This post reflects on my findings today on the subject of humanity in the information age... Mostly written as notes to self for later reference.
Citation: Robinson, S., Marsden, G., Jones, M., & Safari Books Online (Firm). (2015;2014;). There's not an app for that: Mobile user experience design for life. Waltham, MA: Morgan Kaufmann.
Larry Rosen, a psychologist and California State University professor who studies how anxiety levels are affected by technology; and Gabe Zichermann, best known for a process of "gamification" that is inserted in most aspects of smartphones.
In a related 60 Minutes Overtime from April 9, 2017, Cooper explores "When smartphones become a teen's drug of choice" and how two teens who sought treatment when their phone use became problematic. Apparently, "Millennials Check Their Phones More Than 157 Times Per Day."
In an extensive interview with Sam Harris, Tristan Harris elaborates on his background (with childhood roots in magic that led him to his deep interest in human psychology) and the principles he is working to live and lead by.
At about 1:05:03 Sam reflects, "so we've spoken about what designers of the city should do..." (City referring to the systems that constitute the virtual spaces). He then asks Tristan something along these lines: What can users' do to marshall their attention when using this tools given the structures are not going to change overnight? Tristan essentially replied, "I think the biggest thing is to change culturally the perception that technology is neutral" (1:05:32). Paraphrasing his next comment, when we use these new technologies we need to recognize that there are 1000 engineers on the other side of the screen whose goal was to get me to spend more time on the screen, rather than to empower me to make the life choices of my time. Knowing that can empower users to spot some of the techniques (that are aimed at steering attention and essentially stealing time) and to become more aware in order to take back control. Tristan goes on to say, however, that this mode of operating with heightened vigilance is actually not optimal or pleasant; which is why we need a new conversation about persuasion (1:06:10 +/-). He brings up an analogy of waking up with donuts at your bedside and points to Roy Baumeister's research on willpower, self-control, and decision fatigue. The idea behind a Time Well Spent world is to have the goals of the persuader in alignment with the goals of the persuadee. Sam and Tristan go into a more detailed conversation about the utility of persuasion and how it is a neutral tool that can be used to various ends.
My commentary: Before learning about Tristan's work and his assertion that technology is not neutral, I had been suggesting the very opposite. And, in fact, the way Tristan is using various platforms proves that technologies (even with ulterior motives) can be used to various ends, good or bad. I have been of the mind that it is up to users what proliferates and what their experience is online. I can see the naivete of that now unless it is prefaced with an awareness of the tools are being rigged in a certain direction, and it is driven largely by profit. Which is fine when balanced with genuine care for humanity and individual's experience and value gained. "Keep the human in the loop" as Tristan said (1:09:45).
There are SO many fascinating points to this podcast.
"There's Not an App for That"
The book "There's Not an App for That" (Robinson et al., 2015) offers a conversational review of the state of technology today as it relates to humanity and delineates the problems and opportunities being presented. From my cursory look at the content, I decided to order the book. I followed a lead from the introduction to Bret Victor's brief rant, which took me down one of the many rabbit holes of the day. I did not spend too long with Bret's rant or website (www.worrydream.com) but long enough to see his genius and make a note of his impressive leadership in programming and innovation in design.Citation: Robinson, S., Marsden, G., Jones, M., & Safari Books Online (Firm). (2015;2014;). There's not an app for that: Mobile user experience design for life. Waltham, MA: Morgan Kaufmann.
"Brain Hacking"
A friend who I recently told about the themes of my current research sent me an email with this link (with the full transcript) of the most recent (June 11, 2017) CBS News release of 60 minutes called "Brain Hacking." In it, Anderson Cooper reports on interviews with key informants on the behind the scenes development of web apps and social media: Tristan Harris*, previously a Design Ethicist and Product Philosopher at Google; Ramsay Brown, co-founder of Dopamine Labs;Larry Rosen, a psychologist and California State University professor who studies how anxiety levels are affected by technology; and Gabe Zichermann, best known for a process of "gamification" that is inserted in most aspects of smartphones.
In a related 60 Minutes Overtime from April 9, 2017, Cooper explores "When smartphones become a teen's drug of choice" and how two teens who sought treatment when their phone use became problematic. Apparently, "Millennials Check Their Phones More Than 157 Times Per Day."
Is it "Time Well Spent" ?
Time Well Spent (www.timewellspent.io) is a nonprofit movement started by *Tristan Harris. The movement's purpose is to reclaim our minds from the race for attention. This short video on their homepage sums it up in less than 4 minutes and in poetic fashion (this video is part of a playlist with related content).In an extensive interview with Sam Harris, Tristan Harris elaborates on his background (with childhood roots in magic that led him to his deep interest in human psychology) and the principles he is working to live and lead by.
At about 1:05:03 Sam reflects, "so we've spoken about what designers of the city should do..." (City referring to the systems that constitute the virtual spaces). He then asks Tristan something along these lines: What can users' do to marshall their attention when using this tools given the structures are not going to change overnight? Tristan essentially replied, "I think the biggest thing is to change culturally the perception that technology is neutral" (1:05:32). Paraphrasing his next comment, when we use these new technologies we need to recognize that there are 1000 engineers on the other side of the screen whose goal was to get me to spend more time on the screen, rather than to empower me to make the life choices of my time. Knowing that can empower users to spot some of the techniques (that are aimed at steering attention and essentially stealing time) and to become more aware in order to take back control. Tristan goes on to say, however, that this mode of operating with heightened vigilance is actually not optimal or pleasant; which is why we need a new conversation about persuasion (1:06:10 +/-). He brings up an analogy of waking up with donuts at your bedside and points to Roy Baumeister's research on willpower, self-control, and decision fatigue. The idea behind a Time Well Spent world is to have the goals of the persuader in alignment with the goals of the persuadee. Sam and Tristan go into a more detailed conversation about the utility of persuasion and how it is a neutral tool that can be used to various ends.
My commentary: Before learning about Tristan's work and his assertion that technology is not neutral, I had been suggesting the very opposite. And, in fact, the way Tristan is using various platforms proves that technologies (even with ulterior motives) can be used to various ends, good or bad. I have been of the mind that it is up to users what proliferates and what their experience is online. I can see the naivete of that now unless it is prefaced with an awareness of the tools are being rigged in a certain direction, and it is driven largely by profit. Which is fine when balanced with genuine care for humanity and individual's experience and value gained. "Keep the human in the loop" as Tristan said (1:09:45).
There are SO many fascinating points to this podcast.
- The power of outrage, agitation to gain attention and hook people.. The rise of "fake news"
- Cult analogies that express how people can have mixed feelings about their experiences when they realize they've been manipulated even if it helped them in some way. How consumerism mediates values - how a sign of successful advertising is when viewers adopt the values of the business. Sam also said it seems to be a matter of transparency of intention, insofar as relationships matter. The difference between knowingly participating in something or not.
- Cambridge Analytica (listen here) and like providers' role in the 2016 election, cutting against the normative value of democracy...
- A whole new landscape of opportunities to improve on these new tools (e.g. this changed my mind button) and "public representation"
- What people say they want versus what they actually want, speaks to this next section.
ReplyDeletehttp://tucson.com/ap/commentary/esther-cepeda-the-real-costs-of-social-media/article_1c5df063-bceb-5b52-adc5-bf4a019beafe.html
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2013/05/cellphone-users-check-phones-150xday-and-other-internet-fun-facts/
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