“Shush-! They’ll hear you!”

Truth is often inconvenient.

    I keep my phone in hand, feigning attention to notifications. Across the table, my barracks mate tells me houseflies have already been 'deployed' as drones to spy on the populace, and that China probably already has what it needs to invade. I suppress a smirk thinking, "Why would anyone think like this? Microchips aren't 'micro' enough for that, let alone gyroscopic self-correcting motors small enough to be inconspicuous spies. Humans swat flies instinctively. Sadists dissect them alive for sport. It seems absurd." And then it dawns on me, that he likely hasn’t delved into the sciences or engineering behind integrated circuits, let alone the nuances of miniaturised tech. “Huh,” I reply. “Maybe. But probably not.”

“Think about it!” he presses. “We’re on the brink of conflict. It’s not far-fetched anymore.”

“Huh, maybe.” I return to scrolling, letting his conspiracy dissipate like background static, later decrying to myself how irresponsibly I held that opportunity to share to him all the joys of modern science and the limitations it has that most conspiracy theorists loved to ignore. And for what? Not talking more? Doom scrolling more myself?!

The Dark Forest

If you enjoy mind-blowing existential eldritch horror as I am, you may have already come across the "Dark Forest" theory. To those of you who are not as familiar, I can tour you around the ghastly concept, related to the "inspire yourself" section as promised, I assure you.

    The scene is with a lone plane crash survivor, lost in an oppressive forest. There is waist-high foliage obscuring all footsteps, legions of sky-scraping sun-blotting titans of wood and leaves, tinnitus-like ringing of what may be millions of bugs within an arm's reach, barely comforting singing and cawing of birds up high, inescapably heavy breath-heaving humidity, imposing shadows that may hide any kind of slithering or stalking danger imaginable and unimaginable, inappropriately insufficient first aid, half-eaten energy bar in pocket, no radio to speak of, broken smartphone in hand, several years of consuming outdoor survival with laughably any experience in applying them, maybe a broken leg or hopefully a sprain, and, luckily, a haphazardly-loaded 9mm rifle, three shots; who knows if they were live rounds to begin with or if they were actually loaded but with blanks just for safety waiver's sake? They never expected to crash, but now this survivor will never be truly ready for anything out here. And now, the survivor becomes an amusement park decoration as a wide-eyed live human statue after seeing two hunters from across the valley who also cannot dare to move at the sight of the stranger in the forest. A moment of awkward silence pass by, but at a snap, both sides point weapons toward each other. A sweaty pause later, the ones across loosen the grip on their own weapons and both wave a hand to signal a truce, one of them letting the weapon droop and hang from one shoulder and putting a finger on their lips to the survivor across, slowly retreating into the foliage. The foreign survivor stays wide-eyed alert with the sound of one's own heart beating in the ears, restless, pointing the gun wherever the eyes are locked into: a moving branch, rustling tall grass, shadows in the ground, or maybe behind you.

The forest forces a primordial harrowing question, all too familiar to the mammalian nervous system. 'Friend or foe?' 'Amigo o enemigo?' 'Help or trap?' 'Real or fake?' 'Human or bot?'

    This chilling scenario reflects a broader truth. In vast ecosystems—be they physical or digital—survival often hinges on discernment. The known is our refuge; the unknown is where progress lies. Yet navigating the latter demands more than blind curiosity—it requires methodical exploration and hard-won knowledge, amid the dystopian mega-ecosystem of bots reposting botted content, and traitorous friendly faces of fellows who surrender to the trudging sludge of meaningless, lizard-brain, nigh-instinctual, and non-cerebral content. The following are the values I found that real humans hold dear.

Growing pain is human

Learning is a rare quality among public figures. When given social power in excess of moral capacity, they often resist growth, mistaking consistency for integrity. I argue it is more humane to admit changes than to punish oneself to stay the same. Akin to a Turing test to determine bot vs person, this is my first test to determine if someone is truly worth investing mindless hours of scrolling to, it is whether the person actively learns. One indication isn't about whether they apologize but whether they seek better ways to engage and inform without sacrificing the quality of engagement. That is how someone may be worthy of a few seconds, minutes, to even an hour of attention. Impactful creators challenge their audience beyond "funny colours, loud noises, cheap Googleable trivia, bandwagon phrases/ideas, with/and/or sex appeal" even if they do use one, more, or even all of exactly those things.

