An idea, a post, a song, or any type of online content catches on, then with a little help from the algorithm it goes viral.
But what is being caught here? A spark of creative genius, insight and truth?
There might be a better analogy for this behavior: recreational drugs and addiction.
Ideas that spread exploit brains
Viruses are parasites, they commandeer our mind.
We battle against sickness and disease. Yet it finds a way to overpower us. Our immune system was too weak to fight back. Viruses harm us unwillingly.
Drugs, on the other hand, are a party.
We invite them right in, gates wide open. Eager to let them exploit our neurobiology. We enjoy our demise into oblivion, and we seek it again and again.
Conspiracy theories are drugs not viruses.
Engaging content is not hijacking us
We choose to feel this way.
The topics that resonate the most with the public aren’t the smartest, or truest. They are the ones that make us feel good.
Politicians use this to great effect. They consistently raise hot button issues that can never be debated or fixed.
The goal isn’t to persuade, but to stimulate, depress, kill pain, or create hallucinations.
The glitches of human minds tune artificial minds
These same neurological exploits are copied by technology.
Googling medical symptoms doesn’t give you accurate results. It just tells you what disease has the best SEO.
Like online recipes that go through 20 pages of life story before the ingredient list, the content has checked the right boxes in the algorithm.
The same way taking drugs hacks your brain to create uniquely pleasurable experiences.
But algorithms are trained to maximize human engagement and behavior, so they end up with the same neuroses.
Once the AI becomes addicted, they peer pressure us back to the party.
Can you resist the temptation?
Did this thread hit those same neuro exploits?
Was it a stimulant?
A depressor?
A pain killer?
A hallucination?
Need another hit?
Check out my other 🚢30 writing challenge essays here:
A surprising amount of my fellow students couldn’t code.
I would say even the vast majority of those who graduated, couldn’t code. At all.
Many of my friends told me themselves, even after 4 years of learning, they didn’t know how.
They knew it, but they didn’t.
They were smart people who spent a ton of time and effort learning. They knew the terms, the syntax. They knew the theory, they could pass the tests. They could solve the math puzzles and the leetcode problems. They could write some code.