False economy What’s in it for me? Understand what makes the

Surveillance capitalists hope to identify key 
moments of sensitivity in order to increase 
the chances of purchase and behavior 
modification.
Given that a significant portion of Silicon Valley 
is into analyzing behavioral data, it makes sense 
that companies like Google and Facebook would 
be interested in the murky field of behaviorism.
After all, behaviorism teaches that free will is but 
an illusion; all behavior can be explained by the 
circumstances that precede it. Expose people to 
specific stimuli and you’ll get a specific 
response. 
The key message here is: Surveillance 
capitalists hope to identify key moments of 
sensitivity in order to increase the chances of 
purchase and behavior modification.
A towering figure in behaviorism is B. F. Skinner, 
who was a professor at Harvard University and a 
pioneer in both behavioral analysis and utopian 
thinking. In Skinner’s worldview, there is no such 
thing as freedom or free will, and if you think 
there is – well, that’s just an expression of your 
ignorance.
Under Skinner’s brand of extreme behaviorism, 
every action can be mathematically explained 
through behavioral data. And if someone’s 
actions seemingly defy explanation, then that’s 
only because we haven’t collected enough of the 
right data.
Skinner passed away in 1990, which means he 
didn’t live to see the day when so many people 
were carrying around smartphones, living with 
smart speakers, and using virtual assistants. 
These are exactly the kind of devices Skinner 
dreamed of being able to use to monitor and 
experiment on his subjects.
Make no mistake, Google and Facebook are 
already conducting experiments and following 
the guidelines that Skinner left behind. As the 
professor recommended, the ideal scenario for 
accurate behavioral analysis is when the 
subjects are unaware of those conducting the 
experiment and collecting the data.
Facebook has admitted to experimenting with 
the content of people’s news feeds, and an 
accurate way to look at Pokémon Go is as an 
experimental test, run by Google, to see whether 
people can be digitally manipulated to go where 
directed, and then spend money.
At the height of Pokémon Go’s popularity, the 
game allowed businesses to pay money in order 
to become hotspots – places where players 
were sure to find the virtual creatures they were 
after. These businesses saw reported boosts in 
business of up to 70 percent.