Reality is Curated For You: How to Keep Grounded in the Fray
The internet is a valuable tool.
It makes life convenient for you by anticipating what you want based on your search history. For the most part, this is fine. It actually saves us a whole lot of time in this busy world that seems to be getting busier by the second. But you lose something far more important for all this convenience.
But it robs you of the opportunity to think independently.
You lose the opportunity to practice independent and critical thinking. The thinking is done for you. Don’t fall into the trap. Independent thought is a valuable life skill. It allows you to think for yourself, to make your own decisions, and to not be swayed by outside influences. Independent thought allows you to see the world more clearly, and to make better decisions — for yourself and for the world around you. Independent thought is a precious commodity that is becoming scarcer by the minute.
Internet experiences may (read: will) vary.
The internet can do great things for us. But it should not think for us. Social media pushes us further into our deeply-held beliefs by curating information for us. If you are left-leaning (or right-leaning for that matter), your feed will be largely made up of headlines that play toward your biases. It will confirm you thoughts about the opposing viewpoint. This causes you to avoid logic. It plays on something far more powerful- emotions. Once emotions enter the picture, there is no room for logic.
The internet is a tool YOU must use. It should not use you.
I cannot imagine life without this amazing tool. For most, it is no longer just a tool. It thinks for us and decides for us. But it can be an amazing tool if that’s the extent of its use. We must still think for ourselves.
