The Iron Rule of Algocracy

We live in a world dominated by same; a world in which the countless algorithms that track our every click are programmed to deliver us more of what we like; more of the same. On a daily basis, our world becomes more polarised, to the point where radical, norm defying positions are fast becoming the new mainstream.

Why? Because same is the entrance to a rabbit hole; the door to a rabid warren of furious agreement. And the deeper down it we go, the more distorted our perspectives become. Before long, all those in our cohort—all those we interact with online—think, feel and act the same.

But at what point did we agree to live zombified lives like this?

At what point did we accept that from hereon in our knowledge diet would consist of misinformation, falsehoods and downright lies—and that we would swallow them and come back greedily for more?

We have but a short period to make our mark on the world. For most of us, our time has already been commandeered by society. We must work so that we can eat. We must study so we can work. The time we ought to have to create our legacy has already been severely reduced. But what little we have left is also being stolen from right under our noses. In whatever moments we have to ourselves, we now reach for a device and begin scrolling. At first, we convinced ourselves we were staying in touch with our friends, but now we are so trapped in the clutches of social media that we don’t even realise how much time it is stealing. And instead of training their creative brains, our children spend hours each day watching mindless videos posted by influencers who seek little more than fame and fortune.

We are in a spiral of same. Our time has been stolen. Our perspectives have been stolen—whether we admit it or not, we no longer have access to sufficient information from which to form them. If we continue down this same path, surrendering what makes us individuals merely to line the pockets of the same greedy billionaires, how long will it be until our humanity deserts us too?