You think you chose to watch that video. You think you chose to buy that game. But in 2025, “Free Will” is a statistical illusion. Big Tech algorithms have modeled your brain so perfectly that they know what you want before you do. This is “Algorithmic Determinism.” They control the Menu, so they control the Choice. Recovery isn’t just about quitting porn or gaming; it’s about reclaiming your “Cognitive Liberty” from a machine that predicts your every move.

There is a terrifying concept in philosophy called Determinism: The idea that every action is just the result of a previous cause, meaning “Free Will” doesn’t exist.

In the physical world, this is debated. In the digital world, it is a fact.

When you open YouTube, you aren’t searching for content. You are being fed. The algorithm analyzes your history, your “dwell time,” your mouse movements, and your location. It calculates—with 99% accuracy—which thumbnail will make you click.

If the algorithm knows exactly which button to push to make you scroll, are you the one scrolling? Or are you just a puppet dancing to a string of code?

Key Takeaways: The Death of Choice

• The Menu Theory: Tristan Harris (Center for Humane Technology) argues: “He who controls the menu controls the choice.” If the algorithm only shows you rage-bait or thirst-traps, you can’t choose “peace.”
• The Rabbit Hole: Algorithms optimize for “Time on Site.” Radical content keeps you longer. This is why a search for “fitness” leads to “steroids” in 10 clicks.
• Predictive Modeling: Tech giants create a “Voodoo Doll” of you in the cloud. They test ads on the doll to see what works, then run the winning script on the real you.
• Cognitive Liberty: The human right to independent thought. Addiction recovery is the fight to secure this right.

How the “Feed” Hacks Your Agency

You believe you are the driver. In reality, you are a passenger in a self-driving car programmed by an advertiser.

1. The Illusion of Agency

Netflix gives you “choices.” But those choices are curated from a library of thousands, narrowed down to the 6 titles most likely to keep you subscribed. You feel like you picked a movie. Actually, you just picked the least objectionable option from a pre-selected list designed to pacify you.

2. Radicalization via Recommendation

If you engage with a “Soft” trigger (e.g., a fitness model), the algorithm learns: “User likes bodies.” To keep your attention, it must escalate. Next week: Lingerie. Next month: Soft-core. Eventually: OnlyFans links.

The algorithm didn’t want you to become addicted to porn. It just wanted you to stay on the app. Your addiction was collateral damage in the optimization for “Engagement.”

Breaking the “Loop of Doom”

If the machine predicts your moves, how do you beat it? You have to be unpredictable.

Addiction is predictable. It is a loop. Recovery is the act of breaking the loop.

1. Randomness (The Pattern Interrupt)

Algorithms thrive on routine.

• The Hack: When you feel the urge to scroll, do something completely illogical. Do 10 pushups. Yell a random word. Throw your phone on the couch.
• Why: This creates “Noise” in the data. It disrupts the predictive model.

2. Curate Your Own Menu

Stop eating what the Feed serves you.

• Active vs. Passive: Never use the “Home” or “For You” page. Only use the “Search” bar.
• Intent: Decide what you want to find before you unlock the phone. If you enter the internet without a mission, you become the mission.

3. Accountably as the “Anti-Algorithm”

Our AI is programmed with the opposite goal of Big Tech.

• Big Tech Goal: Maximize Time on Site.
• Accountably Goal: Minimize Time on Site.

When our Digital Phenotyping sees you falling into an algorithmic trance (high scroll speed), we intervene.

• AI: “You’ve been in the Feed for 20 minutes. The algorithm is winning. Break the loop?”

FAQ: Reclaiming Free Will

Q: Is the algorithm “evil”? A: No. It is an Optimization Machine. It is amoral. It just wants to increase a number (revenue). The problem is that the best way to increase revenue is often to make you angry, anxious, or addicted.

Q: Can I train the algorithm to show me good stuff? A: To a degree. But the “House Always Wins.” Even “wholesome” feeds are designed to keep you scrolling. The only way to win is not to play.

Q: What is “Cognitive Liberty”? A: It is the emerging human right to be free from mental manipulation. Just as you have a right to privacy in your home, you have a right to the privacy of your attention.

Take Back the Wheel

You are not a dataset. You are not a “retention metric.” You are a human being with the capacity for free thought—if you fight for it.

Stop letting a server farm in California decide your future.

(Reclaim your cognitive liberty.)