Many technology start-ups offer a platform that brings together material from a variety of sources in one place. Instead of going to a record store or buying an album online, you log in and rent all music (aka. streaming). Instead of paying for a gym membership, you subscribe to all gym chains and yoga studios in one convenient app. Bookstores, libraries and newspaper subscriptions are being replaced by online services that provide access to more written material than anyone will ever have time to read, for an affordable monthly fee. Everything is accessible from your computer, smartphone and tablet. Nobody should have to be without anything. I suspect that such steady over-access to information and choice is harmful because it hinders recovery. Limiting such access is better aligned with how we are historically adapted to function.

It is also common for media to be used as a distraction from other feelings and thoughts. This prevents reflection. Of course, there are also positive effects of the wide availability of information as it can be used to make better and more informed decisions, but the negative effects seem too great, both at the individual and societal level. Now, a few global technology companies have taken us all hostage and are becoming more powerful every second they are allowed to soak up our and our friends’ private information. We make ourselves and others easier to manipulate both politically and in terms of consumption. It must be made clear that we own our lives and that they are not for sale.

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