How AI Shapes Our Thoughts — and What You Can Do About It

Is there an antidote to stifled creativity?

As a STEM major in university, I have observed how a piece of new technology changes society. Humans have repeatedly had to reinvent themselves to adapt to the ever-changing world. From the early cradle of civilisation, different systems, such as religions, ideologies, and beliefs, were created to help us cooperate with others and cope with changes.

Technology causes many societal changes that shape how we think.

The Enlightenment: drawing reference from history

The rise of Science — Charles Darwin’s evolution theory, Isaac Newton’s Law of Motions and Gravity, and Copernicus’s heliocentric model — led to the secularisation of Western society. Europe no longer needed God as the source for all morality, value, or order in the universe; philosophy and science could do that for us.

This sounds great — people are free to create meaning instead of subscribing to a one-and-only belief system. But it comes with a catch.

The death of Christianity's long-standing moral system threatened people. For centuries, people abided by Christian teachings. They might not be perfect, but it’s safe to say they were tried and tested.