what i rain h acking ? tech in ider on wh ou hould care · it’ rare for a tech inider to e o...

4/9/2017 Pocket: What is "brain hacking"? Tech insiders on why you should care

https://getpocket.com/a/read/1692084613 1/12

April 9th, 2017

What i "rain hacking"? Tech inider on whou hould care

ilicon Valle i engineering our phone, app and ocial media to get ou hooked, a

a former Google product manager. Anderon Cooper report

The following cript i from “rain Hacking,” which aired on April 9, 2017. Anderon Cooper i

the correpondent. Gu Campanile, producer.

Have ou ever wondered if all thoe people ou ee taring intentl at their

martphone -- nearl everwhere, and at all time -- are addicted to them? According

to a former Google product manager ou are aout to hear from, ilicon Valle i

engineering our phone, app and ocial media to get ou hooked. He i one of the few

tech inider to pulicl acknowledge that the companie reponile for programming

our phone are working hard to get ou and our famil to feel the need to check in

contantl. ome programmer call it “rain hacking” and the tech world would

proal prefer ou didn’t hear aout it. ut Tritan Harri openl quetion the long-

term conequence of it all and we think it’ worth putting down our phone to liten.

Tritan Harri: Thi thing i a lot machine.

Anderon Cooper: How i that a lot machine?

multimedia.c.com

Tritan Harri, a former Google product managerPhoto : C New

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Tritan Harri: Well ever time I check m phone, I’m plaing the lot machine to ee,

“What did I get?” Thi i one wa to hijack people’ mind and create a hait, to form a

hait. What ou do i ou make it o when omeone pull a lever, ometime the get a

reward, an exciting reward. And it turn out that thi deign technique can e

emedded inide of all thee product.

The reward Harri i talking aout are a ig part of what make martphone o

appealing. The chance of getting like on Faceook and Intagram. Cute emoji in text

meage. And new follower on Twitter.

Tritan Harri: There’ a whole plaook of technique that get ued to get ou uing

the product for a long a poile.

Anderon Cooper: What kind of technique are ued?

“...ever time I check m phone, I’m plaing the lot machine to ee,‘What did I get?’ Thi i one wa to hijack people’ mind and create ahait, to form a hait.” Tritan Harri

Tritan Harri: Tritan Harri: o napchat’ the mot popular meaging ervice for

teenager. And the invented thi feature called “treak,” which how the numer of

da in a row that ou’ve ent a meage ack and forth with omeone. o now ou

could a, “Well, what’ the ig deal here?” Well, the prolem i that kid feel like,

“Well, now I don’t want to loe m treak.” ut it turn out that kid actuall when the

go on vacation are o treed aout their treak that the actuall give their paword

to, like, 됂ve other kid to keep their treak going on their ehalf. And o ou could ak

when thee feature are eing deigned, are the deigned to mot help people live

their life? Or are the eing deigned ecaue the’re et at hooking people into uing

the product?



Anderon Cooper: I ilicon Valle programming app or are the programming

people?

Tritan Harri: Inadvertentl, whether the want to or not, the are haping the

thought and feeling and action of people. The are programming people. There’

alwa thi narrative that technolog’ neutral. And it’ up to u to chooe how we ue

it. Thi i jut not true.

Anderon Cooper: Technolog’ not neutral?

Tritan Harri: It’ not neutral. The want ou to ue it in particular wa and for long

period of time. ecaue that’ how the make their mone.

It’ rare for a tech inider to e o lunt, ut Tritan Harri elieve omeone need to

e. A few ear ago he wa living the ilicon Valle dream. He dropped out of a

mater’ program at tanford Univerit to tart a oftware compan. Four ear later

Google ought him out and hired him a a product manager. It wa while working

there he tarted to feel overwhelmed.



