The Illusion of Free Will in the Modern Age
Artificial Intelligence has already affected our thinking and freedom to choose….
Smart phones, Facebook, Instagram, Google, YouTube, Apple, Twitter, Mozilla, Firefox, Pinterest….just a few technology companies/products that are run via background algorithms that are intended to manipulate and persuade their users….
I’ve been in the high school classroom for the last 20 years….first as a para, then for 14 years as a teacher until I retired this year…3 years early due to health issues and the threat of covid to my already less than perfect lungs. Even though the scary virus pushed me over the edge, I wanted to stop being a teacher long before that. You see, my job had changed over the years. Sure, added responsibilities, pay not rising with those responsibilities, parental drop out, etc. Sadly, those are not the changes I am referring to. In my position as a high school teacher, I witnessed bewildering changes in the students.….much like aging, the changes were subtle, they happened over a long stretch of time, and by the time they were noticed…..a startling realization.
Over the years, I saw teen aged students go from sassy, full of life and light, know it all pains in the asses….
to…
irreflective , entitled, full of gloom and conspiracy theories, google it alls —…
