short-term, dopamine-driven, feedback loops...
are destroying how society works.
The short-term, dopamine-driven, feedback loops…
that we have created…
are destroying how society works.Chamath Palihapitiya, (1976 – ), Sri Lankan-born Canadian/American engineer, venture capitalist… [former VP of user growth @ Facebook]
…platforms [like Facebook] make their livings by harvesting and selling our attention…
by shoving unsolicited junk into our minds,
while we obediently scroll down and down and down.Chris Best, (1989 – ), Canadian engineer, entrepreneur…
[co-founder & ceo, Substack]
our attention, our brains, have been hacked
our attention, our brains, have been hacked…
our divisions have been analyzed & amplified…
we’ve been polarized… productized…
our engagement & our behavior have been gamified…
we’ve been fed, head first, into a machine…
that spits cash into the pockets of shareholders…
& brains into buckets of blue & red, partisan pulp.
The most important thing about a technology is how it changes people.
Jaron Lanier, (1960 – ), American artist, computer scientist, technologist…
digital heroin
FB, Twitter, IG, Snap, TikTok…
delivered instantly…
via hypodermic, smartphone drip…
drip…
drip…
drip…
our addiction…
is tearing our social fabric to shreds.
This is a global problem.
It is eroding the core foundations of how people behave by and between each other.Chamath Palihapitiya, (1976 – ), Sri Lankan-born Canadian/American engineer, venture capitalist… [former VP of user growth @ Facebook]
we’ve been zucked
by divisive, sinister algorithms…
optimized for engagement & extraction…designed & meticulously controlled…
by a spineless, sociopathic, silicite…an out-of-touch, power-hungry, billionaire…
willing to grow his book of faces, at all cost.
the cost is us.
A new vocabulary – “doom-scrolling!” “hate-reading!” – is now necessary to capture how dysfunctional online activity has become.
Chris Best, (1989 – ), Canadian engineer, entrepreneur…
[co-founder & ceo, Substack]
algorithmic dysfunction
the dysfunction is written on the faces of our young generation.
they’re distracted, anxious, stressed…
fragmented…
sleep deprived…
hypnotized…
they’ve been staring, for too long, into screens…
instead of faces.
There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?”
David Foster Wallace, (1962 – 2008), American writer…
it’s not just the young who are vulnerable
it’s all of us.
we’re all spending more time being nudged…
shaped, molded, persuaded, controlled…
by a network of unthinking, unfeeling, super-computing machines…
each programmed to amplify outrage & maximize profits.
Imagine walking into a control room with a bunch of people hunched over a desk with little dials, and that that control room will shape the thoughts and feelings of a billion people. This might sound like science fiction, but this actually exists right now, today.
Tristan Harris, (1984 – ), American technology ethicist…
[president & co-founder, Center for Humane Technology]
the mathematics of a calculated mindfuck
engagement/enragement-based algorithms…
plus advertising…
multiplied by greed…
divided by psychological vulnerability…
equals short-term, dopamine-driven, feedback loops…
that stimulate social validation…
& undermine our collective, mental health.
Social media is biased,
not to the Left or the Right,
but downward.Jaron Lanier, (1960 – ), American artist, computer scientist, technologist…
downward
to the amygdala,
the emotional center of the brain,
the seat of fear, arousal, anxiety…
sexual longing…
…tech’s race to the bottom of the brain stem to extract attention is an existential threat — using our attn to upgrade machines is “downgrading” humans. But once we gain awareness and SEE it, it doesn’t have to be — because we can CHOOSE to change it.
Tristan Harris, (1984 – ), American technology ethicist…
[president & co-founder, Center for Humane Technology]
breaking off the engagement
so how do we…
regain control of our minds…
heal from algorithmic fractures…
return to a more open, honest, civilized discourse…
To free yourself, to be more authentic, to be less addicted, to be less manipulated, to be less paranoid … for all these marvelous reasons, delete your [social media] accounts.
Jaron Lanier, (1960 – ), American artist, computer scientist, technologist…
ctrl-alt-del
let it go…
break away from the dopamine-driven, feedback loops…
where the product is a manipulated you…
packaged & sold to the highest bidder.
The ad-peddling model that dominates the internet and hijacks our minds…
is costing us too much by being “free”…Chris Best, (1989 – ), Canadian engineer, entrepreneur…
[co-founder & ceo, Substack]
the subscription model
free of algorithms…
free of advertising…
free of assholes…
to support the growth of open to change…1
give one, get one — give a gift subscription… get a subscription (free).
A vibe. Perfectly summarised.
Dopamine peaks hit back with alternating lows and cravings...so, if you are going to quit one source of dopamine up-regulation (e.g. social media), it may help to plan for another way to get that hit. Meditation, sex, creative engagement, and listening to music are alternatives. Also there is a an effect called "hormesis" where you up-regulate dopamine through modest distress (the body responds by up-regulation of dopamine and endorphins) such as cold showers and exercise.