There was a time when we dreamed of technology to do the work for us.
We thought of the future with robots at work and the ability to complete tasks that would take humans hours at a fraction of the time.
We imagined a future where technology could complete all the boring tasks for us.
Well, that future is here.
Smartphones are doing our remembering for us, algorithms are suggesting what we might like to watch next, artificial intelligence is writing out our emails, creating images, summarizing books, and making decisions for us, and our money is being transferred around the world without going near a bank.
We have automated just about everything.
But what we don't think about is, if technology has given us more freedom, why are we also feeling less free?
The strange paradox of modern freedom
Think about your day
You wake up and immediately check your phone.
You have already consumed hundreds of people's worth of messages, notifications, headlines, videos, and opinions before you even leave the house
Your day starts, and you work on one screen while your phone alerts you to another; you take a break and open up yet another application; you're tired, so you scroll; you're bored, so an algorithm picks something for you to watch
At night, you tell yourself that you're going to sleep early;
however,
somehow it's already 1:00 a. m
The technology was supposed to make us more productive!
Instead, it found new and interesting ways to waste our time
This is the paradox
We automated our tasks, but forgot to automate our ability to say when enough is enough.
The algorithm doesn't need to control you
This is where many people make a grave mistake.
When you hear the word control, you likely imagine a boss, or some other individual making orders for others to follow.
Modern control is much less overt than that.
You are not controlled by being forced into something, such as opening an application.
Instead, the app is simply made interesting enough to entice you to open it.
You are not controlled by being forced into watching another video.
The next video is only slightly more desirable than the last, as the algorithms work to keep you watching.
You are not controlled by being forced to buy something.
You only have to see the right ad at the right time for you to make a purchase on impulse.
This is much more powerful than control in the traditional sense, because you have not been manipulated into doing these things, you have done them of your own free will.
And this isn't only about social media
The same principle is spreading into money, work and even investing.
Financial technology has made it super easy to buy assets, transfer wealth, and participate in financial markets.
That’s just crazy.
A person living in a small town can have access to financial products previously only available to millionaires.
Decentralization and blockchain technology took that same principle and expanded it: what if financial freedom didn’t need permission from those in charge?
That’s the promise of crypto.
But a dark version of that promise exists.
Being able to check a market at any time and from any place doesn’t equal financial freedom.
Sometimes it just means the market has you at its mercy 24/7.
You check Bitcoin before bed.
You check it again while having breakfast.
It goes up ten percent and now you’re happy.
Someone tweets “ALTSEASON IS COMING!”
and you buy.
Someone says “THE BULL MARKET IS OVER!
” and you sell.
You’re wallet is decentralized.
Your mind is not.
The most valuable asset may be attention
We tend to think of money as the most valuable resource.
There is another resource, which, once spent, cannot be regained:
Attention.
Unlike money, time cannot be earned back, and attention is the currency with which we spend it.
The attention economy represents a new battleground in which everyone is trying to get their share of the limited resource.
Every platform wants another minute of your time,
every notification wants you to look,
every creator wants you to click,
and every ad wants you to buy.
Moreover, thanks to artificial intelligence, the competition for dominance over the attention economy is becoming more nuanced and sophisticated.
The question is no longer "Can technology get my attention?"
because the answer to that question is obviously yes.
The question now is "Who gets to decide where my attention goes?"
Maybe the real revolution is learning to disconnect
We are often taught that tech makes us free
but perhaps freedom is not a menu of options,
but the ability to say "none of the above"
you don't need to answer immediately
you don't need to know what everyone else knows
you don't need to be trendy or on top of things or in the loop
you don't need to have some algorithm caring for you and telling you what to do 24/7
and most importantly,
you don't need constant technology in your life
there is something almost noble about putting down the phone and doing nothing at all
reading a real book
taking a walk outside
talking to someone without having to stop and read a notification
thinking for yourself for once
making a decision without twenty other people telling you what they think is best
in a world that wants you to be dependent on them, taking care of yourself is an act of rebellion.
Technology isn't the enemy
I think you should blame technology.
No, that would be too easy.
Technology has improved the millions of lives.
The technology of artificial intelligence makes knowledge easier to access, while the blockchain technology challenges the banking system. Automation takes out jobs that are risky or tedious, and digital technology allows small businesses to thrive. The issue is not the machine itself, but rather the point when we stop wondering how the machine should serve us.
The hammer is a valuable tool
but no one carries it around with them at all times.
Our phones and AI assistants should be the same way.
Maybe freedom needs a new definition
For centuries, the concept of freedom was associated with such parameters as political, economic, and social freedom, as well as freedom of movement.
However, today, it seems that a new definition should be added to the list.
Freedom is the ability to control one’s attention.
The fact that someone can constantly influence what a person sees, fears, desires, and buys deprives them of full freedom, even if they have a choice between a thousand different options.
The ability to choose between many options does not mean freedom if a person cannot control what they are choosing.
Technology has given humanity incredible power, and now it must learn to control itself in order not to become a slave to technology.
Perhaps the future is not in conquering technology, but in creating such a level of its development that would allow a person to say:
“I control my tool, and not the other way around.”
Perhaps this is the freedom that was promised to humanity.
