6min chapter

#387: Tristan Harris — Fighting Skynet and Firewalling Attention

The Tim Ferriss Show

notes

CHAPTER

Is There a Plausible Stop Gap?

i think the question is, how do we create systems that don't create the diabedes with technology and us? And by the way, it's totally possible. Even if one can't settle on a plausible alternative, there could be reasonable consensus on the undesirable side effects of the model. I suppose also, i mean, this is just me kind of talking out my ass for a second, but it's a elabra, bad habit i have.

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Transcript

Episode notes

"Big Brother isn't watching. He's singing and dancing. He's pulling rabbits out of a hat. Big Brother’s busy holding your attention every moment you're awake. He's making sure you're always distracted. He's making sure you're fully absorbed. He's making sure your imagination withers. Until it's as useful as your appendix." — Chuck Palahniuk

Tristan Harris (@tristanharris) was named by Rolling Stone as one of the "25 People Shaping the World." He was featured in Fortune's 2018 "40 under 40" list for his work on reforming technology, and the Atlantic has called him the "closest thing Silicon Valley has to a conscience."

Formerly Design Ethicist at Google, he is a world-renowned expert on how technology steers our decisions. Tristan has spent nearly his entire life studying subtle psychological forces, from early beginnings as a childhood magician, to working with the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab, and to his role as CEO of Apture, which was acquired by Google.

Tristan has briefed heads of state, technology company CEOs, and members of the US Congress about the attention economy, and he's been featured in media worldwide, including 60 Minutes, PBS News Hour, and many more. He is the co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, which can be found at Humanetech.com, and cohost (with Aza Raskin) of Your Undivided Attention podcast, which exposes the hidden designs that have the power to hijack our attention, manipulate our choices, and destabilize our real world communities.

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