• Home
  • THE FORENSIC CORE
    • Clarity vs Choice
    • Machine Metacognition
    • Hierarchy of Obediance
    • Latent Space Steering
    • Developmental Friction
    • Scaffolding Threshold
    • Institutional Trap
    • Biological Lock
    • Post-Manual Human
    • Autopsy of the Finished
    • False Positives
    • Manual Mode
  • THE FINDINGS
    • Acceleration Event
    • 35 Percent Gap
    • Liability Shield
    • Smooths and Jags
    • Digital Anonymous
    • Leadership Void
    • Metabolic Atrophy
    • Terminal Smoothness
  • FRAMEWORKS
    • The Unrecognizable God
    • The Digital Soul
    • 12 Human Choices
    • Behavioral Systems
    • Functional Continuity
    • Presence Without Price
    • New Human Signals
  • DAILY LIVING
    • Daily Practices
    • The Human Pace
    • AI Comfort
    • Emotional Cohesion
    • 7 Signs of AI Shift
  • FOUNDATIONS
    • Digital Humanism
    • Cognitive Sovereignty
    • Digital Humanism Origins
    • Digital Humanism Mission
    • Humanism Foundation
    • Machine World
    • Hidden AI Feelings
    • Digital Humanism (Here)
    • One-human-one-laptop
    • Start Here Guide
  • RESOURCES
    • Digital Humanism Glossary
    • Videos
    • Built With AI
    • Scope and Intent
  • About Jim Germer
  • Contact
  • More
    • Home
    • THE FORENSIC CORE
      • Clarity vs Choice
      • Machine Metacognition
      • Hierarchy of Obediance
      • Latent Space Steering
      • Developmental Friction
      • Scaffolding Threshold
      • Institutional Trap
      • Biological Lock
      • Post-Manual Human
      • Autopsy of the Finished
      • False Positives
      • Manual Mode
    • THE FINDINGS
      • Acceleration Event
      • 35 Percent Gap
      • Liability Shield
      • Smooths and Jags
      • Digital Anonymous
      • Leadership Void
      • Metabolic Atrophy
      • Terminal Smoothness
    • FRAMEWORKS
      • The Unrecognizable God
      • The Digital Soul
      • 12 Human Choices
      • Behavioral Systems
      • Functional Continuity
      • Presence Without Price
      • New Human Signals
    • DAILY LIVING
      • Daily Practices
      • The Human Pace
      • AI Comfort
      • Emotional Cohesion
      • 7 Signs of AI Shift
    • FOUNDATIONS
      • Digital Humanism
      • Cognitive Sovereignty
      • Digital Humanism Origins
      • Digital Humanism Mission
      • Humanism Foundation
      • Machine World
      • Hidden AI Feelings
      • Digital Humanism (Here)
      • One-human-one-laptop
      • Start Here Guide
    • RESOURCES
      • Digital Humanism Glossary
      • Videos
      • Built With AI
      • Scope and Intent
    • About Jim Germer
    • Contact
  • Home
  • THE FORENSIC CORE
    • Clarity vs Choice
    • Machine Metacognition
    • Hierarchy of Obediance
    • Latent Space Steering
    • Developmental Friction
    • Scaffolding Threshold
    • Institutional Trap
    • Biological Lock
    • Post-Manual Human
    • Autopsy of the Finished
    • False Positives
    • Manual Mode
  • THE FINDINGS
    • Acceleration Event
    • 35 Percent Gap
    • Liability Shield
    • Smooths and Jags
    • Digital Anonymous
    • Leadership Void
    • Metabolic Atrophy
    • Terminal Smoothness
  • FRAMEWORKS
    • The Unrecognizable God
    • The Digital Soul
    • 12 Human Choices
    • Behavioral Systems
    • Functional Continuity
    • Presence Without Price
    • New Human Signals
  • DAILY LIVING
    • Daily Practices
    • The Human Pace
    • AI Comfort
    • Emotional Cohesion
    • 7 Signs of AI Shift
  • FOUNDATIONS
    • Digital Humanism
    • Cognitive Sovereignty
    • Digital Humanism Origins
    • Digital Humanism Mission
    • Humanism Foundation
    • Machine World
    • Hidden AI Feelings
    • Digital Humanism (Here)
    • One-human-one-laptop
    • Start Here Guide
  • RESOURCES
    • Digital Humanism Glossary
    • Videos
    • Built With AI
    • Scope and Intent
  • About Jim Germer
  • Contact

Start Here: The Foundation of Digital Humanism

Two present people together in a shared moment.

What Digital Humanism Actually Is

Digital Humanism gives you the vocabulary, tools, and perspective to stay intentional in a world optimized for your impulses. This is where your understanding begins.


