53. Unpredictability Keeps People Searching

Dopamine and Unpredictability

Dopamine is stimulated by unpredictability. Things that are unpredictable stimulate your dopamine system allowing you to always want more. This system is seen in gambling, texting, social media, and other various things that run on a variable ratio schedule.

Pavlovian Reflex Study

The Pavlovian Reflex is  a study done by Ivan Pavlov, a Russian scientist. When dogs and humans see food they salivate. With this knowledge he then paired food with a bell. Every time the dogs got the food a bell would ding. Eventually the dogs did not even need the food to salivate, just the sound of the bell. This is because now the sound of the bell triggered the dopamine system to alert the body that food was coming. The Pavlovian Response is when the dopamine system is sensitive to a cue that a reward is coming (even if there is not reward). In other words, the act of the dogs beginning to salivate every time a bell is rung, is the Pavlovian Response

Technology and the Pavlovian Response

The Pavlovian Response is even used in technology Every time a phone dings, you subconsciously expect to be able to read a text, email, tweet, or notification on your phone. Even if it is not your phone, you can find yourself glancing at your phone or in its general direction This is the Pavlovian response and it was craftily utilized when making technology.

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Information in smaller amounts

The dopamine system is more powerfully stimulated when the information you get comes in small amounts. Having the information come in small amounts does not satisfy the desire for information. This is why several social media platforms limit the characters of posts. It only takes 140 characters to send the dopamine system raging. Twitter uses this limitation to keep you scrolling

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Dopamine Loop

A dopamine loop is induced when you get rewarded for seeking information. Once you do that you look for more information to get rewarded more and so on and so on. It is really easy now days with the instant gratification of the internet. It is also heavily used in social media in three different areas sexual appetite: skimpy clothing and "fake" looks/personas humorous appetite: memes and videos social appetite: seeing what your friends are doing on a daily basis

Take-Aways

Pairing cues like sounds with the arrival of information motivates people to seek more. Giving small bits of info and then providing a way to get more, results in even more information-seeking behavior The more unpredictable the arrival of info is, the more people will be addicted to seeking it.

Resources

This Link leads to an article about unpredictability and how it affects the dopamine levels in you Why Unpredictability is so Attractive