ive finally done it, i finally installed the firefox extension to block recommended videos on youtube
"why khan?" you might be askin' yourself "would you want to do somethin' like that?"
well dear reader, its because ive recently come to the concensus that algorithmic recommendations are just... so bad for you and im tired of it
i made the connection that its recommendations from the algorithm that cause us to lose so much time and attention to the internet: theyre quick, easy, dont require anything from you, and they never end
might sound good all round but bear wiff me
see when you seriously engage in any activity, even ones that you love like hobbies, eventually, you will get tired and want to stop for a while
thats NATURAL
that fatigue, mental and physical, comes from exertin' effort and when you actually DO something, you put effort into it
guess what requires no effort from you?
algorithms are served up to you on a silver platter with no more effort than tappin' a screen or clickin' a mouse required
and that cheapens the whole experience
you sit there, lettin' the algo spoonfeed you whatever the hell it thinks you like and, before you know it, youve entered the miasma of the rotting stage and a whole day is gone and MOREOVER you prolly dont even remember a fraction of what you experienced anyway
ya dont get anything out because ya dont put anything in
thats what happens when you have no agency in a situation, you just let things happen to you instead of actually engaging with them
shit gets even more pear-shaped with online shoppin' except, in addition to bein' at a time and attention deficit due to constant bombardment of products and the decision makin' process that has to happen for each item, you get a money deficit too
hell, sometimes the decision makin' process for whether or not to buy somethin' gets totally dulled and mfs just be buyin' whatever is shown to them without a second thought
"efficient, professional, compulsive consumers" as Carlin would say
the cheapening also happens with this too, not just in terms of the products pushed onto us, but in what it does to things we love, like hobbies
a modest collector or hobbyist can have their passion diluted with an inundation of constant want which becomes "need", meaning that enough is never enough and what you have has no time to be cherished and enjoyed because youre always onto buyin' the next big thing
as a longtime ebay user, ive come to this realization recently; my room is piled with half-done projects and i still seem to keep buyin' stuff for new projects that, in turn, also stack up
at some point i realized "yknow if ebay wouldnt send me a constant stream of notifications of shit i might be interested in, i could actually get through some of these projects" and it was like flippin' a light switch
after that, anytime i received a new notification of an ebay offer or a watched item endin' soon, i felt this... repulsion towards em and say "nah im good man, i got plenty of projects to enjoy already"
of course, we know why this phenomenon happens: its a function of the industrial revolution and theres nothin' the industrial revolution hates more than a content person
so if youse a person whos feelin' like your attention and your wallet are bein' pulled in a thousand different directions, consider disablin' notifications, de-algoing your internet time, and takin' another look around at what you already have and enjoyin' whats already here for ya.