What if you were told that your sense of self was being destroyed? That your true potential was not being fulfilled? What if you were told that such erosion goes back thousands of years to your primitive ancestors? As humans approach the era of artificial intelligence, we think that the worst is yet to come–but the worst is really taking place behind our very backs. Throughout the rapid evolution of cultures, groups, and societies, human nature has been slowly getting lost in the ebb and flow of socialization, allowing our most precious hopes and dreams to be neglected. No longer thinking for ourselves, but rather for the collective mind of society, whose dreams are we really spending our lives living out? In her 10,000-word essay, Social Erosion, Ava I. Penney explores the effects, consequences, and reasons for this phenomenon and how it remains one of the greatest threats to the individual identity.