mixedpersonalities
True Mohammed
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- Sep 30, 2025
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Unfortunately, YOU are not in control of your life.
Unknowingly, we've all been enslaved by a system.
A system so normalized that it has costed us not only our freedom, but our lives.
A system so abhorrent, it has made us the very people we wish we weren't.
Some perceive it as some sub-dystopian world, sort of like "The Matrix"
Others see its existence as mindless fearmongering.
Regardless of how it is viewed, it exists. If you wish to live in this world as a free man , then you must learn of it.
This thread explores the existence of this system , an invisible market where consciousness itself is currency.
It is known as The Attention Economy.
Unknowingly, we've all been enslaved by a system.
A system so normalized that it has costed us not only our freedom, but our lives.
A system so abhorrent, it has made us the very people we wish we weren't.
Some perceive it as some sub-dystopian world, sort of like "The Matrix"
Others see its existence as mindless fearmongering.
Regardless of how it is viewed, it exists. If you wish to live in this world as a free man , then you must learn of it.
This thread explores the existence of this system , an invisible market where consciousness itself is currency.
It is known as The Attention Economy.
What the Attention Economy is:
The attention economy is the commodification of human attention as the most valuable resource in the digital age.
It is the system in which human attention becomes the primary currency.
In this digital ecosystem, platforms, media companies, and advertisers compete not for your money directly, but for your focus, time, and emotional engagement because those can be converted into profit.
The attention economy is the commodification of human attention as the most valuable resource in the digital age.
It is the system in which human attention becomes the primary currency.
In this digital ecosystem, platforms, media companies, and advertisers compete not for your money directly, but for your focus, time, and emotional engagement because those can be converted into profit.
Your attention is finite.
Every second you look , scroll , or even hover over an advertisement is sold. Sold to mass data centers who profile you and what you like, regurgitating your interests through various forms of digital media.
The very time you invest into anything has now become a controlled clause.
It shapes what you see, how long you look, and even how you feel while looking all to maximize the extraction of your time and emotional energy.
Your digital profile has become not who you are, but rather who the system needs you to be. A mindless, soulless husk customized to their corporate desires.
Every second you look , scroll , or even hover over an advertisement is sold. Sold to mass data centers who profile you and what you like, regurgitating your interests through various forms of digital media.
The very time you invest into anything has now become a controlled clause.
It shapes what you see, how long you look, and even how you feel while looking all to maximize the extraction of your time and emotional energy.
Your digital profile has become not who you are, but rather who the system needs you to be. A mindless, soulless husk customized to their corporate desires.
One may ask; Why does this concern me?
You are a product, a sheep in an everlasting herd. Nothing you do will truly be your own. Nothing you do can inherently be cited as uniquely yours anymore.
Your reality is now a manufactured concept. Your interests, hobbies, and even personal views stemming from it.
There was a time when mankind lived intensely when thought, emotion, and action were rooted in purpose.
Before the industrial and digital revolutions, we were not distracted animals of habit, but beings of creation and reflection.
Now, instead of exploring reality, we inhabit simulations of it.
Instead of forming identity through reflection, we perform identity through metrics.
You are a product, a sheep in an everlasting herd. Nothing you do will truly be your own. Nothing you do can inherently be cited as uniquely yours anymore.
Your reality is now a manufactured concept. Your interests, hobbies, and even personal views stemming from it.
There was a time when mankind lived intensely when thought, emotion, and action were rooted in purpose.
Before the industrial and digital revolutions, we were not distracted animals of habit, but beings of creation and reflection.
Now, instead of exploring reality, we inhabit simulations of it.
Instead of forming identity through reflection, we perform identity through metrics.
Psychological Consequences:
The cost of this system isn't just measured in time wasted; it's measured in mental fragmentation and emotional depletion.
Human minds, once capable of deep reflection and sustained thought, are now conditioned for novelty, reward, and distraction.
