Publisher's Synopsis
You didn't choose to read this book.
Not really.
A set of variables - your past purchases, search behavior, recommended reading lists, and maybe even the ambient tone of your day - pointed you here. And still, it felt like a decision. That feeling is what this chapter is about.
Because what we call "freedom" in the modern economy is often just the interface of compliance. The sense of choice in a system that has already decided what outcomes are acceptable - or profitable. In markets optimized by behavioral data, your preferences are not just recorded; they are shaped, nudged, pre-rendered.
Before we talk about markets, memory, and algorithms, we must begin with the most persistent illusion: that the options in front of you came from within you. That your choice is a signal, not a response.
In this chapter, we unpack the emotional architecture of autonomy - and how it was rebuilt to serve someone else.
