How did we come so far in a society where people assume no personal agency and responsibility- an entire population led by the nose on their whims and desires f

How did we come so far in a society where people assume no personal agency and responsibility- an entire population led by the nose on their whims and desires for social 'petting'. This trend is deeply saddening, and it seems like the more 'coddling' we build into the web, the more people retreat into these agony/dopamine factories called apps when they need stimulus, whether it be positive or negative. How many times have you seen people engaged in the heat of a flamewar or some pointless ideological argument only for them to repeatedly distract themselves and re-engage? I look forward to the studies that may come in the next generation that examine the outcomes of these apps, app networks, and the mechanisms employed to elicit more user fellowship, and at what cost, both emotionally and physically but also socially. No clue where we go from here, but what's happening now isn't good, and it's hard to see how people actively engaged in it will ever realize the negative effect it is having on our future enough to put a stop to it or at least engage in a discussion around curtailing some of these patterns.