Has originality been lost to algorithms?
When you look around, what catches your attention? Lately it seems to me that everyone wears the same things, says the same things and even likes the same things. But what do you notice if you take a moment to go back to your childhood memories? Wasn't every child completely different?
Of course, we learn a lot and are shaped on our way from that unique and free childhood to our adulthood. However, because we listen to the voices of others rather than our own, we dress ourselves in certain states that we are expected to be, that we should be, that we are convinced that we are better, more beautiful, more intelligent.
This has been happening for centuries, but today, with the influence of technology and social media, people tend to look more and more like the "drawn" images. It is as if algorithms determine what we want, what we should eat and wear. If you want to be seen, you have to follow the rules of the algorithm that puts you in front of others. And you want to be seen because you think your existence depends on it. But this is not your reality, it is just an illusion you create for yourself in illusions.
Our need for approval has undoubtedly always existed. We experience so many things, good and bad, waiting for the first approval from our parents. Although the awareness varies from person to person, we should also be aware of how the need for approval makes us dependent on others. And it is as if we are seeking to increase this dependency knowingly and willingly. We do it ourselves, expecting to be approved by a much wider audience. So much so that this audience includes people we don't even know, people with whom we have no connection. How will we be accepted if we don't become what they "like" and adopt certain "standards" accepted by them?
People are gradually losing their authenticity. However, one of the most precious things we have in life is our "self". Copies, copies of copies of copies, fake happiness, fake images, lives spent as if they were, create voids inside people that they cannot name, but which are gradually growing. If the clothes we wear are one size too big, we feel incomplete, if we have bought and worn a tight fit, we cannot fit and feel comfortable. Unless we listen to ourselves, know ourselves and sew a garment exactly for ourselves, we cannot feel the satisfaction we want.
Being authentic starts with knowing oneself. He needs to purify himself from what he thinks he is and realize what he is. Being self-confident, feeling more peaceful and more fulfilled accompanies the person who chooses to be authentic. It is possible for this person to shape his/her environment in this direction. And in such an environment, there is no need for an algorithm to be seen.