From After The Algorithm by Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker, September 1 & 8, 2025 p.31
A feeling of overstimulation is one consequence of algorithmic life. Another is a certain jumbledness in our ideas. Why do we care about what we care about? Walking into your basement in the dark, you might stumble into a cobweb; one strain of philosophical thought holds that this is how caring works. We become ensnared by the possibilities that happen to present themselves as we live—we get caught in webs of care. You run into your elderly neighbor in the morning and, that night, wonder how he’s doing. Your middle schooler likes Chappell Roan, and soon you do, too. A single encounter with “The Fountainhead” at thirteen might make you a lifelong libertarian. Algorithmic culture taps into the casual randomness with which we apportion our care; it takes advantage of the fact that what we bump into today might obsess us tomorrow. Its webs, meanwhile, are woven by machines that are owned by corporations.
Why do think what you think? How is it that somethings capture your attention and not others? Are you in control of your mind or are external stimuli manipulating it?
Like your intentional diet prescribes what food you put into your mouth, do you take as much care with your intellectual diet?
Do you control the AI or does the AI control you?
As the bumper sticker says, "Be alert. The world needs more lerts."
Do you understand how thought systems work? The first and most important component of thought systems is the capturing of your attention.
