Human Pioneers
NEWS AGENCY

Pang Pei

(Member of the Central Cultural Committee of China Zhi Gong Party, General Manager of Zhongshi Xinying Internet TV Co., Ltd.)

In Homo Deus, Yuval Noah Harari predicts that when algorithms know us better than we know ourselves, humanity will split into a minority of "gods" and a majority of the "useless class." This prophecy is quietly unfolding as information cocoons accelerate—recommendation algorithms, under the guise of "precise feeding," trap individuals in cognitive echo chambers and tear society apart into incompatible parallel universes. More dangerously, dataism is rising as a new religion, declaring that all meaning resides in data streams and that free will is merely an illusion of biological algorithms.

We stand at the last crossroads in human history: to the left, submission to the altar of dataism, surrendering agency and waiting to be labeled "useless" by algorithms; to the right, actively breaking free, rebuilding cognitive communities, and establishing human irreplaceability through collective intelligence. This is not a fork in technological evolution but an ultimate choice concerning the survival of civilization.

Information Cocoon: The Incubator of the Useless Class

The "useless class" Harari warns of stems not from a lack of ability but from the inevitable outcome of cognitive narrowing. When algorithms continuously reinforce existing preferences, individual perspectives shrink to a single dimension, and critical thinking and cross-disciplinary creativity wither in the homogeneous soil of information. More fatally, dataism completes its circular argument here—individuals trapped in cocoons become increasingly predictable, making machines appear more "intelligent"; in turn, this machine "intelligence" proves the illusion of human free will. This self-fulfilling prophecy is creating a population that gives up on itself: they are neither needed to understand the whole nor possess the will or ability to do so.

Breaking the information cocoon begins with restructuring algorithmic logic. Traditional recommendation systems must shift to "context-aware diversion," actively pushing heterogeneous content when detecting user information narrowing. This is not just a technical improvement but an ethical turn—platforms must transform from "attention merchants" to "cognitive ecology engineers." As a subsidiary of Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio under China Media Group, Zhongshi Xinying Internet TV Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Zhongshi Xinying) exemplifies this breakthrough: its content layout deliberately breaks vertical algorithmic silos, "forcibly" cross-recommending hardcore technology, humanistic reflection, and livelihood documentaries. This seemingly "anti-efficient" approach essentially rebuilds "weak ties" in users' cognition, allowing different viewpoints to naturally collide in the information flow. When a viewer watches a documentary on rural revitalization, the algorithm no longer pushes similar topics but instead recommends long-form videos on quantum computing or climate change, gently broadening cognitive boundaries without notice.

Knowledge Sharing: The Antibody Against Dataism

The fundamental threat of dataism is that it reduces humans to nodes in data streams, where meaning exists only in information processing efficiency. But Homo Deus overlooks the most critical point: the uniquely human "web of meaning" is woven not through data calculation but through value choices in knowledge sharing. When individuals actively share, debate, and revise viewpoints, they are not just data producers but givers of meaning—this is the essence of being human.

The concept of the World Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WICO) offers a global-scale reference. Using blockchain technology to achieve "data usable but invisible," it transforms knowledge sharing from a "zero-sum game" into a "win-win ecosystem" while protecting sovereignty and privacy. Zhongshi Xinying's "Image Knowledge Base" construction follows a similar path: its platform not only aggregates content but also, through a tripartite dialogue mechanism of "creator-expert-audience," enables knowledge to generate cross-validation and critical reconstruction in flow. A short video on agricultural drone applications triggers technical experts' model interpretations, ethicists' inquiries, and frontline farmers' experiential supplements. This multi-layered knowledge sharing turns data from cold predictive material into a medium for generating public value. Dataism here encounters the paradox of its own logic—when humans actively share the highest quality data (i.e., knowledge refined through reflection and debate), algorithmic predictions strengthen rather than weaken human agency.

Human Community: Transcending Algorithmic Fate

Harari's pessimistic prophecy rests on technological determinism, but history repeatedly shows that collective human awakening can always carve a third path beyond technological logic. Zhongshi Xinying's practice reveals a key shift: from "algorithm feeding" to "co-creating issues." Its platform regularly launches the "Human Crossroads" series, inviting audiences to vote on in-depth reporting topics—from medical ethics of AI misdiagnosis to discrimination in algorithmic hiring. This mechanism transforms users from passive recipients into co-builders of meaning production, with every vote and discussion actively tearing off the "useless" label.

More profoundly, it provides a micro-sample for global intelligence co-governance. When knowledge sharing becomes platform culture and diversified supply is internalized into business models, Zhongshi Xinying is essentially rehearsing a popular education in media literacy. Through frequent exposure to heterogeneous information, audiences gradually learn to manage cognitive dissonance and cultivate an endogenous drive to actively seek diverse viewpoints. This individual "cocoon-breaking" coalesces into societal cognitive resilience—even if the external algorithmic environment continues to deteriorate, citizens with media literacy can autonomously weave "cognitive escape routes."

Conclusion: Between Gods and Mortals

Homo Deus ends with the birth of gods and the demise of mortals. But "divinity" should not be defined as superior data processing ability but as a clear awareness of algorithmic limitations and an eternal commitment to human complexity. Breaking information cocoons is not about returning to a pre-modern information scarcity but about rebuilding a web of meaning centered on human scale amid the data deluge.

Zhongshi Xinying's exploration shows that media platforms can become the "digital infrastructure" of this cognitive revolution—they need not wait for global governance mechanisms to be perfected or rely on tech giants' consciences. By embedding "diversity coefficients" in content production, algorithm design, and community governance, and infusing knowledge-sharing genes into every recommendation and interaction, it is proving that the choice at humanity's last crossroads has never been in the hands of deities but in the hearts of every individual who refuses to be defined and insists on sharing and thinking.

When the collision of different viewpoints becomes routine and knowledge sharing rises to a global culture, information cocoons will eventually become historical footnotes. Looking back, we will find that Harari's prophecy was only half right: some will indeed become "gods"—those who always maintain cognitive sovereignty and continuously evolve through collective intelligence. The rest are not the "useless class" but potential gods yet to awaken.