Choices. If there is one concept that I know it will rule my 2017, it is the concept of choices. The awareness of the choices I think I have versus the ones I actually have. Because what I’ve realised recently is that I have many more choices than the ones that show up in front of me. Than the ones I see inside my bubble.
I think it all started to make sense to me when a few weeks ago, overwhelmed by the amount of bad news, fake news, selfies (another form of fake news…), I decided to do a social network detox, and went back to a time when I wasn’t ruled by algorithms.
But bursting my bubble wasn’t easy. My bubble knows me so well that it’s comforting. It hates Trump, Brexit and everyone who tries to violate human rights or to destroy the Planet’s life. And it’s so loyal to me that it consistently gives me reasons to keep that hatred alive. With the exception of cats. My bubble loves cats and still manages to surprise me everyday with a new cat video that never fails to make me smile…
I spent a week without News Feed. ‘How would I feed myself?’ I wondered. I went back to basics and started to read the online newspapers, instead of just reading what my bubble wanted me to read. I found myself exposed to all sort of news, even the ones I didn’t like, or didn’t want to know, I couldn’t escape them anymore.
Of course I still decided what to read, but with a different perspective. Bad news is still bad news but, back in my bubble, the same news would be repeated so many times, by my different liked sources, that it would give me the impression that there is nothing else happening in the world. Well, there is much more out there than what I want to know.
I was so intrigued by the experiment of escaping the algorithm that I decided to extend its scope beyond social media, and also refused to do any online shopping during that week. And since I was running out of groceries I made a visit to my nearest market, something I don’t do often anymore, as I tend to buy online most of the time.
So there I was, at the vegetables aisle, on my way to pick up avocados, when a fragrance, coming from the herbs shelf, totally distracted me. Basil. Fresh, fragrant basil. And in less than a second I was invaded by the image of delicious pasta with pesto, a dish I haven’t cooked in ages, but that I absolutely love.
Basil is not in the predictive shopping list of my online retailer because I haven’t bought it in a long time so, unless I search for it, it will never come up as recommended. When shopping groceries online, I usually tend to surrender to what shows up as suggested, trusting it will make my life easier. But would it make my life better?
This back to basics, or to basil, experiences made me question the impact that digital technology has brought to the choices I enjoy in my life. Is it offering me more choices or is it mostly making sure I stick to the choices I once made? Are the choices I see through the digital screens the best ones available for me, or are they the best choices for the screens’ platforms owners?
The digital world has been an enormous milestone for mankind. It has transformed our lives. It’s a new language that has changed the way we communicate and also the way we make decisions. It has enabled so many great things such as democratisation of knowledge, more transparency of business and organisations, social mobilisation, and many others. But could it replace the possibilities of human potential?
Algorithms can only know what I already know, they can’t predict where my curiosity could take me when I experience the world with all my senses.
As it could have never predicted the joy I felt when I cooked that delicious pasta with pesto, motivated only by the smell of fresh basil.
So, this year, I want to be more mindful about my choices, and not only about the ones I make, but more importantly, more mindful about the choices I actually have.
I’m supposed to come from the most privileged part of society, that part that was born with more choices, by default. But I happen to see myself more and more trapped in my bubble, both online and offline, instead of exercising the freedom, and the responsibility, of the plurality of choices I have.
I’m part of an elite where we have the choice to be the change we want to see. A minority who has the power to challenge any system we find unfair, with the choices we make every day. With our pockets, and our jobs, that somehow sustain or promote most of those systems.
It’s up to us, not the 80% of world’s population that live with less than US$10 a day. We can’t expect them, with the limited choices they have, to be more sustainable, to recycle more, to buy organic, or to fight for equal rights for all.
Perpetuating current worldview doesn’t seem to be an option anymore. Inequalities and environmental challenges are visible now to everyone thanks to the transparency of the digital era. And traditional institutions have proven not only to be unable to resolve the majority of these problems, but to be contributors to most of them.
So it’s the turn of the ones with choices, the elites, the privileged bubbles. Who else? It’s time to exercise all the possibilities we are given, which are many more than the ones we want to see. It’s a responsibility that comes with our power. To break free from our algorithmic lives, to say “shut up” to Siri and Alexa, and to choose a better life and a better future for all.
Text inspired by Stephen Hawking’s article “This is the most dangerous time of our Planet” and Hans Rosling’s video “Population Growth and Climate change”.
