You Are in a Matrix

7 min readNov 1, 2020

I wrote in a piece about addiction that addiction can be defined as a state of being where “one cannot follow the rules that one sets for themselves.” This definition, though, need not only apply to substances. This definition can extend to anything that alters the landscape of the brain.

Technology itself is fascinating and full of potential. We need not pretend that any progress is positive progress, though. Nick Bostrom, the progenitor of the Vulnerable World Hypothesis uses an analogy of picking balls out of an urn. Most of these balls are various shades of gray that can be placed back in their rightful place if not useful. However, we may eventually select a black ball that cannot be placed back in the urn. Perhaps social media in its current form is that black ball.

Just because social media may be that black ball, though, does not mean that we are hopeless in our behavioral responses to the phenomenon. In other words, just because Frankenstein exists does not mean we have to play with them. (That is unless, the playtime is compulsory and required by some governing Big Brother body, which is a possibility in and of itself, but we’re not there yet.)

I’d like to expand on my previous definition of addiction a bit:

One should start considering the possibility of an addiction when there is dissonance between the principal issues that one sees with the behavior and the time one commits to utilizing that criticized behavior.

We can best think of it as a utilitarian equation (also known as an equation utilizing pros and cons). Is the benefit really worth the cost? And what is the true cost of turning a blind eye? What’s at stake? In this piece, I will address the following list as the main factors at stake:

Mental health (specifically anxiety, depression, social comparison, and suicide).
The functionality of our control center.
Time (and its finite nature).
Implications for society at large.

(As a side note, I want to acknowledge a common sentiment that those who expose the ills of social media are somehow regressive, anti-technological Luddites. I have gone down that path, selling away my iPhone and angling for a world that no longer exists. But now, these days, I actually consider myself more technologically literate than average. I utilize software for video editing, audio synching, picture editing, financial banking, electronic document signing, and more. I just have said “no” to certain services.)

Implications for mental health (anxiety, depression, social comparison, suicide).

When the pursuit of meaning is neglected, and in its place, a never ending clamor for dopamine takes root, pathology will begin to develop and exponentially metastasize. Facebook and Instagram, for example, are built in a way to keep eyes on the screen so that attention can be sold to advertisers. It doesn’t matter what content is being consumed; it matters that one is engaged at all. I am concerned about a rise in anxiety and depression because there is a discrepancy between the brain telling you that you will be satiated and the actual satiation that is derived as a result of engagement in the media. There is no “end” in this game. The advertisers will never have had enough of your attention. When reading a book, when the book is done, the book is done. When reading Facebook articles, the job is never done for the engineers. In fact, they’d get 25 hours of your time if they could. The engineers are encouraged to steal your time utilizing intermittent reinforcement techniques. In other words, a “user” will never know if they are going to get a dopamine hit, or reward each time they pick up the phone (in this case, the phone can be thought of as the slot machine). They only know that there is a chance of the drug. And as long as there is a chance, they sure as hell will keep that slot machine at arms reach. Ultimately, there will be a cognitive realization that reality doesn’t reflect the promises given, but due to the inherent addiction, behavior will not follow cognition’s warnings.

Social comparison doesn’t need much elucidation here. Folks have access to the feeds of everyone else on the platforms. Our human brains weren’t evolved to handle that amount of social comparison. And our brains are not even close to catching up (the only way they will is if and when we achieve singularity, a merging of our brains and consciousness with AI).

I’m concerned about rise in suicide rates because these platforms sap time away from pursuing meaning. When a lack of meaning is comorbid with an increase in depression, isolation and anxiety, we are at risk of an increase in the sentiment of not seeing a reason to live. This should be of utmost concern.

2 . Time and its finite nature

While time itself is more abstract on a philosophical level than we perceive day to day (read The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli if interested), let’s consider time to be finite in respect to a 24-hour day.

Folks get more or less than this (more often less), but let’s assume an 8 hour sleep time. I am also going to assume an 8 hour work or school day (and we can even naively assume that these 8 hours are purely focused time without distractions). Let’s add in 2 hours or so for eating and another hour for washing up. This leaves us with 5 hours of “day left.” Let’s now add in 2 hours for Instagram, 1 hour for Facebook, and an hour for Tik Tok. I understand that these times will vary from person to person, but for many individuals, this is actually a hefty underestimate. We are now left with one hour of found time to browse and respond to email.

These last five hours that I denoted are crucial. It is representative of 21% or so of the finite portion of the pie. This is where we need to question: what is it that I hope to accomplish in that 21%? What is it in my life that I say I don’t have time for?

3. The functionality of our command center

I am currently reading Nicholas Carr’s “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains,” and he emphasizes that we often get lost in analyzing the content on social media rather than the technology that is housing said content. The content, he argues, is the distraction that the platforms are waving in front of our faces. Then, as we argue about the utility of said content, we are missing the greater picture: that this technology has been directly engineered to capitalize on the weaknesses of our human brain, and multiply them until the entire landscape itself has changed. Look, evolution will run its course no matter which noble individuals come along and try to preserve what used to be. But simultaneously, we don’t need to bow down and accept a new brain that feels atrophied. If your new control center leaves you feeling better and stronger, then so be it. If it leads you feeling weaker, less sharp, and more prone to ubiquitous discontent, then what the fuck are you doing by not doing something about that?

4. The implications for society at large

I am much more proficient in explicating the workings of the mind than I am at discussing implications for society at large. So I will utilize this section to share what I have seen anecdotally and have read about in my studies.

I see a fraying of the fabric of society at levels that are new to me (as have many folks who have lived more than double my life span). We now have concrete knowledge that information can be spread by nefarious players with the intent to influence changing of societies, outcomes of elections, and to incite general discord amongst a people. And this now can be done on an international level without even needing to cross a border with troops. Political polarization is off the charts, and that is because folks are all being fed different truths that are administered with the intent of capturing their attention for as long as possible. Remember, truth doesn’t sell ads. Attention does. For anyone concerned with the current political climate (and judging by the amount of posting on social media about politics, I know that many are concerned), this must be addressed. At their current form, will these platforms encourage or discourage a functioning democracy? And if you believe it’s the latter, can you justify remaining on, contributing as a producer and/or consumer of content without the progenitors of the platforms committing to making meaningful change?

In conclusion…

In The Matrix, a dystopian future is presented in which the characters are housed in a simulated reality. The protagonist, Neo has an option to take the red or blue pill (full scene here). The blue pill would allow for him to remain ignorant of the fact that he was being controlled by nefarious forces. The red pill would show him the truth and how deep that truth is embedded. Which pill do you wish to take? And if you have already taken the red pill, what are you waiting for?

List of Resources

Articles

The Battle to Reclaim Our Attention (a piece I wrote a few years back on experimenting with relationship to technology)

Books

The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing to Our Brains — Nicholas Carr

Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked — Adam Alter

Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy — Cathy O’Neil

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power — Shoshana Zuboff

How to Break Up with Your Phone: The 30-Day Plan to Take Back Your Life — Catherine Price

Who Owns the Future — Jaron Lanier

10 Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now — Jaron Lanier

Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe — Roger McNamee