Brain Hacking

Summary

This video script explores the addictive nature of smartphones and social media, revealing how tech companies like Google use 'brain hacking' to keep users hooked. Former Google product manager Tristan Harris discusses the manipulative design of apps, such as Snapchat's 'streaks' feature, which can cause anxiety and constant checking. The script also delves into the psychological impact of technology, with experts like Ramsey Brown of Dopamine Labs explaining how apps are programmed to trigger dopamine release for engagement. The conversation raises concerns about the long-term effects on society, especially among teenagers, and the need for a change in the tech industry's business model to prioritize well-being over attention-grabbing tactics.

Takeaways

• 📱 Silicon Valley tech companies, including social media and app developers, are intentionally designing their products to be addictive, akin to 'brain hacking'.
• 🎰 The concept of 'slot machine' design is used, where users are rewarded unpredictably to create a habit-forming loop, similar to gambling.
• 👀 Tristan Harris, a former Google product manager, argues that these design techniques are engineered to hijack users' attention and manipulate their behavior.
• 📈 Snapchat's 'streaks' feature exemplifies how these tactics can create unnecessary stress and dependency among users, especially teenagers.
• 🧠 The tech industry's approach to engagement is rooted in neuroscience, leveraging the brain's dopamine system to create desire and pleasure through digital interactions.
• 💡 Companies like Dopamine Labs are explicitly programming apps to trigger neurological responses that keep users coming back for more.
• 📊 The constant need to check phones is driven by a mix of anxiety and the promise of reward, creating a cycle that's hard to break.
• 🔍 The race for user attention has led to a 'race to the bottom of the brainstem,' where companies compete to stimulate the most primitive human emotions for profit.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Parents may not fully understand the complex psychological manipulation their children are subjected to through social media and apps.
• 💼 The business model of tech companies is criticized for prioritizing engagement and attention over the well-being and best use of users' time.
• 🛑 There's a call for a change in the industry's approach, advocating for product designs that support users' well-being instead of exploiting their psychological vulnerabilities.

Q & A

What is the main concern raised by Tristan Harris about smartphone apps and social media?

Tristan Harris, a former Google product manager, expresses concern that smartphone apps and social media are engineered to be addictive, using techniques akin to 'brain hacking' to keep users constantly engaged and checking their devices.

How does the concept of 'brain hacking' relate to the design of tech products?

The term 'brain hacking' refers to the deliberate design of tech products to exploit psychological triggers, creating habits and dependencies by providing intermittent rewards, similar to how a slot machine operates.

What is the 'streaks' feature in Snapchat, and why is it problematic according to the script?

Snapchat's 'streaks' feature tracks the number of consecutive days users exchange messages. It's problematic because it pressures users, especially teenagers, to maintain their streaks, leading to stress and even sharing of passwords to keep streaks alive.

What does Tristan Harris argue about the impact of technology on our daily lives?

Harris argues that the constant distractions from apps and emails are weakening our social relationships and impairing children's ability to focus, as a result of tech companies' design choices aimed at maximizing user engagement.

Why did Tristan Harris leave Google, and what was his role there?

Tristan Harris left Google because he felt overwhelmed by the constant digital distractions and was concerned about the impact on society. He was a product manager, and his departure was prompted by the lack of change after presenting his concerns internally.

What is the 'race to the bottom of the brainstem' mentioned in the script?

The 'race to the bottom of the brainstem' refers to tech companies' competition to engage users by triggering their most primitive emotions like fear, anxiety, and loneliness, in order to capture their attention and keep them using products.

How do tech companies benefit from keeping users engaged on their platforms?

Tech companies benefit from user engagement by collecting more data, which allows them to better target advertising. The longer users stay on platforms, the more advertisements they are exposed to, increasing the platforms' revenue from advertisers.

What is dopamine and how does it relate to the design of apps?

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain associated with pleasure and desire. App designers use knowledge of dopamine's role in the brain to create features that trigger dopamine release, making apps more engaging and addictive.

How does the script describe the role of cortisol in relation to smartphone use?

The script describes cortisol as a hormone that triggers anxiety when users do not check their phones frequently. Checking the phone relieves this anxiety, creating a cycle where users feel compelled to check their phones to reduce stress.

What is the significance of the 'gamification' technique mentioned in the script?

Gamification is the use of game design elements in non-game contexts to make them more engaging. The script discusses how this technique can be used both to create addictive behaviors and to encourage positive actions like exercising.

