What is the true intention of Tik Tok ?

9266xx   What is the true intention of Tik Tok  20200921

Its too early to say it is an intention or a side effect. 

The neglected yet underlining effect of Tik Tok is its ability to take away the choosing effort of viewers and replace it with a carefully calculated push. Viewers need not to choose, but to be pushed.  

First of all, it seemed to be only a so-called abstraction problem.  Habitual viewers will go down one level of thinking power. 

Humans have distinguished themselves from a lower level of thinking by abstract thinking. They can use a few strokes to write a word and use the word to represent things. A cat, a dog, or even a stone has a name, and the names were used as a thinking unit. Human can draw conclusions from chaotic events by abstraction.  Higher level people are supposed to have more abstraction abilities. 

Abstraction is not easy; it needs more effort in thinking. If you read the word "ice-cream" you will need to create an image by your own effort. It is not necessary the same for different people as the images might be different. It is the reason why videos are more welcome than books as videos are easier and need not much effort to exercise the brain. 

If a nation has more time in videos than books, you may consider it a threat to the progress of that nation. It is a worry for many that the abstraction ability will be weakened by too many videos. 

With a special design of algorithm calculating, Tik Tok knew your wish in advance. Just like a tired man going home, his wonderful maid had prepared everything for him. A sleeper, a glass of wine of his inner urge, and any thing happened in his mind though he had not ordered. He needn't to choose anything, things are so smooth and to his heart's desire. He loved the woman, because she had taken away his ability to think. She had been thinking for him in advance.  Later on, he made the lady his boss. 

It is the darker side of human nature. To escape from freedom, is the idea of a philosopher Erich Fromm. Videos are not that bad but to be lost at the comport for a whole generation is too frightening. 

The younger generation will lose two of their most valuable assets, one is the ability to think in a higher form of abstraction, two is to lose the power of choosing and be submerged in a comfortable and lazy atmosphere. 

It could be the worse of times in a situation like this. 

Yet the more sophisticate argue is whether it is intentional of the Tik Tok bosses or only an unexpected and not harmless side effect of the App itself.