Algorithms are shrinking your mind: reclaiming attention from the feed
September 29, 2026 · 23 min read
Mel Robbins describes how the algorithmic life cuts us off from our brilliance, Chris Williamson warns about algorithms and 'knowingness', Laurie Santos shows phones stealing presence, and Kay Tye explains why social media isn't the same as connection. Protecting attention from feeds is now a core part of any healthy mindset.
The rules, numbers and steps worth keeping in front of you.
- Core warning: the feed narrows what you see, expect and notice.
- Jeff Karp: an autopilot life shrinks your sense of possibility; change your inputs.
- Karp: take a pause of 60 to 90 seconds to reset between tasks.
- Chris Williamson: algorithms gain by making you more predictable, which pushes people into silos.
- Williamson: knowingness is closed certainty that better information cannot fix.
- Laurie Santos: a phone on the table cuts smiling by 30 percent and hurts memory.
- Before unlocking, ask what for, why now and what else.
- Keep the phone out of the room at meals and in conversations.
- Kay Tye: real connection needs real-time exchange and investment; a feed has neither.
- Tye: one-to-one messages and calls are a different category from the feed.
- Adam Grant: quiet mornings raised productivity 65 percent; keep a to-don't list.
- Grant: follow people you disagree with, and meet them with curiosity.
- If you stay on social media, have a clear purpose and filter the rest.
- Persistent loneliness, anxiety or low mood behind the habit: consider a qualified mental-health professional.
This is the short form. The full insight has every expert's reasoning, their own words and the sources.