Social media stymies freedom of thought
Imagine a future world in which a microchip containing vast information from a supercomputer is surgically implanted into your brain. In just minutes, an unimaginable quantity of knowledge is uploaded and ready to use, and you are able to communicate and share information telepathically with anyone else containing the chip. Sounds pretty amazing, right? However, there’s a catch: Each of us receives a slightly different chip containing a slightly different stream of information specifically designed for us by A.I. algorithms. In this imagined world, would we still be free to think for ourselves? Or would we simply become a product of the technology?
The truth is, this imagined reality of the future isn’t so different than the present. The world that we’ve constructed, rife with curated news streams that reinforce cognitive biases, “like” buttons that promote superficiality and moral grandstanding, and distorted online self-images — is it even possible to have an original thought anymore?
Social media is an approximate imitation of our lives — a carefully created best version of ourselves. It is who we think we are and who we want to be all at the same time. It is what we think other people will literally “like” and “share” about us. But if we’re not careful, pretty soon the lines may become blurred. If we’re someone different on Facebook than Twitter than Instagram, how do we even know who we really are?
The algorithms of the “Big Tech” companies — Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google — give us the of agency and free will where none may actually exist. For example, how many times throughout the day do you glance down at your smartphone without even knowing why you did? Can you be consciously aware at any given moment of the complex algorithms manipulating your subjective reality?
But what makes this technology different from the technology that has always been around? If you’re anything like me, when people (usually of a certain age) complain about technology ruining society and making us antisocial, you tend to conjure up archaic images of people each reading a newspaper on the subway train and think to yourself, “What’s the difference?” Television and telephones have been around forever. When they first came out, people warned these devices, too, would lead to the downfall of civilization.
The real difference between today’s technology and that of centuries prior is actually quite simple. Today’s technology, contrary to popular belief, isn’t neutral like technology of the past. It’s specifically designed for only one purpose: to acquire all of your attention.
“A handful of people working at a handful of tech companies steer the thoughts of billions of people every day,” says Tristan Harris, former design ethicist at Google, ina 2017 TED Talk. According to Harris and others like him, the tech companies’ concerted effort to “hack our brains” involves complex data collection (yes, your cellphone is listening), and algorithms that target the human reward system, psychological triggers, and the basic human need to belong and socially connect with others. Our smartphones are like slot machines, according to Harris. Each time we check, it’s to see if we get a reward.
It’s become exceedingly difficult to exist without texting, social media, FaceTime, Google, and Amazon delivery all in the palms of our hands. While all of us reap the amazing benefits of such convenience, who really takes the time to think of the cost? It’s as if following a grand deal with the devil, each of us expects to keep our soul.
Can a person dictated by the unfreedom of the tech think for oneself? The objective evaluation of the very technology that precedes and manipulates our thinking might not be possible any longer.
And is the concern for one’s own freedom of thought in the face of today’s technology the process of a rational mind? Or if one chooses to go without all of this remarkable technology does it simply prove his own insanity? Social media, big tech, and the A.I. algorithms have given us so much. They didn’t tell us there would be a catch.