The Hidden Costs of Technology and Our Search for Selfhood with Vauhini Vara

The One You Feed

Eric Zimmer, The One You Feed

Education, Self-improvement, Religion & Spirituality, Health & Fitness, Buddhism, Mental Health

4.6 • 2.5K Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, Vauhini Vara discusses the hidden costs of technology and our search for selfhood. She explains how we live in a world where technology functions as both a lifeline and a trap—offering connection, convenience, and possibility while also shaping our choices, exploiting our attention, and redefining how we see ourselves. Together, Eric and Vauhini explore the tension of relying on tools we can’t seem to live without, the subtle ways algorithms alter our communication, and what it means to hold onto authentic selfhood in the digital age.

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Key Takeaways:

Exploration of the dual nature of technology as both beneficial and exploitative.
Discussion on the impact of major tech companies like Amazon, Google, and OpenAI on personal identity and society.
Examination of the ethical implications of consumer choices in a global capitalist system.
Reflection on how technology alters human communication and relationships.
Analysis of the concept of "algorithmic gaze" and its effects on self-perception and identity.
Personal narratives intertwining technology with experiences of grief and loss.
Consideration of AI's role in creative processes and its limitations compared to human expression.
Discussion on the commodification of identity in the age of social media and audience capture.
Insights into the ongoing negotiation between convenience and ethical considerations in technology use.
Emphasis on the importance of individual agency and conscious decision-making in navigating the digital age.

If you enjoyed this conversation with Vauhini Vara, check out these other episodes

Distracted or Empowered? Rethinking Our Relationship with Technology with Pete Etchells

Can Radical Hope Save Us from Despair in a Fractured World? with Jamie Wheal

Human Nature and Hope with Rutger Bregman

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Transcript

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0:00.0	When I communicate, and I think this is not just because I'm a writer, I think it's because
0:03.6	I'm a human being.
0:04.4	When I communicate, the gratification I get from that communication is from having made the effort
0:10.5	of communicating myself.
0:11.8	And it sort of does nothing for me if a machine does it for me.
0:17.0	I mean, it doesn't feel that different from like using a magic eight ball or something to produce words.
0:31.1	Welcome to the one you feed. Throughout time, great thinkers have recognized the importance of the
0:36.7	thoughts we have.
0:38.0	Quotes like, garbage in, garbage out, or you are what you think, ring true.
0:43.5	And yet, for many of us, our thoughts don't strengthen or empower us.
0:47.8	We tend toward negativity, self-pity, jealousy, or fear.
0:52.6	We see what we don't have instead of what we do. We think things that
0:56.3	hold us back and dampen our spirit. But it's not just about thinking. Our actions matter. It
1:02.5	takes conscious, consistent, and creative effort to make a life worth living. This podcast is about how
1:08.5	other people keep themselves moving in the right direction, how they feed their good wolf.
1:15.5	We live in a world where technology is both a lifeline and a trap. Take Amazon. I once swore them off after a broken blender and the most absurd customer service call imaginable. I made a big declaration.
1:29.2	That's it. No more Amazon. And my grand boycott lasted five days. And the worst part, I disliked
1:37.4	myself a little when I went back. Because it wasn't just the blender. This was already a company
1:42.5	that had killed my beloved bookstores, and now it
1:45.5	feels like they're coming for everything else. That's the trap. We keep returning to what we wish
1:51.2	we didn't need. Wahini Varro explores this exact tension in her book's searches, selfhood in the
1:58.2	digital age, showing how the very tools that connect us also exploit us.
	...

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