What was the outcome when Ramsey Brown tried to get his habit-breaking app 'Space' listed on the App Store?

Apple rejected Ramsey Brown's app 'Space' from the App Store because it was designed to encourage users to use their iPhones less, which Apple deemed unacceptable for distribution.

Outlines

00:00

📱 The Hook of Smartphone Addiction

This paragraph introduces the concept of smartphone addiction, highlighting how Silicon Valley designs apps and social media to keep users hooked. Tristan Harris, a former Google product manager, discusses how companies use techniques akin to 'brain hacking' to create habits and hijack users' mindsets. He likens checking a phone to playing a slot machine, where the variable rewards of likes, emojis, and messages create a compelling urge to check constantly. Harris argues that these features are not designed to help users but to hook them into using the product. The paragraph also touches on the psychological stress caused by features like Snapchat's 'streaks,' which can lead to anxiety and an unwillingness to disconnect.

05:01

🧠 Brain Hacking and the Science of Addiction

The second paragraph delves deeper into the neuroscience behind app design, with a focus on how programmers use knowledge of the brain to create persuasive technologies. Ramsey Brown, co-founder of Dopamine Labs, explains 'brain hacking' as the process of writing code that triggers neurological responses, particularly related to dopamine, which is linked to desire and pleasure. The narrative describes how companies like Instagram manipulate the timing of 'likes' to create a rush of reward, keeping users engaged. The paragraph also discusses the broader implications of this constant engagement, including the collection of user data for targeted advertising and the ethical concerns of using psychological tricks to keep users addicted to technology.

10:02

🔍 The Anxiety of Disconnection and the Impact of Technology

The final paragraph explores the psychological impact of technology on users, particularly the anxiety caused by the fear of missing out (FOMO). It discusses how the constant checking of phones is driven by an internal trigger that releases cortisol, a hormone associated with stress and the fight-or-flight response. The paragraph presents research findings that suggest our phones keep us in a state of perpetual anxiety, which is temporarily alleviated by checking them. The narrative also touches on the broader societal implications, including the effects on teenagers' brains and the ethical considerations of technology companies' pursuit of engagement over well-being. It concludes with a discussion on the potential for technology to be used both positively and negatively, and the challenges faced by developers trying to create apps that help break addictive behaviors.

Keywords

💡Addiction

Addiction, in the context of the video, refers to the compulsive use of smartphones and social media apps despite negative consequences. The video suggests that tech companies intentionally design their products to be addictive, using psychological tricks to keep users engaged. An example from the script is the discussion about how apps like Snapchat use features like 'streaks' to encourage constant use, which can lead to a form of addiction where users feel compelled to maintain their streaks.

💡Brain hacking

Brain hacking is a term used in the video to describe the practice of manipulating user behavior through the design of technology. It involves understanding how the brain responds to certain stimuli and then using that knowledge to create apps and social media features that are engaging and habit-forming. The script mentions that some programmers refer to this as 'brain hacking,' and it is a way to 'hijack people's mindset' by creating a habit, such as the unpredictable reward of receiving likes or messages on social media platforms.

💡Engagement

Engagement, in the tech industry, typically refers to the level of user interaction with a product or service. The video discusses how tech companies aim to increase 'engagement' by designing features that keep users coming back. For instance, the script talks about how the 'streaks' feature on Snapchat creates a sense of obligation in users to maintain their messaging streaks, thereby increasing their engagement with the app.

💡Dopamine

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with the brain's reward system. In the video, it is mentioned in relation to how certain app designs trigger dopamine release, creating a sense of pleasure and desire in users. The script references Ramsey Brown's company, Dopamine Labs, which writes code for apps that provoke a neurological response, aiming to make users feel 'a little extra awesome' to encourage them to return to the app.

💡Streaks

Streaks, as mentioned in the video, is a feature invented by Snapchat that shows the number of consecutive days users have exchanged messages. This feature is highlighted as a method to increase user engagement by creating a sense of commitment and fear of loss, which can lead to addiction-like behavior. The script gives an example of teenagers giving out their passwords to maintain their streaks while on vacation.

💡Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley is referenced in the video as the hub of technology companies that are creating and promoting these addictive technologies. The script features a former Google product manager, Tristan Harris, who publicly acknowledges the industry's role in 'programming' phones and apps to keep users hooked. The term is used to symbolize the broader tech industry and its influence on consumer behavior.

