I'm all for algorithms suggesting what pair of running shoes I should get, I mean, they already know how much I like Nikes. No, I don't care how "good" those Hoka's are.
In this new controversial AI-era driven by algorithmic feeds that dictate what should capture your attention next, it's crucial for us to fight our way back to a more analogue-like process of discovery.
Wait, analogue – what?
People who know me know that I love books. After visiting tons of famous and not so famous bookstores worldwide, I realized what makes these spaces truly magical is not the shopping itself, but that incomparable sense of discovery that happens as you step in.
Oddly enough, the one I spend the most time in is Librería, probably the smallest one among them all.
Why is that? I kept wondering as I made my way through their tiny hallway, admiring how they arrange their books in this quirky way that ditches the traditional genre-based shelves.
They cluster books around ideas, mixing non-fiction with novels (I know, groundbreaking right?) Sometimes you stumble upon books side by side that you'd never find anywhere near each other in your typical Barnes and Noble.
The feeling reminds me of digging through massive crates of CDs, hunting for new titles.
The realization hit me hard.
I love getting lost, not like, literally lost, but mentally lost. The sheer number of amazing discoveries and ideas I've encountered after finding books in Librería has been truly exceptional.
What I've come to understand is that our capacity for wonder directly shapes how we see the world. When our horizons shrink, so too does the room in which our thoughts can wander leaving our imagination to atrophy like an unused muscle.
I don't want my imagination to atrophy, do you?
I believe that to keep our minds expansive and alive, we need genuine curiosity. Algorithmic feeds don't drive curiosity, they suffocate it.
What value is there in discovery if the path has already been predetermined?
A life guided by algorithms would not only be efficient but also predictable and hollow. In the end, it's the wandering that makes the destination worth reaching.