The 'triggers' aren't just physical, they're subliminal. Every notification, every scroll, every recommendation is a personalized drug meant to absorb your attention, and ultimately, you.
Neuroscience warns that this cycle rewires the brain. Shorter attention spans, rising anxiety, and the most horrific; significantly reduced quality of lives
The result paradoxical exhaustion: we are always connected, yet deeply disconnected. Surrounded by voices, but rarely in conversation. We consume content that moves us emotionally but leaves us unchanged.
The human spirit, once so immeasurably vast and exploratory, now operates within the limits of a colorful, glowing rectangle.
The cost of this system isn't just measured in time wasted; it's measured in mental fragmentation and emotional depletion.
Human minds, once capable of deep reflection and sustained thought, are now conditioned for novelty, reward, and distraction.
The 'triggers' aren't just physical, they're subliminal. Every notification, every scroll, every recommendation is a personalized drug meant to absorb your attention, and ultimately, you.
Neuroscience warns that this cycle rewires the brain. Shorter attention spans, rising anxiety, and the most horrific; significantly reduced quality of lives
The result paradoxical exhaustion: we are always connected, yet deeply disconnected. Surrounded by voices, but rarely in conversation. We consume content that moves us emotionally but leaves us unchanged.
The human spirit, once so immeasurably vast and exploratory, now operates within the limits of a colorful, glowing rectangle.
Real life example:
You are the example.
Perhaps you've felt it when you were with a friend, a deep conversation repeated in a tiktok by a complete stranger.
A reel that popped up recommending a product that you were talking about with someone.
Constant ads bombarding you with something you were only thinking of buying.
All of these are instances of the algorithm customizing you.
Literally as I was writing this thread, this popped up on IG
Never once have I been recommended content like this in my life.
Disgusting isn't it?
You are the example.
Perhaps you've felt it when you were with a friend, a deep conversation repeated in a tiktok by a complete stranger.
A reel that popped up recommending a product that you were talking about with someone.
Constant ads bombarding you with something you were only thinking of buying.
All of these are instances of the algorithm customizing you.
Literally as I was writing this thread, this popped up on IG
Never once have I been recommended content like this in my life.
Disgusting isn't it?
The Illusion of Freedom:
One of the most insidious traits of the attention economy is how it disguises control as choice
We believe we are freely choosing what we watch, read, or even believe.
But every click has already reinforced a predictive pattern, Algorithms learn what keeps us engaged , and feed us more of the same, narrowing our worldview in the process.
This is known as control through familiarity. You are shown what you already agree with, and what you do not comes as radical dissemination.
What we call “personalization” is often subtle behavioral engineering. We feel free because the bars of the cage are invisible. Our preferences, politics, and even moral instincts become shaped by invisible feedback loops that exploit the psychology of attention.
We call this freedom, but it’s a pre-scripted performance of autonomy.
One of the most insidious traits of the attention economy is how it disguises control as choice
We believe we are freely choosing what we watch, read, or even believe.
But every click has already reinforced a predictive pattern, Algorithms learn what keeps us engaged , and feed us more of the same, narrowing our worldview in the process.
This is known as control through familiarity. You are shown what you already agree with, and what you do not comes as radical dissemination.
What we call “personalization” is often subtle behavioral engineering. We feel free because the bars of the cage are invisible. Our preferences, politics, and even moral instincts become shaped by invisible feedback loops that exploit the psychology of attention.
We call this freedom, but it’s a pre-scripted performance of autonomy.
Resistance:
The economy thrives on unconscious engagement, therefore our greatest act of rebellion is conscious presence.
This can be approached in many ways:
1. Complete disassociation:
The most common, and often the method which people most likely relapse on.
Things like 'digital detoxing' and 'no social media' sound great at first, but they become counterintuitive.
This attachment has become primal, your mind is wired around its need.
For some, this may work. However, it isn't optimal and neither is it sustainable.
