How better tech could protect us from distraction | Tristan Harris

How often does technology interrupt us from what we really mean to be doing? At work and at play, we spend a startling amount of time distracted by pings and pop-ups -- instead of helping us spend our time well, it often feels like our tech is stealing it away from us. Design thinker Tristan Harris offers thoughtful new ideas for technology that creates more meaningful interaction. He asks: "What does the future of technology look like when you're designing for the deepest human values?"
Tristan Harris co-hosts "Your Undivided Attention", a podcast from the TED Audio Collective that explores the incredible power that technology has over our lives -- and how we can use it to catalyze a humane future. Subscribe to the TED Audio Collective at / tedaudiocollective
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• How better tech could ...
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[@sifcnm]

Uninstall everything you can/don't actually need. Restrict Notifications as much as you can. Test yourself to turn off your phone for 1 day. See how it feels. That's when I got scared. I was addicted and I had no ideia. It's alarming

[@zoilo87]

Our phone is no different to drugs that our laws are phobiting to us.

[@zaidi684]

I have not been using my smart phone for last six months. I use laptop only for TED Talks for an hour on weekends. one more thing I would like to share with you guy's here, I used to speak English like native speakers. After joining one of multinational company, where employee belong from countryside. They could not speak English, so I used to talk to them in my mother tongue. Thus, I forgot my English speaking skills.

[@alaalfa8839]

Best friend is sleep and mediation and drinking water.... not junk food or tabloid media.

[@Ryan-iv1sw]

I am here after the documentary "The social dilemma" and i am just like: wow! Yes! It's true! Totally me! Omg....

[@fionasolm]

It's like ironic

[@tracybhagwandin8797]

Sammee

[@areej623]

Same here

[@atmadeepgoswami9340]

So am i n just after knowing i m manipulated here i am still being manipulated n here goes my engagement as i write this *i see u there obeversized hunk of machine. N i didn't even watch this vedio yet

[@Gentleman264]

Myself also.

[@AnwarSadath787]

If you want to learn more about this, do read Cal Newport's book 'Digital Minimalism'. That book changed my life!

[@drditup]

I've already ackomplished this. I read email at 10 and 15 every day. Otherwise people will have to wait. "How important is focused work every day vs being an hour faster to reply to emails". Most of the urgent emails I get is about something I forgot, and I forget because was always interrupted at work. Now I hardly forget things because I can finish things I started. But yeah, sometimes an important email is not replied to for several hours. It's a price well worth to pay in a academic work

[@prathamhombal6318]

Awesome TED Talk! Tristan really highlighted the major problems in social media that have been plaguing society lately. Love how he talked about the "choice" option in social media

[@victorm.lozada876]

Irony: I was distracted 4 times while watching the video, and had to stop it twice…

[@VivekRC]

This is inspiring! I hope we can build Tech Products with deeper human values.

[@ctreif]

This was a very well delivered, insightful and informative talk. Thanks for sharing!

[@PoetMountain]

Excellent talk and one everyone in tech design should watch, as well as all those addicted by their phones. Addiction is part of their design and we need something more worthy of being human. Technology can be helpful or harmful, and we've swung too far into harm without thinking enough about it. We can do better.

[@Kinsey6King]

I’ve seen this guy randomly the last week or so watching social media addiction videos… He’s the man.

[@zaidi684]

I have not been using my smart phone for last six months. I use laptop only for TED Talks for an hour on weekends or whenever I get time.. One more thing I would like to share with you guy's here, I used to speak English like native speakers. After joining one of multinational company, where employee belong from countryside. They could not speak English, so I used to talk to them in my mother tongue. Thus, I forgot my English speaking skills. Moreover, in this pandemic period , I started watching TED talks. It helps me to improve and polish my communication skill in English language . Thanks to TED organizers and Speakers

[@dannaification3767]

Oh how I wanna work with this guy.

[@incognitox4204]

The changes on our world and technology nowadays are so fast that it is been difficult to assimilate the impact that these rapid changes has got in our society.. However, people like Tristan Harris are spreading caution messages which are really important for our world today. Thank you for such an amazing presentation . Thanks

[@joshuarivers5352]

Agreed, they have been fast and I believe it's going to take a few more years for things to start to change. And yeah he nailed that presentation, alone with many others he's done!

