Social Algorithms Are Today’s “Lady Folly”

In Proverbs, the opposite of wisdom is often personified in a character known as “the forbidden woman” or “lady folly.” A woman of “smooth words” (Prov. 2:16–17) whose lips “drip honey” (Prov. 5:3), she is “loud,” “seductive,” and “sits at the door of her house,” “calling to those who pass by” (Prov. 9:13–15). Throughout Proverbs, lady folly is contrasted with lady wisdom, and readers are warned that listening to lady folly leads to destruction while listening to lady wisdom leads to life.

A. W. Tozer describes lady folly as “moral folly personified” who “works by the power of suggestion.” In today’s world, we see “lady folly” at work through the “watch this next!” algorithms that lure us into constant distraction by putting “suggestions” into our minds.

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