A Cool-Headed Resolve to Fight "Autopilot Thinking"—The Traps of Engineered Desire and an Accelerating Society

Recently, while browsing some content, I came across a reference to Herbert Marcuse’s *One-Dimensional Man*, a work by the Frankfurt School philosopher.

In modern democratic and consumer societies, “designed desires” make people feel satisfied, dulling their “awareness” and “critical consciousness.” Technological progress itself is not neutral; it possesses “the power to unify thought in a direction convenient for the system.”

Herbert Marcuse

When I encountered this text, I did not feel a new sense of shock or excitement as if I had discovered the hidden side of the world. Rather, it was a deep, quiet sense of conviction—a feeling of “So that’s how it is”—that aligned perfectly with the trajectory of my own personal exploration up to that point.

Through this site, I have long explored the idea that “attention equals life,” that 95% of human behavior is governed by “unconscious autopilot,” and the structure by which modern society and the media extremely skillfully hack our unconscious minds to continuously steer us toward consumer behavior.The concepts of “designed desire” and “technological progress that unifies thought”—which Marcuse pointed out decades ago—perfectly describe the current state of affairs, where modern platform capitalism and the attention economy are nearing their final form.

Society keeps us at a distance from true “awakening” by making us feel “satisfied.” In this article, building on Marcuse’s perspective and connecting it with several psychological concepts from the same era as well as the ideas of H. Rosa, I would like to calmly dissect the “phenomenon of thought hijacking” currently unfolding in our minds and connect the dots.

The cold, hard reality of “autopilot thinking” dominated by the unconscious

There is stark data that exposes the true nature of what we believe to be “thinking of our own volition.” According to numerous psychological studies, humans have approximately 60,000 thoughts per day, and it is said that “60% to 90%” of these are “daily repetitions (routine thoughts).” We are essentially just replaying in our minds today what we thought about yesterday.

To make matters worse, it has been reported that the majority of these repetitive thoughts are “negative in nature.” Regrets over past failures, feelings of inferiority stemming from comparisons with others, and anxiety about an uncertain future. Like a playlist on autoplay, these thoughts loop endlessly in our minds.

When I learned this fact, it felt as though my long-held hypothesis—that “human willpower is incredibly fragile”—had been confirmed.The human brain is an organ that consumes an extremely large amount of energy compared to other organs. Therefore, in order to fulfill the biological imperative of survival, the brain attempts to operate in energy-saving mode by “automating” past patterns so that it can avoid making “new decisions” as much as possible. Most of the time we feel we are “living proactively” is, in reality, nothing more than gliding along on top of this “autopilot (OS) for energy conservation.”

Realizing that one’s own thoughts are, in fact, nothing more than an “unconscious playback device” comes with a certain sense of resignation. However, this very resignation is the starting line. Letting go of the illusion that “I am a proactive human being” and first objectively observing “how fragile and prone to automation the system that is ‘me’ truly is”—I am convinced that this is the first step toward regaining what Marcuse called “critical consciousness.”

The Bandwagon Effect and the Structure of “Thought Hijacking”

Living our daily lives in this “unconscious autopilot mode,” we are extremely vulnerable to strong external stimuli.

There is information that the brain processes as a “survival priority.” This can be intense visual or auditory stimuli, or social signals such as “the whole crowd is in an uproar.” In modern times, the role of these “social signals” is, needless to say, played by social media trends and television talk shows. These intrude rudely into the space where we try to quietly reflect.

What is happening here is the “thought hijacking phenomenon.” Our attention, which should naturally be focused on our own life challenges or the goals we need to achieve today, is forcibly overwritten the moment we look at our smartphone screens—replaced by “anger” or “curiosity” toward a scandal involving a complete stranger or a viral controversy that occurred far away.

Behind this phenomenon lies a psychological mechanism known as the “bandwagon effect.” It is an instinct humans have possessed since ancient times: by aligning ourselves with the fact that many people are looking in the same direction or holding the same opinions, we seek to ensure our safety within the group. If we don’t know “what everyone else is paying attention to,” we risk being cast out of the herd and endangering our survival.Algorithms exploit this fear, which is etched into our DNA, with extreme precision.