[@Breakdancesogamoso]

I dunno if I lost my time watching this video, You know I have work to do and I got distracted by this.

[@duckdumbsmartpplimnotbored5175]

guess what, you did lost the time. Now, was is a well spent time ?

[@daykbd]

+Jibril Stormrage Exactly. If we're the kind of people who thinks every information is useful, then it was a well spent time. Yayaayeyo

[@duckdumbsmartpplimnotbored5175]

***** If you watched this video while you didnt want to, there is something wrong.

[@daykbd]

yup

[@duckdumbsmartpplimnotbored5175]

yeah

[@senly339]

Fantastic mind and speech... We need to go this direction having a time WELL spent designs.

[@adservingtechnology]

A great talk, looking at measuring new metrics that provide positive change in the world is the foundation of a society that can judge itself based on what it creates. Lets reward focus, concernatration and good deeds.

[@MrYllie]

What a great speeh! Thanks for sharing

[@JDawg-FR]

The irony that this video was recommended to me while scrolling through KZbin is hard to grasp

[@nze611]

Great idea on improving the tech to return the control to users.

[@user-by9ro9qm2i]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Finally a conscious driven tech designer!

[@shriswamiramanand]

I thought he was going to offer a software or a new system created. But I guess he is just making an appeal to create such system on our own.

[@aosora3275]

a system can not be created by the power of a single man :vvv as the speaker said, it requires company leaders, designers,users and good communication between them to do that

[@joshuarivers5352]

@@aosora3275 which is not gonna happen. Hence New World Order in the next 20 yrs, all u gotta do people is freshen up on your primitive lifestyle and don't let them take your 2nd amendment

[@MahmoudAAB]

Mcdonalds didn't have salads until the consumer demand were there. Walmart didn't have organic food until the consumer demand was there. impressive *.*

[@firehot006]

Who goes to Mcdonalds to eat a salad?!

[@MahmoudAAB]

@@firehot006 vegans 😂

[@MahmoudAAB]

@@____JO Tristan Harris was a design ethicist at Google. he started the idea, along with people from Google and Facebook, of making social media less addictive, I recommend watching a netflix documentary called "the social dilemma".

[@onwun4292]

It's different. For McDonald, Walmart, the consumers are the clients. For the tech giants, the consumers not the clients, advertisers are, the consumers are the product they sell to their advertiser clients. And only their clients (ones who give them money) have the power to regulate them, consumers don't. And clients need consumers' attention, so techs have the incentive to exploit consumers' attention&emotion to please their clients. That's how the mechanism work. We can't count on techs to regulate themselves, and we consumers can't regulate them. We need a law.

[@TaraRajendran]

Powerful and moving!!!

[@artistsometimes2729]

YES, I NEED THIS!

[@andreeag_24]

4:02 i feel u man

[@diagoras8440]

I love this channel so much

[@erismaximoartist]

Amazing talk!!

[@fsk_hrtm]

Super interesting mindsets! This video, if measuered would definitely be meassured real high in Inspiration and Satisfaction.

[@sam_parallax]

Wow, I needed that kind of video today ! Thanks !

[@SwikarP]

I always like this channel...great contents ever

[@mostafarefath7446]

very unique way to perceive today's tech culture. Enlightening! 👌

[@giztube11]

Its well thought of and inspiring 🙏🏻

[@sathiyaprakash1012]

Am I the only one who gets this 'Public speaking ad' every time I click on a Ted video.. 🙄 (India)

[@thedoctor5991]

Seriously man, it's just soo...... Idk ┐(‘～`;)┌

[@jeemain9071]

Yes

[@dakshgoel7752]

I am also one of those. The person sulks..

[@prateektiwari5097]

Yes, and the same ugly guy (who probably took bath in 2018) appears

[@aviralsaxena2650]

I think he himself don’t know about public speaking. He sounds awful.

[@mariusvandam5506]

Slack does this quite well. Lets you mute. When you send a message it says: colleague x is on mute. You can still choose to let the message through but only after deliberately clicking a small link.

