My wife wanted me to eat healthier than I was accustomed to during my bachelor lifestyle.

Having a sharp eye for everything I do, she watched my eating habits and noticed I would eat around the thing I wanted the most. I remember explaining to her that I always liked to “save the best bite for last.”

From that point forward, whenever she made a meal, she would add extra portions of veggies and tone down the main attraction. I didn’t notice until nine months later when I felt a lot healthier.

I thought it was brilliant.

It’s also a lesson in the way we are being influenced today online. The staggering amount of analytics a company (social media, news sites, etc.) has on our habits makes us almost helpless to resist.

They know what you liked yesterday, how long you were willing to give it a chance and what people similar to you would want next.

Bit by bit (pardon the pun). we are slowly being made helpless to resist their influence. It’s so subtle, we can’t even fathom how brilliant it is.

In the analogy with the food, the companies are doing the reverse. They make us think we’re always taking the “best bite,” only there’s not even food on the plate anymore.

It’s something representing food, but it’s not keeping us healthy… or satisfying our hunger.