The reason we keep scrolling through social media isn’t simply laziness. It’s because our survival instinct commands us to “never take our eyes off the herd.” However, as a result, we are forced to live not by “our own interests,” but by “the interests of others (desires designed by the system).” A deep understanding of this cruel structure is the only shield that can protect us from the hijacking of our thoughts.

The Depletion of “Selective Attention” and the Exploitation of Life

There is a strict limit to the amount of “attention” our brains can process at any given time. This is called “selective attention,” and essentially, we possess a structural flaw (or characteristic) that means we can only focus on one thing at a time.

In our daily routines, when social media notifications or stimulating digital information burst in, our brains allow that “strong stimulus” to monopolize our selective attention. As a result, whatever we were previously focused on—such as the deep immersion of reading, introspection, or a conversation with a loved one right in front of us—is immediately “put on hold,” “interrupted,” and ultimately “forgotten.”

I have long believed that “attention is life itself.” Where do we direct our limited time? Because the accumulation of those choices is what makes up our lives. However, having our attention forcibly stolen through the hijacking of our thoughts amounts to nothing less than having “the time of our lives exploited by the system.” And the most terrifying aspect of modern society is that even this process of exploitation is designed to feel like a “pleasant way to pass the time.”

The Terror of “Attention Zero” Brought About by an Accelerated Society

In his book *The Accelerating Society*, German sociologist H. Rosa sharply points out the factors that conceal this “exploitation of attention” across the entire system and further accelerate it. With the evolution of technology, modern society has come to demand “immediate responsiveness” in every conceivable situation.

People abandon websites if the response is even a second too slow; 15-second short videos are consumed instead of feature-length films; and discussions that don’t yield immediate conclusions are dismissed as having “poor time performance.” What happens at the end of this “acceleration”? Rosa warns that a society that excessively demands immediacy robs humans of their “sense of resonance.”

The sense of resonance is the ability to delve deeply into the world, others, or even oneself; to engage thoughtfully over time; and to perceive the resonance that arises from that connection. However, in an accelerated society where we are constantly pressured to reach conclusions quickly, we are reduced to “consumers disconnected from the world”—and transformed into “reflexive responders” who merely repeat conditioned reflexes in response to external stimuli.

In this context, a phrase uttered during a conversation struck a deep chord within me.

“Making decisions is incredibly important, and while it’s nice when someone else makes them for you, doesn’t that mean you’re paying zero attention?”

I couldn’t help but nod deeply in agreement. The act of “deciding” involves a tremendous cognitive load and friction. That is precisely why the current situation—where algorithms anticipate and “decide” for us what video to watch next, what product to buy next, and even what opinion to hold next, all presented as “recommendations for you”—is overwhelmingly “easy” for our brains.

However, this is a state of “zero attention” in which we have completely abandoned our own will and involvement. A state where we are not using our own attention to control where we are heading can no longer be called “living.” The true nature of the “optimized comfort” provided by our accelerated society is nothing more than a sleeping pill designed to make us let go of the helm of our own lives and sleep forever in the passenger seat of the system.

The inevitability of self-destruction and the cathartic effect, as Nietzsche foresaw

In this way, by busily processing information and reacting reflexively day after day, we live our lives completely averting our eyes from our own “inner selves.” However, no matter how much our attention is directed outward and no matter how much comfort is provided, friction inherent to being a living creature and negative emotions undoubtedly exist within us.

Here, the ideas of the 19th-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche resonate deeply. In *On the Genealogy of Morals*, Nietzsche states the following:

“Man is the most dangerous animal to himself.”

From Friedrich Nietzsche, *On the Genealogy of Morals*, Essay 2

Modern society exerts implicit pressure on us to “always be positive” and to “quickly process negative emotions because they are unproductive.” As a result, we end up suppressing “negative emotions” such as anger, sadness, and jealousy deep within our hearts without properly expressing (externalizing) them. What Nietzsche warned against is that aggression and energy not directed outward will inevitably turn inward toward “oneself.”

Repressed emotions never disappear. They ferment beneath the surface and eventually erupt in the form of inexplicable chronic anxiety, physical ailments, or distorted aggression on social media. The true nature of that “indescribable sense of suffocation” we vaguely carry with us is nothing other than the suppressed emotions continuing to harm ourselves—turning their blade against our own selves.

