Behaviour design lessons from subway smartphone use
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Behaviour design lessons from subway smartphone use
There are two types of people on public transport:
People who are on their smartphones
People who smugly judge the first category, feeling superior
I was the second type. I preach understanding, but could not avoid feeling superior seeing others as zombies in thrall of their little screens. Little did I realized that it took no more than one notification for me to become a similar zombie.
Smartphone overuse is not a choice.
We pride ourselves for being adaptable creatures. Why do we ignore that we adapt to the environment? We do it both if it’s natural and if it’s man-made.
Instead we expect to behave regardless of our circumstances.
Surround people with prompts and opportunities for high appeal foods and expect them to eat the same as if these do not exist.
Really?
If we were so rigid, natural selection would have culled us a long time ago.
Subways behaviour is adaptation
The people on the subway are the same. They are in a situation which is both boring and scary.
Anxiety comes from the presence of so many strangers in close proximity.
For our ancestors strangers were a big danger. They were met with fear and violence.
It took over 10,000 years of State life for us to inhibit these impulses.
But they are not gone, merely kept under control.
Type I people reach for the easy solution to this problem: the distraction box in their pocket. The phone provides emotional comfort through instant gratification and escape from the situation. When they browse Instagram, they are not mentally in the anxiety-full subway, but in dopamine-full social activity.
Type II people adopt the next level solution. They quell social anxiety by creating high status for themselves: “I am better than these people because I don’t give in to the social media escape.”. This does not last because it does not solve the boredom problem.
This is not an article about subway social hierarchies. It’s about an easy way to improve our lives.
What if we designed environments that push the behaviours we want?
Instead of having us fight against the environment.
Environments now push us towards distraction, instant gratification, sedentarism, work, overeating.
But we can change the environment.
If you design an environment that pushes you towards the direction you want to go, then you get there.
If you have an environment that pushes against you, then it’s much harder to advance.
Right now the environment is random. Often it pushes against us.
Change it so it pushes you towards your goals.
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