The Effulgence They Tried to Sell Back to You
TL;DR: Algorithms exploit confirmation bias by feeding us a counterfeit glow, but real effulgence returns when we choose truth over the cheap comfort of being constantly confirmed.
The machine learned your amen.
The Glow and the Trap
Effulgence is radiance. Splendor. That clear, living brightness of a mind awake and a conscience still free. But confirmation bias is the crack in the stained glass. It whispers, āYou were right all along,ā and the algorithm, that velvet-handed pickpocket, hears it and starts preaching back to you.
Not truth. Not wisdom. Just your own assumptions wearing a crown.
The Evidence Isnāt Hidden
Platforms donāt have to chain us when they can charm us. They learn what angers us, flatters us, scares us, and makes us feel like the last sane person in a world gone mad. Then they serve it hot. Again. And again. We saw the same pattern when AI-generated robocalls mimicking President Biden hit New Hampshire voters in 2024 ā not because people are stupid, but because trust is fragile and manipulators know exactly where to press.
Thatās the scandal. Not that humans have bias. We all do. The scandal is that billion-dollar systems have turned bias into a business model.
Donāt Let Them Call This Freedom
This isnāt ājust giving people what they want.ā Come on. A casino gives people what they want too, right up until the rent money disappears. An echo chamber doesnāt simply reflect your voice; it fattens it, distorts it, and sends it back as thunder. Before long, the neighbor becomes an enemy, the stranger becomes a threat, and the common good gets chopped up for ad inventory.
A strong economy doesnāt rise from a hypnotized society. It rises from people who are free, informed, secure, and able to disagree without being digitally whipped into frenzy.
Name the bait: If a post makes you feel instantly superior, terrified, or furious, pause before you share it.
Break the mirror: Follow credible voices who challenge you without dehumanizing you.
Protect the effulgence: Choose slow reading, real conversation, and local care over endless algorithmic outrage.
The Call
We donāt need to become colder to be less manipulated. We need to become brighter. Guard your glow. Question the feed. Step outside the chamber. And the next time the machine offers you a shiny little lie that feels exactly like righteousness, refuse the bait and choose the harder light of truth.
