Money, Media and Lords: How the Ultra-Rich Are Shaping Britain.”
   Shows how a tiny economic elite shapes politics and media ownership in the UK, introducing a “Concentration of Power Index.” It exemplifies the real-world power of the 0.1% (the 01s) over narratives and democratic institutions.
   
   

Chile – 12 Fundamentos para una Nueva Constitución

Libertad de Expresión del ADN y Estado Laico DANA

Principio Biocéntrico: el ser humano como parte del bioma, no su señor

Estado Plurinacional y Cuerpo-Territorio: pueblos originarios como guardianes del ADN de la Tierra

Comunicación Viva: enfrentando el poder de los 01s sobre medios, deuda y narrativas

Buen Vivir Metabólico: economía al servicio de la vida, no de la ganancia de los 01s

Democracia de Quorum Sensing Humano: otra forma de decidir en sociedad

DREX CIUDADANO CHILENO: moneda metabólica para distribuir existencia y proteger el bioma

Créditos de Carbono, Ciudadanía Climática y DREX INMIGRANTE: pertenencia más allá de las fronteras

Soberanía de Datos DANA: tributación de la minería de datos humanos por los municipios

Centros de Datos Ecológicos Municipales y Red de Pagos Local: cuando el PIX no se apaga

Democracia Metabólica de los Biomas: cuando la Constitución deja de ser promedio y se vuelve territorio vivo

Jiwasa y Sistemas Complejos: liderazgo orgánico por pautas y biomas

 
Una Nueva Constitución Chilena  - Politica Decolonial

Chile - 12 Fundamento para uma Nova Constituição

Liberdade de Expressão do DNA e Estado Laico DANA

Princípio Biocêntrico: o humano como parte do bioma, não senhor

Estado Plurinacional e Corpo-Território: povos originários como guardiões do DNA da Terra

Comunicação Viva: enfrentando o poder dos 01s sobre mídia, dívida e narrativas

Bem-Viver Metabólico: economia a serviço da vida, não do lucro dos 01s

Democracia de Quorum Sensing Humano: outra forma de decidir em sociedade

DREX CIDADÃO CHILENO: moeda metabólica para distribuir existência e proteger o bioma

Créditos de Carbono, Cidadania Climática e DREX IMIGRANTE: pertencimento para além das fronteiras

Soberania de Dados DANA: taxação da mineração de dados humanos pelos municípios

Datacentros ecológicos municipais e rede de pagamentos local: quando o PIX não desliga

Democracia Metabólica de Biomas: quando a Constituição deixa de ser média e vira território vivo

Jiwasa e Sistemas Complexos: liderança orgânica por pautas e biomas

Chile – 12 Foundations for a New Constitution

Freedom of Expression of DNA and the DANA Secular State

Biocentric Principle: the Human as Part of the Biome, Not Its Master

Plurinational State and Body-Territory: Indigenous Peoples as Guardians of the Earth’s DNA

Living Communication: Confronting the Power of the 01s over Media, Debt and Narratives

Metabolic Well-Being: An Economy at the Service of Life, Not of the 01s’ Profit

Democracy of Human Quorum Sensing: Another Way of Deciding in Society

Chilean DREX Cidadão: Metabolic Currency to Distribute Existence and Protect the Biome

Carbon Credits, Climate Citizenship and DREX Immigrant: Belonging Beyond Borders

DANA Data Sovereignty: Taxing Human Data Mining Through Municipalities

Municipal Ecological Datacenters and Local Payment Networks: When PIX Never Turns Off

Metabolic Democracy of Biomes: When the Constitution Stops Being an Average and Becomes Living Territory

Jiwasa and Complex Systems: Organic Leadership by Issues and Biomes