I tried to look something up today that was completely outside my usual pattern - just to feel different, just to see something I hadn't seen before. The autocomplete filled in a version of what I was going to say before I finished typing it. Whatever I was reaching for got interrupted before I could get there. I sat back and looked at the screen and thought about how long it had been since I discovered something that surprised me. Something that my own history hadn't already predicted.

Every time I open the app it shows me versions of things I already believe, things I've already worried about, people who already agree with me. It's efficient. It's comfortable. It's also making me smaller and I can feel it happening. The circle closes tighter every month and I keep scrolling anyway because even a shrinking world is easier than the open one. When did you last stumble into something you didn't go looking for? When did discovery stop being an accident?