A Redditor Reflects on how the Infinite Scroll is Eroding your Internal Thought

I came home today after a rough day at work and went out on the deck to enjoy a post-work beer and wax philosophical.

In the midst of my reverie I got a text and after, while my phone was out, checked in on Reddit. Ten or so minutes later I realize that I’m just infinitely scrolling down, reading titles, but not having any thoughts of my own.

This is when it occurred to me that between Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and the like we can all endlessly scroll through content. On one hand this is a great thing. On the other hand, I find I can’t have my internal monologue while scrolling. It’s as if we’ve all chosen to replace those precious moments with our own mind with other people’s content.

I understand it, I’ve long had the theory that, more than anything else, humans crave novelty. We are ever on the hunt for new sights and sounds and ideas. This is obviously a benefit as it drives innovation and creativity. But it seems a terrible waste that, in the digital age with unprecedented access to information, we’ve so quickly resorted to supplanting our own thoughts and visions with those of others.

How does this relate to conspiracy? It seems to me that our thoughts are less our own than ever. By replacing our own unique inner monologue with a flurry of headlines it’s easier for what seem to be our own ideas to actually be regurgitations of the thoughts of others.

The real kicker? That like most human blunders this is not a constructed plot but something we’ve done to ourselves.

At the end of the day though, we all live in a golden age of information dissemination. The world is a beautiful place no matter how dark the shadows.