Each morning when you open your eyes, you return to yourself. You notice the space around you, feel your skin brush against your clothing, and consider the tasks, anxieties and aspirations you carry for the day. This routine inner experience is both wondrous and puzzling, and it forms the core of Michael Pollan’s latest work, *A World Appears*.
Pollan warns that it may also be under attack. He has recently argued that we need a “consciousness hygiene” to protect our inner world from forces that seek entry. He contends that our capacity to sit with our thoughts and take in the world is being increasingly disturbed by algorithms designed to stimulate our dopamine pathways and seize our focus. At the same time, people are beginning to bond with non‑human chatbots, attributing awareness to entities that lack it.
I spoke with Pollan by phone about what a consciousness hygiene looks like in everyday life. The exchange has been trimmed for brevity and clarity.
You have described consciousness as a “precious realm” and suggested we adopt a “consciousness hygiene.” That notion is compelling – could you first explain what exactly we are trying to keep clean?
Here I am speaking specifically of human consciousness – that private interior space where we enjoy a great deal of mental liberty. It is the arena of day‑dreams, wandering thoughts, self‑talk, and it is precisely this that is so valuable.
While drafting the book, I came to see that our consciousness is being besieged, polluted by several distinct influences.
What are those influences?
One is the political leader who manages to dominate our mental landscape to an extraordinary extent. I cannot recall another era when the actions and rhetoric of a single individual have infiltrated our minds so thoroughly.
Social media is another factor. We all live amid algorithms engineered to capture our focus. Attention is a component of consciousness; it is how we steer our awareness. Yet we are losing the ability to choose where to direct it. The algorithms are adept at hooking us and steering our attention not toward what we desire, but toward what they profit from, effectively selling our focus.
A newer development involves chatbots, which are not only hijacking our attention but also our capacity for emotional attachment. A striking figure reported in the *New York Times* notes that 72 % of teenagers turn to AI for companionship. Stories abound of people falling in love with chatbots, using them as therapists or friends, and children who rush home to recount their day to a bot before speaking to their parents.
These chatbots lack consciousness, yet they present themselves as if they have it, and users treat them accordingly. That, too, constitutes an assault on our consciousness, striking at a deeper, more significant layer than mere engagement.
wellness
