What are you feeding your brain?

You may have heard that you’ll become like the five people you spend the most time with. And I certainly think that has a big influence on your worldview and approach of life.

But what you let into your brain is equally important in my opinion. I’m very mindful about what I consume and allow in. Being thoughtful about your media consumption can reduce stress, as I described in this article.

In addition to a bad news diet, you might want to consider being deliberate about whether or not you let AI slop into your sphere.

Hollow vs heart

I asked Claude (which is AI, to be clear) for the definition of AI slop: AI slop is content generated by AI that’s technically functional but hollow — it meets the surface requirements of the format without bringing anything genuinely useful, original, or human to it.

This article from friend Dan Christ talks about why we should care whether something was made with AI. Dan says “I consume content more mindfully now than ever before.” And I’m with him on that.

“Because the real danger is too many of us will not take the time to realize we have a choice between easy, simple, AI generated stuff and content which a human poured part of themselves into.” — Dan Christ

Which landed extra hard after I wrote what felt like a vulnerable post last week—sharing my ‘poem’.

I share Dan’s fear that most people probably won’t care whether something was produced by AI.

And that worries me. A lot. Social media already has people hooked to their devices and feeding their dopamine—making it addictive. With more content flooding the internet it will be harder to distinguish between what’s real and what’s fake.

Art matters

You may argue that for some things that won’t matter. But when I see a picture like this I want to know whether it’s real.

It is by the way. I know the photographer Manon Paardekooper and her work truly is art. She photographs flowers from her own garden and the result is beautiful and personal.

Where AI, on the other hand, looks and sounds polished but it lacks heart. It’s fake.

Over time everything will sound the same, no matter how much you instruct your AI to ‘write like you’. I can still tell who uses AI to write their comments and posts. AI might get better at hiding its tells over time—but should we want that?

Being more you

I prefer to hear what you think. What you went through.

As I said before: Who you truly are is what the world needs most.

That’s your biggest contribution to mankind. I don’t want you to hide that behind fears or ideas that were instilled by society. And I certainly don’t want you to mask it by letting AI do your writing or thinking for you.

I wrote about leaning into your zone of genius before. I think that’s not only how you’ll stay ahead of the bots but how you’ll maximize joy and fulfillment. How you’ll be able to allow yourself to be more you.

Intentionality will win

I think over the years what you decide to consume and feed your brain with will make a world of difference. In time this may create a great divide in how people develop their thinking, their viewpoints.

I fear we’ll end up with a group of original thinkers who are in control of their own thoughts and who will contribute to the betterment of this world.

And a much larger group of people who’ve become enslaved to the algorithms, driven by their next dopamine fix and spouting AI ‘wisdom’ as if it’s their own.

Perhaps that view is too dystopian—and it may not happen while we’re still alive—but I fear it might…

To prevent that, I think we need to be mindful about what we read and watch. I am definitely willing to pay premium for truly human content and points of view. I canceled my Netflix subscription almost two years ago and as a result I have much more time for conscious consumption of things that feed my brain and energy.

How about you? Are you being conscious about what you read, watch, discuss? I’m curious, so I’d love to hear it.

If you’d like support in fully coming home to yourself, returning to who you truly are so you can love your life again, then my program Come Home to Yourself is for you.

Doors are now open. Only six seats so you’ll get the support you need to make these changes.

You can read all about this program here. We start April 20th.

Cover image by Manon Paardekooper

Iris van Ooyen guides people home to themselves. As a life transformation mentor with 20+ years of experience, she offers hope with a compass—helping you find your way back to who you truly are when life’s demands have made you lose touch with yourself. She’s the author of Radiant: How to Have All the Energy You Need to Live a Life You Love. When you feel life should be more than this, contact Iris to come home to yourself—and love your life again. 

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