“When recommendation algorithms are based only on data about what you and other platform users already like, then these algorithms are less capable of providing the kind of surprise that might not be immediately pleasurable, that Montesquieu described. The feed structure also discourages users from spending too much time with any one piece of content. If you find something boring, perhaps too subtle, you just keep scrolling, and there’s no time for a greater sense of admiration to develop—one is increasingly encouraged to lean into impatience and superficiality in all things.”