The Fast Disappearing Free Will. And the Illusion of our superpower to predict the future.

There’s an old saying:
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

I think it needs an update:
“You are the average of the five mobile apps you spend the most time with.”

What has free will got to do with it?
We can choose our friends deliberately.
But do we choose our feeds?

Audit your screen time. Ask yourself:
Are you spending hours on apps that dish out infinite content without effort, intention, or curiosity?
If the answer is yes, then you’re not exercising free will.
You’re surrendering it.

It began with an infinite scroll on text pages.
Now it’s infinite short-form videos such as TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and X (formerly Twitter).
Content that never asks you what you want.

The Illusion of Predicting the Future.

Early humans feared eclipses.
They believed angry dragons or snakes swallowed the sun and the moon.
Prayers and offerings were made to appease them.

Then came pattern recognition.
Then mathematics.
Then telescopes.

The human intelligence learned to predict solar and lunar eclipses. That success planted a powerful idea: if we can predict, we must be in control.

Today, physicists armed with massive computing power and IQs north of 160 understand the universe far better than ever before.

But we cannot predict our own life.

Fast forward to 2026.

New-age AI have clocked a score of 200+, far beyond Einstein or Feynman. AI is trying hard to think like humans and predict our behaviour by consuming vast computing power.

And if machines can’t think like humans, they may succeed at something else instead: making humans think like machines.

Ironically, that will lead to the illusion of our superpower to predict the future.

A Small Act of Resistance.
Strike a balance between the physical world and digital apps.
Break away from platforms built on infinite scroll and endless video loops.

Carry a metaphorical totem with you (if it does not land, watch the movie "Inception").

And keep asking yourself a simple question: Is my life being lived or simulated?

Free will doesn’t disappear overnight.
It erodes quietly, one scroll at a time.

Take it easy until next time.

Blogging is something I enjoy, and I share my thoughts on my blog most weekends. Explore all my blogs at https://lnkd.in/ejq7CWaQ.

Views are my own.

Blogging is something I enjoy, and I share my thoughts on my blog most weekends.

Read all my “Notes to Self” at view all blogs.