Alter the Algorithm

Recently, I watched a couple of movies and shows that I enjoyed a lot. Per usual, I started looking up content related to these characters, artists, authors and more online. Though I liked or engaged with only a couple of posts, swiftly, my whole algorithm changed on social media sites. The generic content that I used to engage with—travel, cooking, comics, politics—gradually disappeared, and it was all about these two shows and movies. In fact, content related to the actors from three years ago also popped up on my feed—content which had never come onto my radar all these days.Then came the downfall. Mindlessly, when I engaged with these posts, short-form videos, images, articles, threads, that was all there was on my mind. Despite office work consuming my waking hours, whenever I would unwind, there was nothing but this on my mind. The algorithm got to me.I am sure all of us have seen this in some other ways, too. Let’s say we once searched for an umbrella online; we are bound to have umbrella content everywhere we log in. On our social media pages, in our inbox, in our shopping sites, on our app notifications, everywhere there would be an umbrella following us. This has been true for mattresses, ramen noodles, cute stationery, movie merchandise, and whatnot. You just have to let your interest be known. The internet responds..When I reflected a little more on this, I realised this was just a digital-age expression of how vasanas work.Our thoughts and desires are reinforced every single time we indulge in them. Say, we press a ‘like’ or ‘share’ on our whims and fancies. And the more we do that, that is all we get to see. The more we experience it, the more we want to engage with it again. The vicious loop continues. Imagine creating a groove in the soil where water flows in. The more the water flows, the deeper the groove gets. After a point in time, this becomes the default course for the water. Unless something drastically shakes up the environment, the water is sure to flow through this channel over and over again. If this is true for our base desires and temperament, shouldn’t it be true for our positive intentions and spiritual thoughts? That’s the beauty of our evolution. If we alter the algorithm of our mind, slowly but surely, our environment responds. If I meditate for one day, nothing changes. If I meditate consistently for a few days, something changes. If I meditate consistently over many days, everything changes. All the other ‘content’ which doesn’t suit this algorithm is automatically erased from my ‘mental feed’.This is true about all other practices, too. If we exercise regularly or go out to play often, we eliminate everything else which doesn’t suit this agenda. We end up negating junk food or sleeping late, for instance. We engage more with healthy habits that aid this new ‘physical health algorithm’.Unironically, just as we do a timeline cleanse of our online feeds, let’s do it in real life too. I must definitely rid my social media page of how these actors dress or what their favourite food is. In real life, I could use my leisure time to read a journal or book, or get deeper into my meditation practice. I have promised myself I will mindfully curate a digital and real life that aids my evolution.

Alter the Algorithm

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