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Ted Gioia

@ted-gioia · 11 positions · 0 changes of mind

Music critic and cultural historian, author of eleven books including Music: A Subversive History, who writes The Honest Broker on Substack about music, books, media and culture. His 2024 "State of the Culture" essay put the phrase "dopamine culture" into wide circulation.

Everything they publish, on ppll ↗

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  1. Our reading

    Most of the world's free time has been converted into revenue for technology companies, and that conversion is where their fortunes come from.

    Their wordsMost of the world’s free time has now been monetized by tech companies. In fact, the monetization of leisure time is how Silicon Valley execs make their billions.

    ↗How Our Leisure Time Got Monetizedhonest-broker.com 1st of 2 in this piece

    Interesting

  3. Our reading

    Within living memory leisure was a media-free zone in which nobody expected your day off to earn money for anyone else.

    Their wordsAs recently as a hundred years ago, leisure time existed in a media-free zone. Nobody expected you to make money for wealthy elites on your day off.

    ↗How Our Leisure Time Got Monetizedhonest-broker.com 2nd of 2 in this piece

    Interesting
  4. 2 years earlier

  5. Our reading

    Half of the ten largest companies in the world are in the business of making people's relationship with technology addictive.

    Their wordsIf you look at the 10 largest companies in the world, half of them are trying to create this addictive relationship to technology.

    ↗How to Break Free from Dopamine Culturehonest-broker.com 1st of 3 in this piece

    Addiction

    Interesting

  7. Our reading

    Scrolling and swiping interfaces are designed to prevent closure, so that the user never reaches an end and keeps going.

    Their wordsThey aren’t designed to solve your problem, but actually aim to prevent closure, and create an illusion that there are still infinite choices available to you.

    ↗How to Break Free from Dopamine Culturehonest-broker.com 2nd of 3 in this piece

    Interesting

  9. Our reading

    A service paid by the hour of your attention is rewarded for delivering the opposite of what it promises.

    Their wordsThe dating app does not make money from you finding a life partner—it needs you to keep looking, so the app provider can hold on to you as a recurring customer. These companies actually get rewarded by delivering the opposite of what they promise.

    ↗How to Break Free from Dopamine Culturehonest-broker.com 3rd of 3 in this piece

    Interesting
  10. 2 weeks earlier

  11. Our reading

    The fastest-growing part of the culture economy is not art or entertainment but distraction.

    Their wordsThe fastest growing sector of the culture economy is distraction.

    ↗The State of the Culture, 2024honest-broker.com 1st of 6 in this piece

    Interesting

  13. Our reading

    Billions of people are unwitting subjects in the largest social engineering experiment ever run.

    Their wordsThey are unwitting volunteers in the largest social engineering experiment in human history.

    ↗The State of the Culture, 2024honest-broker.com 2nd of 6 in this piece

    Interesting

  15. Our reading

    The technology platforms are not patrons of culture: their aim is addiction, because an addicted audience is the customer they want.

    Their wordsThey don’t want to find the next Michelangelo or Mozart. They want to create a world of junkies—because they will be the dealers.

    ↗The State of the Culture, 2024honest-broker.com 3rd of 6 in this piece

    Addiction

    Interesting

  17. Our reading

    Anything that might take a reader off the platform, including a news story or an outside link, is punished by the algorithm.

    Their wordsAnything that might persuade you to leave the platform—a news story, or any outside link—is brutally punished by their algorithms.

    ↗The State of the Culture, 2024honest-broker.com 4th of 6 in this piece

    Interesting

  19. Our reading

    The executives building addictive platforms know what the harm is and build them anyway.

    Their wordsThe tech CEOs know this is harmful, but they do it anyway.

    ↗The State of the Culture, 2024honest-broker.com 5th of 6 in this piece

    Addiction

    Interesting

  21. Our reading

    Compulsive stimulation ends in anhedonia: the more a person leans on it the less pleasure it returns, until they use it only to avoid the pain of going without.

    Their wordsThe more addicts rely on these stimuli, the less pleasure they receive. At a certain point, this cycle creates anhedonia—the complete absence of enjoyment in an experience supposedly pursued for pleasure.

    ↗The State of the Culture, 2024honest-broker.com 6th of 6 in this piece

    Addiction

    Interesting