Tristan Harris is a rising star not only in the tech world, but on the public speaking stage. He gives TED talks?and goes on TV. He also warns of what technology can lead to. Let’s look at the attention economy, technology, and Tristan Harris.
Harris explains the attention economy as a race to build attention. For example, the more attention you get, the better off you are. He says there are three major tech companies that build attention: Google, Facebook and Apple. In order to get Facebook likes, you need to get people’s attention. When things get shared the most, it is bound to get people’s attention. If you want You Tube subscribers, then you need to get people’s attention.
Harris talks about the 2016 election, and how Trump used the attention economy to win. Look at how some of his shocking tweets got attention. But he’s not the only one. There are celebrities like Amber Rose. Amber Rose doesn’t sing, act, rap, dance, tell jokes, write books, run for office, teach, or anything like this. In fact, she got famous by getting people’s attention, and uses technology to do so. She does this by saying shocking things, wearing shocking clothes, and dating other celebs. I’m not necessarily picking on Rose. Over the years, how many celebrities made themselves famous by using the attention economy, and used technology to do it?
But Tristan Harris offers solutions. One is to recognize this problem and take responsibility. You see fake news. Then it’s your responsibility to avoid it, and tell others this is fake news. I find myself doing that with celebrity death hoaxes. Yesterday, I found myself doing that at our Boston computer service shop. The second thing to do for tech companies like Google, Facebook and Apple to recognize the human mind. Even adult, highly educated minds are like sponges. Sponges will digest whatever people and things put in them. So he calls on Silicon Valley to be more careful of what they feed our brains. Basically, Harris says it’s a team effort. I slightly disagree. It’s an individual choice to decide what gets your attention. If we, not Silicon Valley, dominated the attention economy, and decided what got our attention, wouldn’t Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and Washington get the message?