Have you ever pondered why your social media feed appears to be inundated with outrage, scandals, and "fake news," while meaningful stories and profound insights appear to arrive in small, infrequent drops? Surprisingly, an ancient Greek storyteller named Aesop predicted this digital dilemma over 2,500 years ago in his fable "The Goods and the Evils."
The Ancient Fable
In the story, the "Evils" were so aggressive that they drove the "Goods" off the earth and up to the heavens. When the Goods asked Zeus how they should return to humanity, he told them they must not go all at once but one by one.
As a result, the Evils—being close at hand—constantly swarm over us. But the Goods reach us slowly, descending from the sky only occasionally.
The Modern Digital Parallel
If we look at platforms like X (Twitter) and Facebook, we can see that their algorithms act exactly like the world Aesop described.
1. The Speed of "Evil" (Clickbait and Outrage)
In the digital world, "Evil" is represented by sensationalism, misinformation, and hate speech. These are optimized for latency. Because negative emotions trigger immediate physiological reactions, algorithms "bring the evil closer" to you. It swarms your feed because it generates instant engagement.
2. The Distance of "Good" (Deep Insights and Truth)
"Good" content—verified facts, nuanced analysis, and philosophical wisdom—is "heavy." Like the Goods in Aesop’s fable, it travels slowly. It requires fact-checking, careful reading, and reflection. In a world of infinite scrolling, the truth often stays "in the heavens" of high-quality journalism, while we are hit by the low-level storm of scandals.
The Result for the User
The fable ends with a sobering thought: None of us easily meets with the Goods, but every one of us is daily haunted by the Evils. On social media, this translates to the "Echo Chamber" effect. We are bombarded by the "Evils" of misinformation because of the sheer speed at which they travel. Finding "Good" requires conscious effort—you have to look up from the feed to see the stars.
Modern Wisdom Quote:
"In the era of AI, a lie can travel around the world before the truth has even finished its system update. Choose what you follow, for your attention is the currency of the gods."