💡Attention economy

The attention economy is a concept discussed in the video that refers to the competition for user engagement and time. Companies aim to capture and hold users' attention as a commodity. The script describes how tech companies are in a 'race to the bottom of the brainstem' to get users' attention at all costs, even if it means exploiting their most primitive emotions.

💡Cortisol

Cortisol is a hormone that the video associates with stress and anxiety. It is mentioned in the context of how frequently checking phones can lead to increased cortisol levels, creating a cycle of anxiety and relief that reinforces phone-checking behavior. The script describes an experiment where participants' anxiety levels spiked when they received text notifications, illustrating the physiological impact of constant connectivity.

💡Gamification

Gamification is the application of game-design elements and principles in non-game contexts. In the video, it is discussed as a technique used to make technology more engaging. Gabe Zickerman, mentioned in the script, is an expert in gamification who has worked on making online products more irresistible by incorporating fun and competition, which can be both beneficial and addictive.

💡Controlled experiments

Controlled experiments are scientific procedures conducted under controlled conditions to test a hypothesis. The video uses this term to describe how tech companies run constant, real-time experiments on users to tweak their online experiences. The script mentions how companies like Dopamine Labs use algorithms to predict and manipulate user behavior, treating users as 'guinea pigs' in a vast, ongoing experiment.

💡Moment of Zen

A 'Moment of Zen' is a brief period of calm and mindfulness. In the video, it is used to describe a feature in an app designed to break the habit of constant phone use. The script discusses an app that creates a 12-second delay before launching social media apps, aiming to provide users with a brief pause to reflect before engaging with potentially addictive content.

Highlights

Silicon Valley is engineering phone apps and social media to create addiction.

Tech insiders like Tristan Harris acknowledge the manipulation of user behavior.

Programmers use 'brain hacking' to form habits and hijack people's mindset.

Smartphone rewards like likes, emojis, and followers are designed to be appealing.

Snapchat's 'streaks' feature can cause stress and anxiety in teenagers.

Tech companies are programming people's thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Technology is not neutral; it's designed to keep users engaged for profit.

Tristan Harris, a former Google product manager, warns about the consequences of constant digital distractions.

Harris' presentation to Google argued that apps and emails weaken social relationships.

The race for attention is driving tech companies to exploit primitive emotions.

Parents may not understand the complexities of their kids' interactions with technology.

Text and Facebook's continuous scroll is designed to keep users searching longer.

The more screen time, the more data companies collect and ads users are exposed to.

Cortisol, a hormone related to anxiety, is triggered by the absence of phone notifications.

Technology use may be causing a continual state of anxiety, with phone checks as the only relief.

Gabe Zickerman discusses the double-edged sword of gamification in technology.

Ramsay Brown's Dopamine Labs creates apps that can both form and break habits.

Apple rejected an app that encouraged less iPhone usage from their App Store.

