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Major Tech Companies Are "Brain Hacking" To Get You Addicted To Your Phone And It's Absolutely Terrifying

CBS - 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 are about to hear from, Silicon Valley is engineering your phone, apps and social media to get you hooked. He is one of the few tech insiders to publicly acknowledge that the companies 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 came out a few months ago and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. There isn’t even anything funny about it. It’s kind of terrifying. We all know that phones are addicting. I’m addicted to mine; I sleep next to it, I check it every 10 minutes, I get anxious when I don’t have it. I’ll even look at it knowing there’s nothing there. Why? We’ve been told it’s because we’re all narcissists which may be true. But apparently there’s much more to it. Tech companies are actively programming and developing ways to make our phones more addictive through a practice called “brain hacking.”

In short, brain hacking is the practice of using algorithms (the things from Good Will Hunting) to program your phones behavior based on your own behavior. In other words, the phone will actually learn in real time when’s the best time to “reward” you for checking it. What are rewards? It could be a little red notification on Facebook or a like off a re-tweet or  Instagram post. Ever wonder why you’ll refresh a tweet or post and have no likes, then do it again two seconds later and have twenty? That’s because the program is harboring likes to get you to refresh more frequently. The benefit for the company is monetary whereas the harm to the consumer is mental. It works exactly like a slot machine, every time you pull down the lever/refresh of the screen you’re hoping for some sort of reward. The more you pull down and don’t get that reward the more you want it. When you finally do get it your brain releases the serotonin that you’ve been craving the past five pulls. It gets more addicting with each swipe. It makes perfect sense. The more refreshes on a page, the more page views, the more page views, the more ad dollars.

Is it sinister? No- but it’s terrifying and it doesn’t negate the fact that these companies are inadvertently shaping an entire generations self-worth. The more likes you get the happier you are, no denying that. As adults we can recognize and understand (to an extent) what’s going on. For kids it’s much more dangerous. They talk at length about youth placing irrational amounts of value in online rewards; likes, snap streaks, notifications etc.

The craziest part is that we are patient zero. Never before has an entire generation walked around with wires coming out of their ears. What if they’re like cigarettes? And doctors in thirty years are laughing at how dumb we were for thinking they were harmless? “THERE WERE WIRES COMING OUT OF YOUR HEAD, IDIOT!” What about all the radiation floating around from cell phones? What about eye damage? What about carpal tunnel from typing all day? What about posture form being on the computer? What about mental health? Depression? Anxiety? Online induce FOMO for Christ sakes.

The point is, watch this show. It will definitely blow your mind and give you a little understanding as to why you’re check a blank phone screen for no reason. It’s crazy to think about how much power a select few companies and people have. Nate wrote a great blog about The Big Short the other day, this is the same kind of deal. A few really, really, really smart people playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers.

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Follow me on Twitter: @BarstoolPAT