Why conspiracy theories spread: how machines form drugs habits

Virality is a staple of the online world, but is it correct?

#ship30for30 day 23 Image
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:

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Nick Dobos 🚢

Nick Dobos 🚢 Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @NickADobos

8 Nov
#Bitcoin & decentralization explained

A super simple guide in plain english 🧵

99% of people misunderstand this crucial concept. Even the biggest supporters. This can make crypto seem pointless!

But once you get it, huge parts of the story and hype will fall into place

🧵👇
I don’t blame anyone for not getting it

Jargon, buzzwords, and math 🤮EVERYWHERE. Ewww

Peer to peer
Decentralization
Distributed computing
Removing 3rd party intermediaries

Confused yet!?!?!?
I was too!
And I’ve been programming for more than 10 years!!

I work at one of the biggest tech companies in the world! My code runs on millions of phones!

If I was confused, good fucking luck explaining it to your grandparents at thanksgiving
Read 50 tweets
7 Nov
You are a cyborg: how technology shapes us

Cyborgs sound like something from a far future sci fi movie, but you are one.

#ship30for30 day 25 Image
Robot body parts, night vision eyes, batteries instead of blood. These are the images that come to mind.

But in fact we have been augmenting our bodies and minds for hundreds of years.
You are more than a body

How far away from your phone do you ever physically get?
Read 12 tweets
6 Nov
The biggest problem stopping programmers: Fear of the unknown

When I finished my programming degree, something weird happened

#ship30for30 day 24! Image
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.
Read 11 tweets
1 Nov
Part 2

This take by OP is so hilariously wrong

Yes musicians do capture value under this curve with a variety of monetization methods

Streaming revenue
Album sales
Concert tickets
Merchandise like shirts and posters
VIP events

NFTs let you do this with digital products
Selling digital collectibles, signed copies, and experiences are all new merch types!

Digital merch will let musicians extend much further into micropayments and capture and long tail and bottom of the curve

Also also capture huge payments from whales and super fans in the top!
This is a super obvious opportunity to capture missed revenue with the secondary ticket market

Often love shows get sold out instantly by scalpers who then resell them capturing the extra demand of the market

NFTs might be able to catch this
Read 25 tweets
1 Nov
Came across one heck of a crypto promoted tweet

A whole post by @liron dunking on crypto, web3 and @tferriss‘s new podcast with @cdixon and @naval

I enjoyed the podcast, and crypto does deserve scrutiny

But like most critics, OPs argument is full of holes 🕳
Since my last thread taking a look at crypto critics did so well, here is another!

I’m writing this for myself as a way to check my own thoughts and make sure I’m not getting swept up in the hype and the ponzi too!

Let’s see how well these arguments hold up!
Read 25 tweets
31 Oct
The MetaGame
How you are losing when playing
League of Legends, Dota2, the S&P 500 and Inflation

Life lessons learned from video games pt2!

No this isn’t about Zuckerberg
Thanks for ruining it @Meta
I’ve played countless hours of video games. I’m addicted.

Turns out, many of the same strategies for winning complex multiplayer games are really useful outside of games too
League of Legends and Dota2 are particularly great examples of a concept called the Metagame

If you aren’t familiar with these games, they are some of the most popular and competitive in the world

The 2019 LoL world championship had more views than the NFL’s 2019 Super Bowl
Read 24 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(