Transcripts

sixty minutes rewind have you ever

wondered if all those people you see

staring intently at their smartphones

nearly everywhere and at all times are

addicted to them according to a former

Google product manager you're about to

hear from Silicon Valley is engineering

your phone apps and social media to get

you hooked he's one of the few tech

insiders to publicly acknowledge that

the company is responsible for

programming your phones are working hard

to get you and your family to feel the

need to check in constantly some

programmers call it brain hacking and

the tech world would probably prefer you

didn't hear about it

but Tristan Harris openly questions the

long-term consequences of it all and we

think it's worth putting down your phone

to listen this thing is a slot machine

how's that a machine well every

time I check my phone I'm playing the

slot machine to see what did I get this

is one way to hijack people's mindset

create a habit to form a habit what you

do is you make it so when someone pulls

a lever sometimes they get a reward an

exciting reward and it turns out that

this design technique can be embedded

inside of all these products the rewards

Harris is talking about or a big part

what makes smart phones so appealing the

chance of getting likes on Facebook and

Instagram cute emojis and text messages

and new followers on Twitter there's a

whole playbook of techniques that get

used to get you using for the product

for as long as possible yeah what are

what kind of techniques are used so

snapchats the most popular messaging

service for teenagers and they invented

this feature called streaks which shows

the number of days in a row that you've

sent a message back and forth with

someone so now you can say well what's

the big deal here

well the problem is that kids feel like

well now I don't want to lose my streak

but it turns out that kids actually when

they go on vacation are so stressed

about their streak that they actually

give their password to like five other

kids to keep their streaks going on

their behalf and so you could ask when

these features are being designed are

they designed to most help people

of their life or their being designed

because they're best at hooking people

into using the product is is Silicon

Valley programming apps are they

programming people inadvertently whether

they want to or not they're shaping the

thoughts and feelings and actions of

people they are programming people they

oh there's always this narrative that

technology's neutral it's up to us to

choose how we use it this is just not

true technology's not neutral it's not

neutral they want you to use it in

particular ways and for long periods of

time because that's how they make their

money it's rare for a tech insider to be

so blunt Tristen Harris believes someone

needs to be a few years ago he was

living the Silicon Valley dream he

dropped out of a master's program at

Stanford University to start a software

company four years later Google bought

him out and hired him as a product

manager

it was while working there he started to

feel overwhelmed honestly I was just

bombarded in email and calendar

invitations and just the overload of

what it's like to work place like Google

I was asking when is all of this adding

up to like an actual benefit to my life

and I ended up making this presentation

it was kind of a manifesto and it

basically said you know look never

before in history have a handful of

people at a handful of technology

companies shaped how a billion people

think and feel every day with the

choices they make about these screens

his 144 page presentation argued that

the constant distractions of apps and

emails are weakening our relationships

to each other and destroying our kids

ability to focus it was widely read

inside Google and caught the eye of one

of the founders Larry Page but Harris

told us it didn't lead to any changes

and after three years he quit and it's

not because anyone is evil or has bad

intentions it's because the game is

getting attention at all costs and the

problem is it becomes this race to the

bottom of the brainstem where if I go

lower on the brainstem to get you you

know using my product I win but it

doesn't end up in the world we want to

live in we don't end up feeling good

about how

using all this you call this a race at

the bottom of the brainstem it's a race

to the most primitive emotions we have

fear anxiety loneliness all these things

absolutely and that that's again because

in the race for attention

I have to do whatever works it

absolutely wants one thing which is your

attention now he travels the country

trying to convince programmers and

anyone else who listen that the business

model of tech companies needs to change

he wants products designed to make the

best use of our time not just grab our

attention do you think parents

understand the complexities of what

their kids are dealing with when they're

dealing with their their phone dealing

with apps and social media no and I

think this is really important because

there's a narrative that oh I guess

they're just doing this like we used to

gossip on the phone but what this misses

is that your telephone in the 1970s

didn't have a thousand engineers on the

other side of the telephone who are

redesigning it to work with other

telephones and then updating the way

your telephone worked every day to be

more and more persuasive that was not

true in the 1970s

how many Silicon Valley insiders are

there speaking out like you are not that

many we reached out to the biggest tech

firms but none would speak on the record

and some didn't even return our phone

call most tech companies say their

priority is improving user experience

something they call engagement but they

remain secretive about what they do to

keep people glued to their screens so we

went to Venice California where the body

builders on the beach are being muscled

out by small companies that specialize

in what Ramsey Brown calls brain hacking

a computer programmer he now understands

how the brain works knows how to write

code that will get the brain to do

certain things

Ramsey Brown studied neuroscience before

co-founding dopamine labs a startup

crammed into a garage the company is

named after the dopamine molecule in our

brains that aids in the creation of

desire and pleasure Brown and his

colleagues write computer code for apps

used by fitness companies and financial

firms the programs are designed to

provoke a neurological response

you're trying to figure out how to get

people coming back when should I make

you feel a little extra awesome to get

you to come back into the app logger the

computer code he creates finds the best

moments to give you one of those rewards

which have no actual value but Brown

says trigger your brain to make you want

more for example on Instagram he told us

sometimes those likes come in a sudden

rush there's holding some of them back

