At 11:30 a.m., my stomach is loudly protesting my 16‑hour fast, while Instagram serves me a fourth ad for "fasting‑support" electrolyte powder that costs more per gram than cocaine. My phone wants me to track my ketone levels, my "fasting window," and my "metabolic age" on three different apps. Fasting is less about food than about refusing to let the attention economy feed you—literally and algorithmically.

The generation of cyber citizens (Millennials or Generation Z and following) have realized that...