“How do you wake up from the matrix when you don’t know you’re in the matrix.”
I pulled the trigger last night and subscribed to Netflix so that I could watch The Social Dilemma.
If you’re not familiar with it, the synopsis is this: The Artificial Intelligence (AI) that powers social media is getting so much better at psychologically manipulating people and doing so, so rapidly that the human brain is not able to adapt fast enough to even recognize the manipulation, much less defend against it. For every benefit social media offers, there is a detriment that threatens our acceptance of the truth and even the very concept of objective truth.
On January 6th, we saw a glimpse of the end result if this continues unchecked.
I don’t know what the answer is on a global scale. I don’t like government regulation and I trust the federal government, especially, to act in my best interests equally as little as I trust the social media companies that are selling my attention to their customers, the advertisers.
But I have determined one step I CAN take to minimize their influence over me.
I have turned off ALL notifications for social media – including the little number (badge) that shows how many new messages I have – on ALL of my devices. I’m going to schedule reminders to check those accounts once or twice a day. But I will no longer allow the social media profiteers to switch on Pavlov’s metronome and have me come running to see if there’s a reward for my conditioned response.
Will it make a difference? Only time will tell.
In the meantime, I would strongly suggest you watch The Social Dilemma, ESPECIALLY if you have tween or teenagers in your family.
And I invite you to join me in disabling notifications and “count badges.” If you do, please let me know and share this idea and your results with your friends.
If you need me in a hurry? Go “old school” and call, text or email me.