for you to let you know later in a big

burst like hey here's the 30 likes we

didn't mention from a little while ago

so though all of a sudden you get a big

burst of Lights

yeah but why that moment there's some

algorithm somewhere that predicted hey

for this user right now who's

experimental subjects 7 9 B 3 and

experiment 231 we think we see an

improvement in his behavior if you give

it to him this bit in this burst instead

of that first when Brown says

experiments he's talking generally about

the millions of computer calculations

being used every moment by his company

and others to constantly tweak your

online experience and make you come back

for more you're a part of a controlled

set of experiments that are happening in

real time across you and millions of

other people

we're guinea pigs you're Kenny thinks

you were guinea pigs in the Box pushing

the button and sometimes getting likes

and they're doing this to keep you in

there the longer we look at our screams

the more data companies collect about us

and the more ads we see ad spending on

social media has doubled in just two

years - more than 30 1 billion dollars

you don't pay for Facebook advertisers

pay for Facebook you get to use it for

free because your eyeballs are what's

being sold there so that's a way to look

at that you're not the customer for face

you're not the customer you don't send a

check to Facebook but coca-cola does

brown says there's a reason text and

Facebook use it continue with scroll

because it's a proven way to keep you

searching longer you spend half your

time I face with the scoring to find one

good piece worth looking at it's

happening because they're engineered to

become addictive you're almost saying

like there's an addiction code yeah that

is the case the since we've figured out

to some extent how these pieces of the

brain that handle addiction are working

people have figured out how to juice

them further and how to bake that

information into apps dinner-table could

be a technology free zone while brown is

tapping into the power of dopamine

psychologist Larry Rowe

and his team at California State

University Dominguez Hills are

researching the effect technology has on

our anxiety levels looking at the impact

of Technology through the brain Rosen

told us when you put your phone down

your brain signals your adrenal gland to

produce a burst of a hormone called

cortisol which has an evolutionary

purpose cortisol triggers a

fight-or-flight response to danger

how does cortisol relate to a mobile

device a phone what we find is the

typical person checks their phone every

15 minutes or less and half of the time

they check their phone there's no alert

no notification it's coming from inside

their head telling them gee I haven't

checked in Facebook in a while I haven't

checked on this Twitter feed for a while

I wonder if somebody commented on my

Instagram post that then generates

cortisol and it starts to make you

anxious and eventually your goal is to

get rid of that anxiety so you check in

so the same hormone that made primitive

man anxious and hyper aware of his

surroundings to keep him from being

eaten by lions

is today compelling Rozen students and

all of us to continually peek at our

phones to relieve our anxiety when you

put the phone down you don't shut off

your brain you just put the phone down

can I be honest with you right now I

haven't paid attention what you're

saying because I just realized my phone

is right down by my right foot and I

haven't checked it in like 10 minutes

and it makes you anxious I'm a little

anxious yes we found out just how

anxious in this experiment conducted by

Rosen's research colleague Nancy Cheever

so the first thing I'm gonna do is apply

these electrodes to your fingers well I

watched a video a computer tracked my

new changes in my heart rate and

perspiration what I didn't know was that

Cheever was sending text messages to my

phone which was just out of reach every

time a text notification went off the

blue line spiked indicating anxiety

caused in part by the release of

cortisol oh that one is yeah that's a

huge spike right here and if you can

imagine what that's doing to your body

every time you get a text message you

you probably can't even feel it right

because it's it's such a it's a small

amount of arousal that's fascinating

their research suggests our phones are

keeping us

in a continual state of anxiety in which

the only antidote is the phone is it

known what the impact of all this

technology use is absolutely not

it's too soon this we're all part of

this big experiment what is this doing

to a young man for a teenager well

there's some projects going on where

they're they're actually scanning

teenagers brains over a 20-year period

I'm looking to see what kind of changes

they're finding the story will continue

after this

here's the reality corporations and

creators of content have since the

beginning of time wanted to make their

content as engaging as possible

Gabe zickerman has worked with dozens of

companies including Apple and CBS to

make their online products more

irresistible he's best known in Silicon

Valley for his expertise and something

called gamification using techniques

from video games to insert fun and

competition into almost everything on

your smartphone so one of the

interesting things about gamification

and other engaging technologies is at

the same time as we can argue that the

neuroscience is being used to create

dependent behavior those same techniques

are being used to get people to workout

you know using their Fitbit so all of

these technologies all the techniques

for engagement can be used for good or

can be used for bad Zukerman is now

working on software called onward

designed to break users bad habits it'll

track a person's activity and can

recommend they do something else when

they're spending too much time online

I think creators have to be liberated to

make their content as good as possible

this idea that the idea that a tech

company is not going to try to make

their product as persuasive as engaging

as possible you're just saying that's

that's not going to happen

asking tech companies asking content

creators to be less good at what they do

feels like a ridiculous ask it feels

impossible and also it's very anti

capitalistic this isn't the system that

we live in Ramsay Brown and his garage

start up dopamine labs made a habit

breaking app as well it's called space

and it creates a 12 second delay what

Browne calls a moment of Zen before any

social media app launches in January he

tried to convince Apple to sell it in

their App Store and they rejected it

from the App Store because they told us

any app that would encourage people to

use other apps or their iPhone less was

unacceptable for distribution in the App

Store they actually said that to you

they said that to us they did not want

us to give out this thing that was going

to make people less stuck on their

phones

you