It's hard to imagine the impact social media will have on humanity in the years to come. I watched the Netflix movie Social Dilemma, and it is quite dangerous to realise how social media companies use us as a product. They sell ads by secretly tracking our behaviour on our mobile screens, and we don't even realise how they shape our choices.
That made me rethink about human choices. When we say that we are free to make choices, are we really? Aren't the choices we make just a sum total of all these influences? Earlier, in a close-knit society, culture mostly drove choices. In the present-day world, agendas and propaganda drive choices more. Suppose I discuss a new car I want to buy with my friends. Social media companies read my chats and learn that I am interested in buying the car. They read my chats, analyse my preferences, and, based on those preferences, send me a customised advertisement for a car that fits all the parameters. Will my choice not be influenced? Once the advertiser knows my behaviour patterns, the advertisement may actually penetrate quite effectively. Young minds can be very vulnerable and can be manipulated.
Our whole understanding of freedom of choice falls flat when we realise the basis of making choices is manipulated. The choices we proudly thought were ours are actually nothing but bundles of influences. But we need to ask ourselves: did we ever learn to make choices? Choice, which is not driven by unconscious instincts. When we decide to buy a car, or, for that matter, anything, how do we choose? How do we choose the car's colour? How do we choose the features? How do we decide how much money to shell out? How do we choose the brand? Isn't everything driven by advertising? We are always ready to shell out our extra money for branded clothes. Why? Because we unconsciously want social approval by wearing those clothes. Advertisers smartly place nice-looking young models in car ads. Why? So we get unconsciously influenced and shell out extra money to buy that product.
What's the problem with shelling out a little extra for branded clothes? The more we pay for these products, the more dependent we become on money. We become more afraid of losing our jobs, which is why we feel more vulnerable at the office. We work harder and have even less time to think for ourselves. The cost is huge.
In this world, where the internet is cheap, everyone has a mobile in their hands, and they can stay in the virtual world almost all day, it takes immense discipline to say no to the screen. Earlier, only our body and brain were the barriers in spiritual practice. When we used to sit in meditation, either thoughts or craving for pleasure would disturb our practice. Now we have added a very dangerous layer. We have added the infinite virtual world. Bollywood itself has produced more than 10,000 movies so far. Even at an average of 2 hours per movie, it would take 20,000 hours to watch them all. All of these movies are available online. Even if we watch 10 hours a day, it will still take many years to finish them. Social media has no limit on content. Social media companies have one goal: to steal more and more of people's attention. They design increasingly attractive layouts.
In this context, first, human beings have to break the compulsive habit of watching screens. Second, they have to get out of their thoughts, then out of the grip of instincts and deep conditioning in the unconscious mind. That seems like too much to ask, which is why spiritual pursuit in the new world is a real challenge. So much toxicity entering the human brain, coupled with the absence of inner connection, is a sure-shot way to mental disorders. That's why the next pandemic is going to be around mental disorders, which I believe is going to be quite dangerous and more difficult to handle than drug addiction. I don't know when the parents will wake up to the danger. We put the whole of the world in danger by inventing the atomic bomb, and then the hydrogen bomb, then inventing weapons of mass destruction, then drugs, and now social media. Kabir Das ji very appropriately described it as follows:
"माखी गुड़ में गड़ि रही, पंख रह्यो लिपटाय।
हाथ मलै और सिर धुनै, लालच बुरी बलाय॥"
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