Exploiting evolutionary traps: Netflix’s new movie, The Social Dilemma
Posted: September 20, 2020 Filed under: behavior, computer, digital devices, emotions, Evolutionary perspective, surgery, Uncategorized | Tags: addiction, anxiety, depression, evolutionary trap, Facebook, Google, Instagram, social media, suicide 1 Comment
Apple founder Steve Jobs didn’t let his kids use the iPad, or really any product their dad invented, As Steve Jobs stated, “They haven’t used it,” “We limit how much technology our kids use at home.” (Bilton, 2014).
In 2007, Bill Gates, the former CEO of Microsoft, implemented a cap on screen time when his daughter started developing an unhealthy attachment to a video game. He also didn’t let his kids get cell phones until they turned 14 (Akhtar & Ward, 2020).
What is it that these two titans of the tech revolution and the many Silicon Valley insiders know and discuss in the Netflix docudrama, The Social Dilemma?
They recognized the harm that occurs when monetary incentives are the singular driver to optimize the hardware (the look and feel of the cellphone) and much more important the software algorithms to capture the attention of the user. It is interesting that there are only two industries that label their customers as users, illegal drugs and software (Kalsim 2020).
The longer a user is captured by the screen, the more the user responds to notifications, the more the user clicks to other sites, the more money the corporation earns from its advertisers. The algorithms continuously optimize what the user sees and hears so that they stay captured. Thus, the algorithms are designed to exploit the evolutionary response patterns that allowed us to survive and thrive. Evolutionary traps occur when adaptive behaviors that were once successful become maladaptive or even harmful. When this occurs, cues that were protective or beneficial can lead to reduced health and fitness (Peper, Harvey & Faass 2020).
Companies exploit evolutionary traps for the purpose of improving profits. This potentially constitutes a major health risk for humanity. As quoted from the The Social Dilemma, “Your attention is the product that is being sold to advertisers”
Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and others are designed to be highly addictive and incorporate some of the following evolutionary traps (Peper, Harvey & Faass, 2020):
- We are wired to see artificial images and to hear reproduced sounds as real. The brain does not discriminate between actual and visual-auditory images that are artificial, which explains one aspect of our attraction to our phones, to binge-watching, and to gaming.
- We are wired to react to any stimuli that suggests potential danger or the presence of game animals. Whether the stimuli is auditory, visual, tactile, or kinesthetic, it triggers excessive arousal. This makes us vulnerable to screen addiction, because our biology compels us to respond.
- We are wired to attend to social information about power within our group, a major factor in social media addiction.
If you concerned about false news, political polarization, radicalization, increased anxiety, depression, suicides and mental health in people, watch Netflix, The Social Dilemma and the powerful presentation by Sacha Baron Cohen’s superb presentation, Never is Now, the 2019 Anti-Defamation League Leadership Award.
What makes this film so powerful is that it is told by the same people who were the designers, developers, and programmers for the different social media companies.
From: https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224
For an outstanding critique of social media and the power of Facebook, Twitter, and Google, watch Sacha Baron Cohen’s superb presentation at the 2019 Anti-Defamation League Leadership Award.
References:
Bilton, N. (Sept 10, 2014). Steve Jobs was a low-tech parent. New York Times.
the peper perspective 