Outsourcing Remy

In a previous post from 2023, I discussed our shifting roles from producers to consumers and how it's effect might be that it would turn humans desensitized to new information, making us value knowledge less than we should. It's 2026 and I am glad to report that we have successfully devalued information (yay!).     

Remy, the mythical rat that sits in our heads and juggles information and puppets our day-to-day, is now overstimulated, tired, and inefficient at its job. 

So what should we do with Remy? A few folks suggest that a solution is to outsource Remy to a machine, for we cannot tolerate such inefficiency in our lives and machines can work all the time. The entire pipeline for how we process information and regulate our lives can then be dictated by a machine.

Unlike Remy, this machine has one major flaw—it lies. It is also privately owned, power-hungry, and comes with a substantial subscription fee. The CEO of the company denies any of these claims, of course, and is dismissive of all the complaints because, well, his company is doing really well regardless of the claims somehow, and he would rather not jinx it. Also, he wants to include ads in the machine at some point, which would really help boost his company's valuation. 

So what should we do with the Machine? Some other folks suggest that Remy can babysit the machine -- double checking its suggestions and keeping it on track. However, now, Remy is overstimulated, tired, and also has to verify dubious suggestions made by the machine, making Remy even more inefficient. 

Does Remy even need to keep up with the new information at all? If we are all desensitized to new information, then does it matter if we even have a Remy in our heads? 

This is an interesting train of thought and one that I must acknowledge I don't have a definitive answer to. 

Personally, what I like about Remy are its quirks and human-like demeanor. Yes, occasionally, it made mistakes, but to me, I like having this goofball of a rat in my head. I guess the benefit of sharing its company far outweighs any efficiency gains that I could deem from replacing it with a machine. With regards to its inefficiency, I think delegating it with tasks that it was best at before the era of information overload  and modulating the pace of information flow could be one way forward. 

My optimism for this chunky rat is, however, shared by an ever increasing minority. Time will tell if, collectively, we completely forget about Remy's existence and then decades later, begin a philosophical quest to find `our Remy'. After all, how can you discover anything if you never forget?