Have you ever thought of yourself as insignificant as the sand in the desert, as the drop of water in the ocean? Or have you ever thought of yourself as the center of the community that you live in, or even at the center of the universe? These seemingly countering feelings are both what the variety of information on the internet and the Big-Data projection brings to us. So, who are we? What is our relationship with our surroundings? And how can we find, or maintain our true selves amid the deluge of information?

These are questions that remain to be answered. And is not possible to answer in such a short article.

When we mention the internet, the adjective that is used most frequently is "variety" or "diversity". Since the invention of the internet, human's ability to see more of the world has increased significantly. We no longer have to travel to another country to view the natural spectacles, and no longer need to wait for a week to know what happened on the other side of the world. All we need to do is just click on the picture or links, and everything that you want to know will be available. The great availability of information might make us think that we are different from others, and also insignificant in a way in front of so many people.

However, internet can also make us too self-centered, and homogenize ideas. As the algorithms of big data become more powerful, personal preferences, habits, and even values are being closely monitored by the Internet. To garner more attention, and to make people addicted to social media, thus gaining higher profits from it, operators select to only pose specific articles to each user that match their preferences. This is called customized content. Surely, a website that has personalized browsing may be attractive since it always suits your preferences, but is over- personalizing to the point of stifling diversity a good thing to us?

When technology can accurately determine each person's preferences, post more on the things we love, and shun the opposite ideas, we are like the flower in the greenhouse, enriched by the nutrients that do us goods, but blocked by any other threats and disasters. Our views are only limited to what we believe, but the opposite perspective is being silenced.

I came to realize how obvious this phenomenon is when my parents were looking at the same article about "the argument between a divorced celebrity" once. The article is the same, but when looked at the comment of the same article. I found out that the comments on my father's phone show more masculine signs — thinking that the husband is innocent. But when I view the comment on my mother's phone, people show more empathy with the female celebrity. The extent to which the internet is personalized has shocked me. The elephant in the room seems to be uncovered. WE LIVE IN OUR OWN WORLD, the world that we think our opinion is the only opinion, and we are the most significant, but never hears the opposing voice. Why didn't I realize it earlier? Because I'm also the one whose opinion is being protected and strengthened under the protection of customized content.

In John Stuart Mill’s speech, he advocates for the freedom of speech and allows different opinions to be listened to by every individual. We shouldn’t silence a single opinion, even if it is hold by only one person. The reason is that if one's opinion is stifled, and the stifled is correct, the people who believe the opposite will never know what the correct is. If one's opinion is silenced, and the silenced is incorrect, the correct people will never know how correct they are. In both ways, the presence of different opinions is a significant part of the world. And the lack of them, either correct or incorrect, might lead to wrongs.

Unfortunately, our personalized internet is currently doing this, making the voice that one agrees with tremendous, and drowning all the other different voices. One day, we will come to the realization that how limited we are, and how limited the world we see is, just like Janas finding out that there are color, music, and memories in the world.

When we are blocked from other's points of view, we live in the utopian castle that we've imagined, but where we are is a dystopian cage. And only by listening to different countering ideas, can we find our position —— our true self in between.