Deep Emotional Processing Through “Fully Feeling”

The approach needed to break free from this self-destructive cycle is the “catharsis effect.” Psychologically speaking, the process of “feeling it all the way through” is considered essential for the healthy processing of negative emotions.

When you’re sad, sink all the way to the bottom of that sadness. When you’re angry, instead of suppressing your emotions by telling yourself, “I shouldn’t be angry over something like this,” fully experience and accept the fact that “I am furious right now” with your whole body. Don’t judge or suppress the negative energy welling up inside you; simply “feel it fully” as a detached observer.

By doing this thoroughly, our brain networks and autonomic nervous system shift from the “processing in progress” status to “digestion complete,” allowing us to let go of (release) our attachment.We must completely sever the escape route provided by the system—distracting ourselves with “easy stimuli”—and confront our emotions in a quiet space. This is the most down-to-earth, yet most reliable, means of resistance against the gravitational pull of our fast-paced society.

The unconscious reconstruction fostered by the process of reading

In our accelerating information society, our thinking has become “reflexive,” and our emotions are “repressed.” When considering a powerful tool to break free from this structure and reclaim our own sense of self, a systematic process of “reading” emerged. This is the shortest path for us to awaken from the brainwashing of the unconscious and gain the power of “verbalization.”

The cognitive development brought about by reading consists of the following three stages:

• 1. Expansion of Schemas (Cognitive Structures): Through books, we absorb new vocabulary and abstract concepts. This is not merely an “accumulation of information,” but a process of significantly expanding the very vessel—the framework (schema)—through which we have interpreted the world up to now, thereby increasing its complexity.
• 2. Inner Speech and Metacognition: As we read, we engage in a dialogue with the author in our minds and verbalize our own thoughts (inner speech). This process puts the brakes on our autopilot thinking. The ability to view ourselves objectively—to ask, “Wait a minute, haven’t I been led to believe this all along?”—is cultivated through this inner dialogue.
• 3. External Expression and Social Sharing: Finally, we “externalize” the knowledge we’ve gained and the thoughts integrated within us by speaking or writing. Only after passing through this stage does information settle from “knowledge” into “unshakable personal beliefs,” giving rise to true resonance with others.

Short videos and scrolling through timelines cause us to skip all three of these processes. In other words, it is nothing less than an act that causes the brain—our receptor for thought—to degenerate. That is precisely why, for me, “reading” and “writing” are not merely hobbies, but practical exercises in “self-reconstruction” designed to defend myself against the hijacking of thought by the system and to continuously rewrite my unconscious in the direction I desire.

True awakening is living in the present while embracing friction

H. Rosa feared the “acceleration of alienation” that would come at the end of an accelerated society, but we can view the world where we reverse this trend and regain our lost sense of resonance as the “true society” and the “awakened state.”

Awakening is by no means a spiritual high or a mystical experience where one suddenly realizes everything one day. It is noticing the “autopilot of thought” that tries to repeat the same negative loop as yesterday and quietly applying the brakes. It is the accumulation of steady, small choices—pausing at the moment when your attention is about to be hijacked by recommended videos or news, and asking yourself anew, “Where am I directing my life?”

The managed society driven by “designed desires,” as Marcuse pointed out, may at first glance appear to be a “friction-free” utopia where no dissatisfaction arises. It is a comfortable cradle where everything is laid out for you, where you need not make any decisions, and where you can survive even with zero attention.

However, we live with the overwhelming reality that we are finite. To live while surrendering the limited time of our lives—our attention—to the system is no longer living our own lives. We must see through the trap of “comfort,” accept the fatigue that comes with “deciding for ourselves” at times, and fully experience the pain without averting our eyes from the negative emotions that well up.I am convinced that regaining a sense of touch with this “raw, friction-filled everyday life” is the only way to break free from the domination of designed desires.

The sense of these dots connecting this time was accompanied by a deep sense of conviction. The world constantly wants us to remain unconscious. Is that why we must continue to consciously weave words, carve out the contours of our thoughts, and keep taking the reins of life in the “here and now” of today back into our own hands?