17/12/2025
An excellent read, very worthwhile taking on board by all especially our younger members.
There is a quiet amusing irony of sharing an article warning us on the dangers of putting faith in and submitting our will to The Great Algorithm, when one has come across said article thanks to that very same thing.
Nevertheless, here's a few peneth of mine on topic to take on board or disregard as you see fit.
Fundamentally the various algorithms we are plagued by these days are forms of manipulation. That is not to say inherently bad, for there is very little in a social society that isn't. All forms of media are manipulation, teaching lessons the artists who create them want to be taught. Think on how very different rap music was in the 80s & early 90s to what it developed into, think on how you personally view the music in general of 'the next generation' younger than yourself, or that of the generations before.
Of films, books, political speakers, rights advocates.
Think on how your parents taught you, how your teachers did, what was their goal? To impart knowledge? A book could do that. No, it is a moulding, an attempt to make you into the kind of person they would like to see more of in the world.
All this and more is manipulation.
Freemasonry in of itself is a form of social manipulation, at its core, apart, beyond and above the egos of its members. And as we know when adhered to and taken to heart it is a manipulation towards goodness.
~ As a daily advancement in you Masonic knowledge I would charge you to read the alternate "Address to the Organist" in the Emulation workings.
And perhaps reflect upon how you yourself have found yourself having been manipulated in some way by a piece of media.
There is positive and negative in all our social interactions, compassion and malice, so to there is found to be giving and taking.
However, these do not run parallel but rather perpendicular.
There is compassionate giving, free from reward or praise, what we could call True charity.
But there is also malicious giving, where the act is undertaken for praise or for mercenary returns.
And try as we might to avoid the latter, I am sure we can all bring some to mind.
However, algorithms and AI in general tend to be free from malice or compassion (though if the dystopian lessons of sci-fi media are listened to one can appreciate that this may not remain so forever).
For now, AI algorithms sit midway, in the domain of indifference, yet still the vary along the axis of giving and taking.
Some are built to serve, others are built to sell.
Neither is good, neither is evil, both are just what they are.
The social media algorithms do not care about your happiness, nor do they wish for your misery.
Yet there are real dangers - consider the young Brother who's mental health is at breaking point, who is contemplating taking the final step after being heartbroken by the love of his life.
Suffering in silence, grasping at the joy in his past by scrolling through picture after picture of his onetime soul mate. The algorithm may read this and flood his feed with her stories, showing an edited version of her life and how happy she 'is' now they are apart.
This could be the push, unwanted, unwarranted, uncaring.
But the algorithm may not be coded to factor that in.
So just as the leopard im its nature ends the life of the gazelle, so too might the algorithm end the life of a Brother.
I have often tried to teach those under my care, or over whom I have more expertise to consider the AI's they use to be children. If you watch their actions, and guide them well, they'll become full of use and a benefit. But if you let them run rampant, and assume they will get it right from day one they will fall, and fall, and fall so well that you won't even notice the damage until it's too late.
Social media algorithms are just the same. They ask, "What do you like?"
How will you answer?
If nothing else is taken from this I hope this note is, the article concludes by noting
"In a world leaning toward algorithmic homogeneity, his duty is to preserve the right to difference, to silence, and to reflective choice."
Advising us on our dealings when online and with others, but be cautious to note the wording "his duty is to preserve the right..."
This is not synonymous with fight for, nor does it advocate demanding.
Preserving is ensuring that you, the only thing You truly control, embody it and allow it.
Hopefully this has given some food for thought at a time where for some the loneliness of isolation is felt most keenly, and unto whom our compassion and care should go out.
The Freemason as an Ethical Citizen in the Age of the Algorithm - In an age where algorithms predict and automate our lives, the Freemason is called to be an ethical digital citizen. This duty demands we resist the echo chambers of automated choice and defend freedom of thought. The goal is not to reject technology, but to become a guardian of inner liberty—a beacon of discernment—to question, reflect, and ultimately humanize it.
- An article published in the Oct 2025 Issue of The Square Magazine now available online https://thesquaremagazine.com/mag/article/2025q4the-freemason-as-an-ethical-citizen-in-the-age-of-the-algorithm
- An independent publication, The Square Magazine brings you in-depth and thought provoking articles of Masonic interest, presented in a contemporary way...
If you like it, please share with lodge members - they will thank you.…