To truly wow is human

As simple as it seems to 'blow' someone's mind by presenting relevant or even desirable facts previously unknown, it is terribly easy to lie. Truthful thought provocation is a phenomenon created by more precise machinations of the minds in a social environment, perfected by lyricists and orators. This is one of the telltale signs, not just of humanity, but that someone is willing to broaden understanding among their followers. Although it isn't a talent blessed upon anyone, and this might sound like they are only composed of scientists, artists, and sales folk, but this platinum quality in a person is actually widespread, just unrefined.

Leading the self is human

    In any group of people, there is always someone at the helm that drives the body to move. The bigger the group, the greater the cacophony. But every now and then, someone steps up and is able to link the inner, nigh-primal desires of the congregation and tag everyone along. Looking for this quality is admittedly discriminatory, and I would personally discourage completely tuning out people who do not have this, but when looking for a motivational figure, one must choose someone who inspires both oneself and their own thoughts. This is the core of people who lead, a far cry from making follower numbers indicative, that whenever someone else tries mimicking similar efforts for themselves, their influence prompts anyone to reflect, question, and grow.

Reflecting and introspecting is human

    Writing and speaking are two outputting sides of the same coin: thought. In effect, it either outsources the mind or sparks organised ideation. What distinguishes good writers and speakers, from those akin to white noise between radio stations, is the ability to impart to others their own edification, i.e., teaching others to do immediate or long-term proactive positive action on their own. To throw ideas around is easy, complaining is easier, but synthesising better practices for today and tomorrow is not only admirable but also timeless, making such a person with that skill intrinsically worthy of attention in your social media feed.

Self-caring is human

    "Sex sells" may be a tired marketing adage, but it may be worthy of examination. Beautiful women don't only attract the gaze of men, they also draw inspiration in ladies. Handsome gentlemen are different but also magnetise the eyes and admiration of both sexes. However, any deviation from reality makes the image distasteful or even unclassy. The hidden principle is presentation is just as important as the content itself, nothing to do with cheap sex appeal. If companies spend millions on marketing campaigns to sell products, wouldn't exemplary humans spend more time and effort on themselves? People who maintain immovably strong principles (rigorously tested beliefs, not impractical dogma) are likely to appear just as healthy, strong, and beautiful as they forthrightly are, otherwise, they might still be on their way to their prime image or on a fad. This aesthetic indicator is especially important if it is their last concern and merely a consequence of their beliefs. In short, healthy follow-worthy people are usually attractive, but not all attractive people are healthy and worthy of any followers.

How I did it

    Building criteria like this for following people online, I found, feels liberating. I saw it is better to mindlessly be fed good information given by well-meaning proven humans online who love to share than to scroll to and from endless posts that add nothing to my life and may even harm my own: from the way I keep my home; to the way I perceive myself; to the way I treat others.

    I eventually understood that there are truths that are more difficult to obtain, in part, more apparently recently because there is more content present in cyberspace, more foliage in the forest to cut through. But unlike the daunting, nerve-racking dense jungles, sometimes, situations are small, and problems are small. Oftentimes, it's every day and not our whole lives. Rather than throwing out appliances or pieces of furniture just because they stop working right, I like to sit down one-on-one with them, find out what's wrong, and then make decisions. In the same manner, I avoid throwing away an entire social media account to start over, I like to dedicate time to unfriend people on my Facebook who aren't truly my friends, to unfollow people on Instagram I sense siphon the joy out of me, to unsubscribe from YouTube channels that no longer nourish my mind, and to leave Discord servers and subreddits that echo bad behaviours.

    From there, my feeds cleared up with time, ignoring posts that fell into exactly those categories, and actively liking and engaging posts that taught me something. Eventually, each session online was encouraging, awe-inspiring, thought-provoking, and empowering; even the algorithms that are more popularly being despised are actually helping me find similar calibre creators and spaces that are all additive to my well-being: from fine arts to martial arts, from physical fitness to conscious diet choices, and from pragmatic philosophy to holistic gestalt spirituality.