Tritan Harri: Honetl, I wa jut omarded in email and calendar invitation and

jut the overload of what it’ like to work at a place like Google. And I wa aking,

“When i all of thi adding up to, like, an actual ene됂t to m life?” And I ended up

making thi preentation. It wa kind of a manifeto. And it aicall aid, ou know,

“Look, never efore in hitor have a handful of people at a handful of technolog

companie haped how a illion people think and feel ever da with the choice the

make aout thee creen.”

“Inadvertentl, whether the want to or not, the are haping thethought and feeling and action of people. The are programmingpeople.” Tritan Harri

Hi 144-page preentation argued that the contant ditraction of app and email are

“weakening our relationhip to each other,” and “detroing our kid ailit to focu.”

It wa widel read inide Google, and caught the ee of one of the founder Larr Page.

ut Harri told u it didn’t lead to an change and after three ear he quit.

Tritan Harri: And it’ not ecaue anone i evil or ha ad intention. It’ ecaue the

game i getting attention at all cot. And the prolem i it ecome thi race to the

ottom of the raintem, where if I go lower on the raintem to get ou, ou know,

uing m product, I win. ut it doen’t end up in the world we want to live in. We

don’t end up feeling good aout how we’re uing all thi tu墅�.

http://multimedia.cbs.com/videos/when-smartphones-become-a-teens-drug-of-choice



Pla Video

60 Minute Overtime

When martphone ecome a teen' drug of choice

Anderon Cooper peak with two teen in a treatment center in Maliu who realized:

It' their phone the're hooked on.

Anderon Cooper: You call thi a “race to the ottom of the rain tem.” It’ a race to

the mot primitive emotion we have? Fear, anxiet, loneline, all thee thing?

Tritan Harri: Aolutel. And that’ again ecaue in the race for attention I have to

do whatever work.

Tritan Harri: It aolutel want one thing, which i our attention.

Now he travel the countr tring to convince programmer and anone ele who will

liten that the uine model of tech companie need to change. He want product

deigned to make the et ue of our time not jut gra our attention.

Anderon Cooper: Do ou think parent undertand the complexitie of what their

kid are dealing with, when the’re dealing with their phone, dealing with app and

ocial media?

http://multimedia.cbs.com/videos/when-smartphones-become-a-teens-drug-of-choice



Tritan Harri: No. And I think thi i reall important. ecaue there’ a narrative that,

“Oh, I gue the’re jut doing thi like we ued to goip on the phone, ut what thi

mie i that our telephone in the 1970 didn’t have a thouand engineer on the

other ide of the telephone who were redeigning it to work with other telephone and

then updating the wa our telephone worked ever da to e more and more

peruaive. That wa not true in the 1970.

Anderon Cooper: How man ilicon Valle inider are there peaking out like ou

are?

Tritan Harri: Not that man.

We reached out to the igget tech 됂rm ut none would peak on the record and ome

didn’t even return our phone call. Mot tech companie a their priorit i improving

uer experience, omething the call “engagement.” ut the remain ecretive aout

what the do to keep people glued to their creen. o we went to Venice, California,

where the od uilder on the each are eing mucled out mall companie that

pecialize in what Rama rown call “rain hacking.”

Rama rown: A computer programmer who now undertand how the rain work

know how to write code that will get the rain to do certain thing.

Rama rown tudied neurocience efore co-founding Dopamine La, a tart-up

crammed into a garage. The compan i named after the dopamine molecule in our

rain that aid in the creation of deire and pleaure. rown and hi colleague write

computer code for app ued 됂tne companie and 됂nancial 됂rm. The program

are deigned to provoke a neurological repone.

Anderon Cooper peak with Rama rown, the cofounder of Dopamine LaPhoto : C New



“A computer programmer who now undertand how the rain workknow how to write code that will get the rain to do certain thing.”Rama rown

Anderon Cooper: You’re tring to 됂gure out how to get people coming ack to ue the

creen?

Rama rown: When hould I make ou feel a little extra aweome to get ou to come

ack into the app longer?

