#86 - Mark Miller & Ben White: How Social Media Warps your Cognition

Ben White graduated from the University of Edinburgh’s flagship Mind, Language, and Embodied Cognition MSc. He is a Leverhulme-funded PhD candidate at the University of Sussex under Andy Clarke's mentorship, where his research focuses on neuroscience and digital technology. Mark Miller is a philosopher of Cognition: Prediction, Well-Being, and Technology and a Research Fellow at Monash University's Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies and lab manager at the Consciousness and Wisdom studies lab UoT.

In this podcast, we discuss active inference and its application to social media and technology. Ben and Mark explain how active inference provides a framework for understanding how our beliefs and expectations shape our reality. They discuss the potential dangers of social media, such as the manipulation of beliefs and the addiction to social validation. They emphasize the importance of developing attention skills, finding meaning in life, and changing ourselves and our microcultures to mitigate the negative effects of social media. Finally, the conversation explores the concept of ambient smart environments as a potential solution to the meaning crisis caused by technology addiction.

Read the "digital being" paper: https://academic-oup-com.dcu.idm.oclc.org/nc/article/2024/1/niae008/7631816#444593589

Read "ambient Smart Environments": https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-024-04679-9

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Mark and Ben's Collaboration

05:02 Active Inference as a Framework for Understanding Social Media

16:03 The Dangers of Manipulation and Addiction in Social Media

23:13 Reforming Social Media: Regulation and Business Model Changes

26:35 Mitigating the Negative Effects of Social Media: Attention Skills and Meaning

31:02 Changing Ourselves and Our Microcultures to Counteract Social Media

33:51 Ambient Smart Environments: A Solution to the Meaning Crisis

36:13 Cultivating Wisdom and Skills in the Modern World

41:46 Therapeutic Applications of Ambient Technology

49:29 Designing Technology for Human Flourishing

Key Takeaways:

* Active inference provides a framework for understanding how our beliefs and expectations shape our reality.

* Social media platforms can manipulate our beliefs and create addictive behaviors.

* Reforming social media platforms may require regulation and changes in business models.

* Developing attention skills and finding meaning in life can help mitigate the negative effects of social media.

* Changing ourselves and our microcultures is essential for reducing the impact of social media on our well-being. Ambient smart environments, owned by individuals, can be a solution to technology addiction and the meaning crisis.

* Cultivating wisdom and developing skills are essential for navigating uncertainty and volatility.

* Ambient technology can be used in therapeutic applications, such as dementia care and mental health.

* Technology should be designed to support and enhance human flourishing.

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