“We are not only conditioned by environment, but we are the environment—we are not something apart from it. Our thoughts and responses are conditioned by the values which society, of which we are a part, has imposed upon us.” — J. Krishnamurti
You click on a viral video or article about a politician or actor doing something controversial, or one sharing the explicit details of a crime. You watch or read it, get into arguments in the comments, and share it on your social profiles.
The next thing you know is that your timeline gets flooded with posts of the incident or similar ones. You keep clicking, watching, getting stressed… and when someone asks why you won’t stop doomscrolling, you say, “This is all social media shows me. What can I do?”
Look, the algorithm that runs the platform isn’t sentient—it cannot understand why you clicked on a link. It just gets a signal that you engaged with the post, which means you probably want to see more of the subject, so it suggests them to you. Whether you click on them or not is your choice.
Often, our choices are governed by what others think and do. If we don’t stay updated on the latest trends, people will think we’re living under a rock. If we don’t post about our vacations, they will gossip that we don’t have a life. If we go to the store to buy groceries rather than ordering them through an app, others will call us fools.
Look, it’s useless to blame people or social media—honestly, that’s just making excusing for behaving like the herd. But unlike animals, you can break away from the herd through your choices. So exercise it.
This is not a call to arms to abdicate the pleasures of life. Rather, it’s a suggestion to become aware of your thoughts, emotions, and actions. Witness them when you use your phone, drive, and engage in daily activities without judgment (sakshi bhava).
With such awareness will come the awareness of the reasons behind them. Then you won’t need to rely on others to tell you what to do and what to avoid. You will instinctively know.
Krishnamurti said, “The reformation of society can only come through the regeneration of the individual. . . Your relationship with another is society.” Society doesn’t need to stop doomscrolling. Society doesn’t need to change. Just you.