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Each pathway has its own associated cognitive and motor (movement) processes. The human brain contains four major dopamine “pathways,” or connections between different parts of the brain that act as highways for chemical messages called neurotransmitters. In an evolutionary context, it rewards us for beneficial behaviors and motivates us to repeat them. It gets released when we take a bite of delicious food, when we have sex, after we exercise, and, importantly, when we have successful social interactions. Why are our smartphones so hard to ignore? The Levers in Our Brains – Dopamine and social rewardĭopamine is a chemical produced by our brains that plays a starring role in motivating behavior. Many of us wish we spent less time on our phones but find it incredibly difficult to disconnect. Studies are beginning to show links between smartphone usage and increased levels of anxiety and depression, poor sleep quality, and increased risk of car injury or death. There is no doubt that smartphones provide immense benefit to society, but their cost is becoming more and more apparent. This number is orders of magnitude smaller than the 2 billion potential connections we carry around in our pockets today. Though humans have evolved to be social-a key feature to our success as a species-the social structures in which we thrive tend to contain about 150 individuals. Thanks to the likes of Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and others, smartphones allow us to carry immense social environments in our pockets through every waking moment of our lives.

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While there is nothing inherently addictive about smartphones themselves, the true drivers of our attachments to these devices are the hyper-social environments they provide.

Most of us have become so intimately entwined with our digital lives that we sometimes feel our phones vibrating in our pockets when they aren’t even there. About 73% of people claim to experience this unique flavor of anxiety, which makes sense when you consider that adults in the US spend an average of 2-4 hours per day tapping, typing, and swiping on their devices-that adds up to over 2,600 daily touches. If you’ve ever misplaced your phone, you may have experienced a mild state of panic until it’s been found.

Taking a closer look at the underlying science may give you pause the next time you feel your pocket buzz.

While it’s easy to dismiss this claim as hyperbole, platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram leverage the very same neural circuitry used by slot machines and cocaine to keep us using their products as much as possible. In Palihapitiya’s talk, he highlighted something most of us know but few really appreciate: smartphones and the social media platforms they support are turning us into bona fide addicts. “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works,” he explained. He was responding to a question about his involvement in exploiting consumer behavior. “I feel tremendous guilt,” admitted Chamath Palihapitiya, former Vice President of User Growth at Facebook, to an audience of Stanford students.

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