2. Conscious utilization:
Redefining the way you use social media and technology by setting boundaries.
Refuse to scroll at all.
Block ads and anything of the similar.
Use third party apps to disable meaningless features and keep only useful ones eg: 3rd party ig app that removes everything but texting
3. Meditation and consumption of books
Meditating for at least 20-30mins a day
Reading books, non-fiction in particular. (I recommend Malcom X's Autobiography, 1984 by Orwell , and Mein kampf[annotated])
Ultimately, the act of resistance is not one fits all. You must experiment and find out what works for you.
The economy thrives on unconscious engagement, therefore our greatest act of rebellion is conscious presence.
This can be approached in many ways:
1. Complete disassociation:
The most common, and often the method which people most likely relapse on.
Things like 'digital detoxing' and 'no social media' sound great at first, but they become counterintuitive.
This attachment has become primal, your mind is wired around its need.
For some, this may work. However, it isn't optimal and neither is it sustainable.
2. Conscious utilization:
Redefining the way you use social media and technology by setting boundaries.
Refuse to scroll at all.
Block ads and anything of the similar.
Use third party apps to disable meaningless features and keep only useful ones eg: 3rd party ig app that removes everything but texting
3. Meditation and consumption of books
Meditating for at least 20-30mins a day
Reading books, non-fiction in particular. (I recommend Malcom X's Autobiography, 1984 by Orwell , and Mein kampf[annotated])
Ultimately, the act of resistance is not one fits all. You must experiment and find out what works for you.
Sources:
- Simon, H. A. (1971). Designing organizations for an information-rich world. In M. Greenberger (Ed.), Computers, Communications, and the Public Interest (pp. 37–72). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
- Wu, T. (2016). The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads. New York: Knopf.
- Zuboff, S. (2019). The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. New York: PublicAffairs.
- Crawford, M. (2015). The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
- Davenport, T. H., & Beck, J. C. (2001). The Attention Economy: Understanding the New Currency of Business. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
- Citton, Y. (2017). The Ecology of Attention. Cambridge: Polity Press.
- Rosen, L. D., Lim, A. F., Carrier, L. M., & Cheever, N. A. (2014). An empirical examination of the educational impact of text message-induced task switching in the classroom. Educational Psychology, 34(5), 1–20.
- Kross, E., Verduyn, P., Demiralp, E., Park, J., Lee, D. S., Lin, N., ... & Ybarra, O. (2013). Facebook use predicts declines in subjective well-being in young adults. PLoS ONE, 8(8), e69841.
- Twenge, J. M. (2017). iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy—and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood. New York: Atria Books.
- Carr, N. (2010). The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
- Pariser, E. (2011). The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You. New York: Penguin Press.
- Sunstein, C. (2017). #Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Eyal, N. (2014). Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. New York: Portfolio.
- Baek, Y. M. (2019). The psychological mechanisms of filter bubbles and echo chambers. Media Psychology, 22(2), 203–231.
- Newport, C. (2019). Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. New York: Portfolio.
- Harris, T. (2020). Center for Humane Technology. Retrieved from https://www.humanetech.com
- Rosa, H. (2013). Social Acceleration: A New Theory of Modernity. New York: Columbia University Press.
- Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 144–156.
- Harari, Y. N. (2018). 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. London: Jonathan Cape.
- Han, B.-C. (2017). Psychopolitics: Neoliberalism and New Technologies of Power. London: Verso.
- Lanier, J. (2018). Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now. New York: Henry Holt.
The question that remains is not whether the attention economy exists ,it does, but what kind of beings we will become under it.
If human thought can be predicted, monetized, and modified, where does that leave the idea of free will?
Will we become passive extensions of the systems we built, or will we reclaim the inner stillness that no algorithm can simulate?
The coming decades will define whether technology remains a servant or becomes a subtle sovereign. The attention economy is not merely an economic system, it is a moral test.
What we choose to give our attention to is what we choose to become.
