{"id":30905,"date":"2019-12-18T15:39:14","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T23:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pocketwisdominsights.com\/pwicolab\/?p=30905"},"modified":"2022-01-13T14:04:33","modified_gmt":"2022-01-13T22:04:33","slug":"race-to-the-bottom-of-the-brainstem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pocketwisdominsights.com\/pwicolab\/technology\/technology-co-lab\/technology-co-lab-blogs\/pwi-co-lab-staff\/race-to-the-bottom-of-the-brainstem\/","title":{"rendered":"A Race to the Bottom of the Brainstem"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Opening Insights: We are What We Think<\/h2>\n

A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.<\/em>
MAHATMA GANDHI<\/p>\n

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Click<\/strong> to Read<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

In 2019 Microsoft President Brad Smith coauthored a book with Carol Ann Browne to discuss the depth of the challenges we face in understanding <\/em>the influence of technology in our lives.<\/p>\n

It illustrates the potential for good that technology possesses, but also highlights the potential for misuse. Awareness Communication Technology, LLC (AwareComm\u00ae<\/sup>), a multi-gold rated Microsoft research and development partner, digs a little bit deeper into the seriousness of this challenge. Research uncovered...<\/p>\n

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What if I told you that the thought processes which direct your emotions,<\/strong>
decisions and actions have ceased to be owned <\/strong>and originated<\/strong><\/em> by you?<\/strong>
If not from you, then who? Wouldn\u2019t you want to know?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The purpose of this blog<\/strong> is to provide an awareness for how big tech and online organizations have changed the way we interface with technology and other people, as well as changed the way we think and reason. <\/p>\n

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Informational Insights: What\u2019s It All About?<\/h2>\n

In a 2017 TED Talk given by Tristan Harris, former design ethicist for Google, a scary picture of technology\u2019s relationship with us is illustrated. Harris opens with the following statement (taken from the TED transcript<\/a>):<\/p>\n

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I want you to imagine walking into a room, a control room with a bunch of people, a hundred people, hunched over a desk with little dials, and [\u2026] that control room will shape the thoughts and feelings of a billion people. This might sound like science fiction, but this actually exists right now, today.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Further into his talk, Harris describes the tech industry\u2019s approach to their product<\/strong> as being \"a race to the bottom of the brainstem.\u201d Just what exactly<\/em> does that mean, and what is so significant about the bottom of the brainstem?<\/p>\n

By the way, you are their product \u2013 if the online service is free,<\/strong><\/em>
then it's likely that YOU are the product!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Our brainstem<\/em>, or limbic cortex, is where the most basic of our reactionary functions are controlled. In a Psychology Today article<\/a>, Joseph Troncale, M.D. discusses the limbic cortex, better known as the brainstem<\/em> or lizard brain.<\/em><\/p>\n

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In 1954, the limbic cortex was described by neuroanatomists. Since that time, the limbic system of the brain has been implicated as the seat of emotion, addiction<\/a>, mood, and lots of other mental and emotional processes. It is the part of the brain that is phylogenetically very primitive. Many people call it the \"Lizard Brain,\u201d because the limbic system is about all a lizard has for brain function. It is in charge of fight, flight, feeding, fear<\/a>, freezing up, and fornication.<\/em><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/where-addiction-meets-your-brain\/201404\/your-lizard-brain<\/em> <\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is important to understand how this part of our anatomy functions, because the researchers at the big tech companies, ad agencies and online service providers <\/em>such as Google, Facebook and YouTube (to name a few) have an exceptional understanding of it. Each of them have dedicated much of their resources to researching methods to bypass our higher thinking and decision-making functions to get straight down to that compulsive, obsessive and addictive core reactionary processing unit in our heads.<\/p>\n

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...but don't take our word for it, see the ugly truth straight from the source.<\/strong>
The following movie trailer introduces a documentary <\/strong>
featuring the individuals who created this nightmare.<\/strong>
See what they <\/em>have to say.<\/strong><\/p>\n


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