Picture it: While going about your day, you notice an acquaintance wearing the sweater you’ve been thinking about buying yourself, happen upon a review for the obscure silent film you watched last weekend or spot an ad for the moisturizer your colleague can’t stop raving about.

Offline, these moments might register as intriguing coincidences. But online, it’s par for the course: If you stumble down an unexpected digital pathway, it’s likely that Big Tech laid it out for you. Algorithms track our data to dish up endless content to our tastes, while social platforms ensure that swathes of us are served the same memes, ads and art-house screenshots—and they’re only getting more sophisticated.¹ 

In this context, the element of chance has been wildly diminished. “If you ask ab...