darulmaarif.net – Indramayu, 26 May 2026 | 08.00 WIB
In the midst of today’s rapid flow of digital information, modern humans live in a paradoxical situation. We feel the most free to speak, but actually become more uniform in thinking. Social media provides unlimited space for opinions, but at the same time secretly forms an almost identical collective mindset. What goes viral is considered true. What is widely discussed is considered important. And what doesn’t appear in the timeline is slowly deemed non-existent.
This phenomenon is clearly visible in various recent social events. Someone can get mass hatred just because of a 30 second video clip. An issue can become “public truth” before the facts are actually verified. Even personal opinions are often born not from a deep thought process, but rather are the result of repetition of content that continues to appear on digital homepages.
Ironically, many people feel like they are thinking critically, even though they are actually just repeating the patterns formed by the algorithm.
It is at this point that an important question arises: do modern humans still really think, or are they just loudmouths for digital machines that dictate what to see, like and believe?
When Algorithms Become “Life Teachers”
Today, algorithms are not just the technical technology that works behind applications. It has changed into a new cultural system. Algorithms determine what videos we watch, what news stories appear, even what emotions we consume the most.
Without realizing it, modern humans live in an echo chamber, namely a situation where a person only hears opinions that are in line with his own. As a result, reason loses its dialogical ability. People no longer seek truth, but seek justification.
This phenomenon was criticized by a contemporary philosopher from South Korea, Byung-Chul Han. In many of his ideas, Han explains that modern digital society is experiencing “existential fatigue.” Not because of too much physical work, but because of receiving too much information stimulation without space for reflection.
Humans constantly react, but rarely reflect.
We live in a scroll culture, not a contemplation culture.
Everything moves fast. Opinions are produced instantaneously. Anger becomes a digital commodity. Even empathy often turns into a temporary trend that disappears after the algorithm finds a new issue that attracts more attention.
The Death of the Silent Space in the Human Mind
Philosophy since ancient Greece has always positioned thinking as an activity that requires pause. Socrates taught dialogue. Plato emphasized contemplation. Even in the Islamic tradition, classical scholars placed tafakkur as a form of intellectual worship.
But the modern digital world actually hates breaks.
We are afraid of being quiet. Fear of missing out on information. Fear is irrelevant. So every moment is filled with notifications, short videos, comments, and endless debates. As a result, humans lose the quiet space to hear the sound of their own thoughts.
In fact, healthy reasoning is born from the ability to take distance.
A person can only think clearly when he is not completely immersed in the crowd of public opinion. But social media works the other way around: it drives people to react before they have time to understand.
This is why today’s society gets angry easily, is easily provoked, but finds it difficult to have mature dialogue.
Inclusive Reasoning and the Crisis of Social Empathy
In the midst of these conditions, the idea of inclusive reasoning becomes very important. Inclusive reasoning does not mean agreeing with everything, but rather the ability to see reality from various points of view fairly and openly.
Unfortunately, the algorithm actually works with exclusive logic. Digital systems are designed to retain the user’s attention for as long as possible. So the most emotional, most provocative, and most divisive content often takes priority over reflective ideas.
As a result, society increasingly easily divides people based on identity, political choices, religion, and even entertainment tastes.
Humans are no longer seen as fully human, but only as a mere social label.
In situations like this, empathy is slowly eroded. We are quicker to judge than to understand. More busy winning arguments than finding solutions together.
In fact, great civilizations are always born from humans’ ability to dialogue with differences.
Heidegger and the Danger of Man Losing Himself
German philosopher Martin Heidegger once warned that technology can make humans lose their authenticity. When life simply follows the flow of the system, humans cease to be conscious subjects. He turns into a part of the great mechanism that controls his life.
What Heidegger once warned now feels very relevant.
Today many people determine their standard of living based on digital trends. The way you dress, the way you talk, and even the way you feel sad often follow social media patterns. We are slowly losing the ability to differentiate between authentic needs and those created by the digital industry.
More worryingly, algorithms not only influence behavior, but also influence how humans understand reality.
Truth is no longer sought through a long thought process, but rather through the number of likes, views and comments.
The more viral it is, the more it is considered valid.
However, popularity is not always synonymous with truth.
A Generation that is Smart at Accessing, but Difficult to Reflect
It cannot be denied, technology brings many great benefits to human life. Information becomes more accessible. Education is more open. Communication is getting faster.
But behind this progress, a great irony emerges: humans are increasingly rich in information, but poor in reflection.
Many people are able to cite many theories, but have difficulty understanding the deepest meaning of their own lives. We are producing a generation that is fast at typing, but slow at thinking. Quick to react, but difficult to understand the complexity of social problems.
This is the greatest challenge of the modern world.
It’s no longer about who knows the most, but who is still able to think clearly in the midst of a flood of information.
Back to Being a Thinking Human
Perhaps the biggest problem of our time is not artificial intelligence, but that humans are slowly stopping using their own intelligence.
We are too busy chasing digital validation that we forget to build intellectual depth. Too quick to jump to conclusions without reading in full. It’s too easy to hate without understanding the context.
Though thinking is the most human activity we have.
Inclusive reason teaches that truth does not arise from blind fanaticism or mass repetition, but rather from the courage to listen, question and reflect. The digital world should be a tool to broaden horizons, not a prison that limits human thinking.
If we are not careful, we will live in an era when humans feel the most independent, when in fact their minds are being systematically directed by algorithms that are never truly neutral.
And when humans stop thinking authentically, what remains is a huge crowd of people repeating machine sounds to each other, thinking they are their own voices.
Hope it is useful. Wallohu a’lam.
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