We become what we think about.

Earl Nightingale said it about personal development in the 1950s. But what happens when you scale it up? What a society pays attention to is what it becomes.

So what are we becoming?

It's easy to blame social media for our divisions—and it deserves plenty of blame. But the fire was lit decades earlier. In this post, I trace our current divide back to a single decision in 1987—one most people never connect to the world we're living in now.

When that decision was made, a responsibility that had belonged to a trusted few shifted onto each of us. It's a responsibility we are still struggling to come to terms with.

The good news? Our attention still belongs to us. But reclaiming requires effort.