Wikipedia defines agency as the capacity of individuals to have the power and resources to fulfill their potential. In other words, agency is our independent ability to act on our own will.
In today’s world, we certainly have the resources but do we really have the power? We are financially independent, yet our ability to make decisions for ourselves has weakened. We can make shallow decisions quickly like what to wear or eat? but when it comes to crucial decisions, we struggle like should I leave the job or talk to my boss about the problem impacting my work?. And those shallow decisions? They’re not even truly ours, they’re shaped by the content we consume. We don’t trust ourselves anymore.
Decision-making isn’t just about choosing; it’s also about commitment or willpower. When we get used to making only low-stakes, short-term choices, our willpower erodes. And without willpower, our ability to create meaningful change in our lives diminishes. Over time, we lose more than just decision-making ability; we lose our individuality.
Some might argue that this trade-off i.e.losing agency for convenience is worth it. Life is easier, giving us more time to work. But loss of agency for convenience also means loss of process. When we make a task convenient by algorithms, we might get the same end result, but we eliminate the cognitive process behind the task.
For example, when ChatGPT or Instagram plans your trip, you no longer learn about the place on your own. Just like everyone, you go to the same sight, take the same photos in the same pose, eat the same dish at the same restaurant and feel you have travelled, minus the exploration, minus the random chat with locals, minus the getting lost, minus the serendipity.
Even for tasks that are not based on content consumption, the same pattern applies. Instead of taking notes by pen and paper, we snap a screenshot or photo, eliminating our processing of the concept/conversation which helps in understanding and retention. So now we are left with content but not comprehension.
Even if you recognize this – lack of agency, our struggle with crucial decisions, low will-power and loss of process, your solution is more content consumption which Freya India explains very clearly in her latest post
Even if people recognise their lack of agency now, their first instinct is probably to search for influencers or podcasts to tell them how to fix it. Whereas I tend to think most of the answers we need, the wisdom we are looking for, is inside us already. We know what we need to do, what right and wrong is, but we have silenced our instinct and intuition, muffled it with all this noise.
The solution lies in reducing the noise, and listening to yourself. Take back control of your time so you can do what you truly want, based on your own abilities and desires and not what the algorithm wants you to.
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