There’s an ancient lesson carried on the wings of the wasp. All summer long, the adult wasp labours to feed its larvae — bringing back morsels of meat, tending tirelessly to its growth. In return, the larva excretes a sugary substance, sweet fuel that sustains the adult. A season-long exchange. A strange, ancient symbiosis. But then the cycle ends. The larva matures, breaks free, and flies away. And the adult wasp — who gave all its energy to feed what it believed would sustain it — is suddenly left with nothing. No sweetness. No return. Many starve before the winter comes. The New Symbiosis in the Age of the Algorithm We may believe ourselves far from such a fate, but in The Age of the Algorithm, we too are caught in a cycle of feeding something that does not feed us back. Social media feeds on our attention. It studies our every digital move — the click, the pause, the hungry linger. It adapts not to know us, but to keep us. In return, it feeds us a stream of content: hyper-personalised, eerily precise, tailored to our curiosities, fears, longings, and wounds. A perfect lure. A perfect loop. But unlike the wasp, this is not mutual care. This is extraction. Far more parasitic than symbiotic. Anticipation: The Hook of Endless Scrolling Our brains are wired for anticipation — What comes next? Whether joy or outrage, awe or envy, the algorithm delivers. Each swipe, a gamble. A hit. A hook. And within this feed, we meet a curated mirror of comparison that makes us feel less than: Bodies more beautiful Lives more successful Joy more effortless Brilliance more constant All targeted to our insecurities with laser precision. In a world already aching — with war, climate crisis, political unrest, and quiet personal grief — the feed becomes a storm. Anxiety from the outside in. Despair from the inside out. The Hollowing Like the wasp, we have spent years feeding something we believed would nourish us: connection, inspiration, belonging. Yet, the more we give — time, attention, emotion — the emptier we become. Because what we serve is not in service to us. The Antidote: Art as Return Perhaps the way through this Age of the Algorithm is not to consume more, but to create more. Creativity — in all its forms — is not a luxury. It is how we remember ourselves. It steadies the mind, softens the body, and brings the spirit back into the room. Creativity is not only healing… it may be the very key to our survival. Because when we create, we are no longer feeding the machine — we are feeding the soul. An invitation Before you scroll to the next thing or back to your task list, ask yourself: what could I make today? A scribble, a soup, a sentence, a melody. Something small, something true. No audience. No outcome. Just you, feeding your own sweetness back to yourself. And who knows how that sweetness might ripple out, quietly nourishing others too.