The computer code he create 됂nd the et moment to give ou one of thoe reward,

which have no actual value, ut rown a trigger our rain to make ou want more.

For example, on Intagram, he told u ometime thoe like come in a udden ruh.

Rama rown: The’re holding ome of them ack for ou to let ou know later in a

ig urt. Like, he, here’ the 30 like we didn’t mention from a little while ago. Wh

that moment--

Anderon Cooper: o all of a udden ou get a ig urt of like?

Rama rown: Yeah, ut wh that moment? There’ ome algorithm omewhere that

predicted, he, for thi uer right now who i experimental uject 793 in experiment

231, we think we can ee an improvement in hi ehavior if ou give it to him in thi

urt intead of that urt.

When rown a “experiment,” he’ talking generall aout the million of computer

calculation eing ued ever moment hi compan and other ue to contantl

tweak our online experience and make ou come ack for more.

Rama rownPhoto : C New



Rama rown: You’re part of a controlled et of experiment that are happening in

real time acro ou and million of other people.

Anderon Cooper: We’re guinea pig?

Rama rown: You’re guinea pig. You are guinea pig in the ox puhing the utton

and ometime getting the like. And the’re doing thi to keep ou in there.

The longer we look at our creen, the more data companie collect aout u, and the

more ad we ee. Ad pending on ocial media ha douled in jut two ear to more

than $31 illion.

Rama rown: You don’t pa for Faceook. Advertier pa for Faceook. You get to

ue it for free ecaue our eeall are what’ eing old there.

Anderon Cooper: That’ an intereting wa to look at it, that ou’re not the cutomer

for Faceook.

“You don’t pa for Faceook. Advertier pa for Faceook. You get toue it for free ecaue our eeall are what’ eing old there.”Rama rown

Rama rown: You’re not the cutomer. You don’t ign a check to Faceook. ut

Coca-Cola doe.

rown a there’ a reaon text and Faceook ue a continuou croll, ecaue it’ a

proven wa to keep ou earching longer.

Rama rown: You pend half our time on Faceook jut crolling to 됂nd one good

piece worth looking at. It’ happening ecaue the are engineered to ecome

addictive.

Anderon Cooper: You’re almot aing it like there’ an addiction code.

Rama rown: Yeah, that i the cae. That ince we’ve 됂gured out, to ome extent,

how thee piece of the rain that handle addiction are working, people have 됂gured

out how to juice them further and how to ake that information into app.

Larr Roen: Dinner tale could e a technolog-free zone.

While rown i tapping into the power of dopamine, pchologit Larr Roen and hi

team at California tate Univerit Dominguez Hill are reearching the e墅�ect

technolog ha on our anxiet level.



Larr Roen: We’re looking at the impact of technolog through the rain.

Roen told u when ou put our phone down – our rain ignal our adrenal gland

to produce a urt of a hormone called, cortiol, which ha an evolutionar purpoe.

Cortiol trigger a 됂ght-or-适ight repone to danger.

Anderon Cooper: How doe cortiol relate to a moile device, a phone?

Larr Roen: What we 됂nd i the tpical peron check their phone ever 15 minute

or le and half of the time the check their phone there i no alert, no noti됂cation. It’

coming from inide their head telling them, “Gee, I haven’t check in Faceook in a

while. I haven’t checked on thi Twitter feed for a while. I wonder if omeod

commented on m Intagram pot.” That then generate cortiol and it tart to make

ou anxiou. And eventuall our goal i to get rid of that anxiet o ou check in.

o the ame hormone that made primitive man anxiou and hperaware of hi

urrounding to keep him from eing eaten lion i toda compelling Roen’

tudent and all of u to continuall peek at our phone to relieve our anxiet.

Larr Roen: When ou put the phone down ou don’t hut o墅� our rain, ou jut

put the phone down.

