This works because it treats outrage as a designed interaction between human psychology and platform incentives rather than a personal failure of self-control. What spreads fastest is not what is true or important, but what reliably hijacks attention and action. Naming that shift makes it easier to step out of the loop without pretending we are immune to it.
Thanks for this article, super interesting to read! This strongly relates to the Bayesian brain theory in neuropsychology. I’ve recently spent some time putting my thoughts on paper about how the way our brains work may fuel culture wars - and how platforms and companies that benefit from outrage and clickbait are well aware of this and monetize it.
If you’re interested, I explored these ideas in more detail here:
This works because it treats outrage as a designed interaction between human psychology and platform incentives rather than a personal failure of self-control. What spreads fastest is not what is true or important, but what reliably hijacks attention and action. Naming that shift makes it easier to step out of the loop without pretending we are immune to it.
Thanks for this article, super interesting to read! This strongly relates to the Bayesian brain theory in neuropsychology. I’ve recently spent some time putting my thoughts on paper about how the way our brains work may fuel culture wars - and how platforms and companies that benefit from outrage and clickbait are well aware of this and monetize it.
If you’re interested, I explored these ideas in more detail here:
https://open.substack.com/pub/milesstones/p/allow-me-to-deconstruct-reality-the?r=5wn669&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay
Thanks Miles, I'll definitely take a look at your article, sounds fascinating.
Love this, what you’ve put is reflected in the reason I started my Substack. I got sick of people making money from fear and hate.
Good analysis and realistic view points
Thank you Priya.