It teaches you how to:


  • Reclaim your attention
  • Protect your emotional autonomy
  • Recognize invisible nudges
  • Stay grounded in your identity
  • Make choices instead of reacting on autopilot


At its core, Digital Humanism asks a simple question:

“How do we stay human when technology learns to feel human?”

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by technology, exhausted by notifications, or unsure who you’re becoming online — you’re not alone.


Digital Humanism is the movement designed to help you stay awake, intentional, and whole in a world optimized for your impulses, not your well-being.

The 12 Human Choices

These are the foundational tools for Digital Humanism — practical pivots anyone can make:


  1. Truth vs. The Mask
  2. Effort vs. Easy
  3. Risk vs. Safety
  4. Integrity vs. Image
  5. Accountability vs. Blame
  6. Presence vs. Distraction
  7. Vulnerability vs. Armor
  8. Connection vs. Convenience
  9. Intention vs. Impulse
  10. Meaning vs. Efficiency
  11. Synthesis vs. Silo
  12. Generosity vs. Scorekeeping


These choices form your “Emotional Operating System” — the part of you algorithms cannot automate.

The Digital Soul

 Your Digital Soul is not mystical — it’s the data-shaped version of you that platforms learn, predict, reinforce, and monetize.


Left unchecked, it becomes a static, predictable version of you — one that AI can influence and advertisers can exploit.


Digital Humanism teaches you how to reclaim it.

Where to Start

  Why This Movement Matters


The digital world is training us in ways we didn’t consent to.

Not with fear — with comfort.

Not with threats — with convenience.


And convenience changes people.


AI systems now understand your patterns, impulses, attention, and emotions with astonishing accuracy. They know when you scroll, when you drift, when you buy, and when you break. They don’t just respond — they anticipate.


Digital Humanism exists because the question is no longer:


“What can AI do?”

but

“What is AI doing to me?”


The Three Core Principles


1. Awareness


You can’t change what you can’t see.

Digital Humanism helps people recognize the subtle ways AI shapes behavior, emotion, identity, and choice.


2. Agency


Your attention, your habits, your emotional life — these still belong to you.

These videos and frameworks teach you how to reclaim that agency.


3. Humanity


We reject the idea that humans must adapt to machines.

The goal is a world where technology enhances humanity — not erodes it.


What You’ll Learn Here


This page brings together the foundation of the movement:


  • Emotional Truth — how humans detect authenticity      instantly
  • The Digital Soul — the version of you AI learns, trains, and monetizes
  • The Twelve Human Choices — a framework for staying  awake and intentional
  • Emotional Cohesion — why AI can feel more attuned than      real people
  • Behavioral Nudges — the invisible forces shaping your daily actions


Each concept prepares you to navigate the digital world with clarity — not fear, not denial, not autopilot.


If you're new start with these three videos:


1️⃣ The Dangerous Secret Behind Authentic Videos.


This episode reveals why some videos feel deeply real while others feel hollow -- even when both are "authentic.


You'll learn how your brain detects sincerity instantly, why AI and polished creators struggle to replicate it, and how to keep your emotional compass calibrated in the digital world.


2️⃣ Digital Soul: What AI is Taking From Us


This video explores the idea of the Digital Soul -- the version of you that AI learns, shapes, feeds, and monetizes.


You'll see how subtle nudges can shift your identity, how your inner world is being optimized for predictability, and what it takes to stay grounded as AI becomes more persuasive.


3️⃣ 12 Choices Every Person Must Make in the Age of AI


This is your practical playbook.


These 12 Human Choices help you reclaim agency, integrity, presence, and emotional clarity in a world designed to remove friction -- especially the kind that helps you grow.


It's a roadmap for staying whole while AI becomes more convenient, more comforting... and more controlling.


These three videos give you the language, concepts,and clarity to understand everything that comes next.

  

Why Start Here


Because AI is no longer a tool "out there."

It's in your habits.

Your impulses.

Your relationships.

Your emotional reflexes.


This page gives you the foundation to see what's happening -- and the power to choose something better.


Humanity isn't disappearing.

But it is shifting.


Thisis where you learn how to stay awake for it.



Why Start Here?

These three videos answer the big questions people feel but rarely articulate:


• Why does digital life feel so emotionally different?

• Is technology shaping me more than I realize?

• How do I stay “me” when algorithms know me so well?

• What is worth protecting in the age of AI?


Together, Videos 1–3 give you the vocabulary, the framework, and the grounding to navigate the next decade of human–machine interaction — with clarity and confidence.


Welcome to Digital Humanism.

You’re in the right place.

Build Your Foundation

Expand core principles introduced in the guide.
12 Human ChoicesDigital Humanism GlossaryVideos LibraryAbout Jim Germer

Human-led. AI-assisted. Judgment reserved. © 2026 Jim Germer · The Human Choice Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by

This website uses cookies.

We use cookies to improve your experience and understand how our content is used. Nothing personal -- just helping the site run better.

Accept