Algorithms rule the world.
Instagram, Twitter, Facebook feeds are curated by them. Google search results. Recommendations on Netflix or Uber Eats. The daily gyrations of the markets. Marketing campaigns. Customer buying patterns. Ad buying. Virtual assistants. You name it.
Data is everywhere. And this data is fuel for these algorithms.
We’re drowning in data too. Information comes at us fast and furious. Daily. And it isn’t slowing down, quite the contrary.
How do we navigate life in this unending data sea? How do we keep from drowning?
I have a prediction.
We’re going to see a split. It’s vaguely evident now, but it will be as clear as night and day in the coming years.
Some will weave this data together to create spectacular beauty. Their creativity fueled by love. Love for themselves. Love for their creations. Love for others and the world. Instead of worrying if they’re in the correct lane, they will instinctively follow the lane that feels right/good for them, or boldly carve a new one if it doesn’t exist.
Data matters, but they will understand it’s only a record from the past. Something to inform their decisions, but never the end all. Playing with data like a child plays with play-dough, never inundated, never intimidated, forever curious.
This is because they will be tapped into an infinite (divine?) intelligence capable of simultaneously processing innumerable possibilities outside the bounds of space and time. In simpler terms, they will trust their heart, intuition and gut.
Never out of time because they will live in the forever now.
Not afraid to feel. They will harness their emotions into strength, rather than falling victim to them or ignoring them completely.
They will embody what it truly means to be human.
The other end of the split will be fueled by data. Reacting only to data, the responses will be more programmed. Always seeking more data, trying to make sense of data, to understand where the winds are blowing, what trends to exploit. Forever analyzing, forever optimizing, forever following.
More urgency to be productive. Always out of time due to pining for a forever elusive future.
Shunning emotions. High on morality but devoid of empathy. High on virtue but devoid of wisdom. Worshiping logic. A perfectly rational response to a data-driven world. But almost robotic, almost algorithmic.
The time to choose is here.
Don’t be an algorithm.
If you’re reading this, I know you’re choosing beauty, love and creativity.
-Amit
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