Default settings

So I was reading an article on the rise of the voice assistants (Siri, Cortana, Ok Google and the like) and one point the article made was about how, to make interaction easier, these voice assistants use default sources of information to answer questions (e.g. Wikipedia for factual information, NPR for news, etc.) rather than giving you the choice like Google offers when you search for something, and how most users would not be changing these defaults. Ultimately this means that the makers of these voice assistants will decide to a large extent what sources are used for us to get our information.

This led my thoughts to meander into a totally different direction of how our much of our lives are run on default settings. Some of the default settings I can immediately think of:

• Feeling tired/sleepy? Drink coffee/Coke
• Want to buy a book? Amazon
• Want to Google(!) something? Google
• Want to pass time? Lie on the sofa and watch TV
• Taking a break at work? Facebook
• Snack time? Biscuits/Kurkure
• Want to believe you've arrived in life? Buy a car and house
• Want to compare your success against a friend? Compare networth
• Not getting what you want from someone? Throw a tantrum

Default settings are great. They significantly lowers bandwidth consumption, and are a very efficient way to do things. In fact, I think we would not be able to be functional in our lives if we did not have default settings for a large part of what we do.

However, you'll notice that there are 2 kinds of default setting there. The first is where we have researched our options and then decided that a particular one is the best for us - for example, I find Kindle books to be the best way for me to read and I buy clothes from only a few brands where I know I like the designs and they fit me well. I don't even look at other options in these cases, because efficiency!

The other kind of default setting is more troubling though. These are either conditioning provided to us by society or slowly creep up upon us to become the default setting almost unbeknownst to us (sometimes, with a generous helping hand from media and consumer companies). Most of the time we never even consider questioning these, and ironically, these are the ones that have a much more significant impact on our lives. How we live our lives, what we give importance to and how we take care of our health and well-being matters so much more than where we buy our books or clothes from. The good thing is, we can research our options in these cases too and if we want, change these defaults:

• Snack time? Fruit
• Want to pass time? Read a book/Learn a new skill
• Want to compare your success against a friend? Stop comparing and count your own blessings

Remember when you moved from using a Windows computer to a Mac (or are you still stuck in default Windows mode?) or from a Nokia to an Android/iPhone? While you were excited, the initial few days were frustrating as you tried to figure out how the damn thing works. All the settings were different. Ultimately, however, you got the hang of it and now don't even need to think about how a particular feature works - you just know. Changing these default settings will be the same. It will be exciting but scary and frustrating sometimes, but just like you invested in that new computer/phone, you're investing in yourself here, so go ahead and fight it out. Ultimately this will become the new default setting and you won't even have to think about it!