Anderon Cooper: Can I e honet with ou right now? I haven’t paid attention to

what ou’re aing ecaue I jut realized m phone i right down m right foot and

I haven’t checked it in, like 10 minute.

Larr Roen: And it make ou anxiou.

Anderon Cooper: I’m a little anxiou.



Larr Roen: Ye.

We found out jut how anxiou in thi experiment conducted Roen’ reearch

colleague Nanc Cheever.

Nanc Cheever: o the 됂rt thing I’m going to do i appl thee electrode to our

됂nger.

While I watched a video, a computer tracked minute change in m heart rate and

perpiration. What I didn’t know wa that Cheever wa ending text meage to m

phone which wa jut out of reach. ver time m text noti됂cation went o墅�, the lue

line piked – indicating anxiet caued in part the releae of cortiol.

Nanc Cheever: Oh, that one i…that’ a huge pike right there. And if ou can imagine

what that’ doing to our od. ver time ou get a text meage ou proal can’t

even feel it right? ecaue it’ uch a um, it’ a mall amount of aroual.

Anderon Cooper: That’ facinating.

Their reearch ugget our phone are keeping u in a continual tate of anxiet in

which the onl antidote – i the phone.

Anderon Cooper: I it known what the impact of all thi technolog ue i?

Larr Roen: Aolutel not.

Anderon Cooper: It’ too oon.

A computer track minute change in Anderon Cooper’ heart rate and perpirationPhoto : C New



Larr Roen: We’re all part of thi ig experiment.

Anderon Cooper: What i thi doing to a oung mind or a teenager?

Larr Roen: Well there’ ome project going on where the’re actuall canning

teenager’ rain over a 20-ear period and looking to ee what kind of change the’re

됂nding.

Gae Zichermann: Here’ the realit. Corporation and creator of content have, ince

the eginning of time, wanted to make their content a engaging a poile.

Gae Zichermann ha worked with dozen of companie – including Apple and C –

to make their online product more irreitile. He’ et known in ilicon Valle for

hi expertie in omething called “gami됂cation,” uing technique from video game to

inert fun and competition into almot everthing on our martphone.

Gae Zichermann: o one of the intereting thing aout gami됂cation and other

engaging technologie, i at the ame time a we can argue that the neurocience i

eing ued to create dependent ehavior thoe ame technique are eing ued to get

people to work out, ou know, uing their Fitit. o all of thee technologie, all the

technique for engagement can e ued for good, or can e ued for ad.

“Aking technolog companie, aking content creator to e le goodat what the do feel like a ridiculou ak.” Gae Zichermann

Gae ZichermannPhoto : C New



Zichermann i now working on oftware called ‘Onward’ deigned to reak uer’ ad

hait. It will track a peron’ activit and can recommend the do omething ele

when the’re pending too much time online.

Gae Zichermann: I think creator have to e lierated to make their content a good

a poile.

Anderon Cooper: The idea that a tech compan i not going to tr to make their

product a peruaive, a engaging a poile, ou’re jut aing that’ not gonna

happen?

Gae Zichermann: Aking technolog companie, aking content creator to e le

good at what the do feel like a ridiculou ak. It feel impoile. And alo it’ ver

anti-capitalitic, thi in’t the tem that we live in.

Rama rown and hi garage tart-up Dopamine La made a hait-reaking app a

well. It’ called “pace” and it create a 12-econd dela -- what rown call a “moment

of Zen” efore an ocial media app launche. In Januar, he tried to convince Apple to

ell it in their App tore.

Rama rown: And the rejected it from the App tore ecaue the told u an app

that would encourage people to ue other app or their iPhone le wa unacceptale

for ditriution in the App tore.

Anderon Cooper: The actuall aid that to ou?

Rama rown: The aid that to u. The did not want u to give out thi thing that

wa gonna make people le tuck on their phone.

what i rain h acking ? tech in ider on wh ou hould care · it’ rare for a tech inider to e o...

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