Our consciousness is under siege': Michael Pollan on chatbots, social media and mental freedom

"In this case, I'm referring specifically to human consciousness—this private space of interiority where we enjoy a very high degree of mental freedom. It's the space in which we daydream, mind wander, talk to ourselves, and it is this very precious thing. In the course of writing the book, I realized that our consciousness is under siege, and that it's being polluted by several different things."

"There's also social media. We're all living with algorithms designed to seize our attention. Attention is consciousness. It's a part of consciousness. It's how we direct our consciousness where we want to—but we're losing the want to."

Human consciousness represents a precious private space where we experience freedom through daydreaming, self-reflection, and autonomous thought. This internal realm is increasingly under siege from multiple sources. Algorithms engineered into social media platforms are specifically designed to capture and manipulate our attention by triggering dopamine responses. Additionally, political figures dominate our mental space in unprecedented ways. People are also forming attachments to artificial chatbots, projecting consciousness onto entities that lack genuine awareness. Michael Pollan advocates for consciousness hygiene as a defensive practice to protect our mental autonomy and preserve our ability to direct our own attention and thoughts.

Read at www.theguardian.com