[@tagoreji2143]

Hope this Ideology comes into Action ASAP. Thank you Sir.

[@abba4742]

so damn right !

[@slimr1607]

tnx for this video:)

[@michaelwong1908]

I need this in all my messenging apps!

[@ralomicron]

This actually might have brought up a solution for me in my life. I end up with my life blowing up a little and as I work to improve my life I and recover sometimes feel alone. I spend time learningm programming design and technology so that one day I can make a better life for myself but I get hung up because of how I feel about what I've gone through. I often think about how I can find a solution to what I face. It seems that this technology like this might go a long way for in my life.

[@AnuSharma-nc8wr]

Great one 💛

[@freinds323]

the only problem, which is very obvious and important, that it's not a commercial option! designers can not work on metrics that doesn't directly increase their companies profit!

[@raph2550]

Yeah, that's why that is our responsability as customers to support this option instead of the current way.

[@slwankaedbey775]

great idea... it's what we need

[@CallMeLaterOk]

Loved it!

[@larrimus4309]

This is why I don't have a Facebook or Twitter. I prefer antisocial media such as KZbin & Reddit.

[@madanifantakaba1507]

Larrimus i refused since an year to spend à second on Facebook. Twitter... TV... my life have change positively... i got more and more time for my family and work

[@yogoshun]

Yeah, the upvote/downvote system is the same psychologically addictive flavor that influences what people say.

[@alexisramirez2007]

It's asocial, not "'antisocial."

[@thedrifter3938]

Skeptical Slim KZbin can be used for educational purposes tho.

[@thedrifter3938]

Chhandak 97 It could be educational too.

[@marianaa.acacio6371]

Amazing.

[@TRIBESOUND]

Genuis

[@polysh]

interesting vision. creating the proposed metrics may be quite challenging

[@NielKnoblauch]

A good question arising while watching this video is this. When we ask, "why does my company exist and what does it aim to contribute or bring to the table?", do the performance contracts or reviews of this company's employees reflect the answer to this question? Or, turned around: of we had to deduce a company's "why", it's purpose, from the performance contracts of its employees - what would it say? Incredibly powerful question...

[@BenKrefta]

Sounds good to me. if anything, social media apps/sites, Skype, Whatsapp, email clients etc should roll out the 'focussing / interrupt' facility right now. I demand it!

[@bvgg833]

This is a lot of advanced stuff for me to think about, I am not a designer or company leader and I would be jumping hoops of experience to pretend I knew what to do about this or even think about this as my own problem / take it on through my perspective. I don't have the knowledge or an opinionated personality to be able to do that. Nevertheless, I was happy to see this. It was insight. I don't think I'm learning or taking anything away from this.

[@robcuff2922]

I was going to go to bed but this was the next suggested video

[@SolOzzan]

It reminds me to Bhutan's Gross National Happines. Hope one day every country can develop it.

[@fear_less_2020]

Excellent, I suffer from this everyday and I am a HCI designer myself. The Nancy focus time example is amazing, Tristan! I just studied about BJ Fogg today (because we have a presentation in class in the evening) and that is where I found your name from. So glad I found this talk of yours.

[@slateflash]

He looks like he could be Calvin Harris' brother

[@drakedodson2250]

The less distracted we are the less time we are spending on their platfrorm, the less time we are spending on their platform the less add revenue they are getting. Therefore companies aren't going to design their products to be less addictive (or as the guy in the video called it 'distracting') they want us to keep refreshing, because with every refresh they are receiving more add revenue

[@sizzle9000]

Timely

[@LeonidasGGG]

There is also the "off" button...

[@resonarc]

I like the message, but the problem is that you're fighting against corporate greed, which is an uphill battle.

[@anubhabchaudhuri]

The main point of notice for all being - "Connected.... But Alone??? "

[@duckdumbsmartpplimnotbored5175]

sounds good to me

[@LOSTINMATRIX]

Imagine watching this with your parents !

[@marlstarl8791]

I think measuring success this way would be dangerous, because it would create the same obsession, just on something more real and important. And, for example, if John realized that most of the books he read weren't helping his success, he wouldn't read them anymore. But maybe he enjoyed these books. Strict parents would go over the top with measuring their children's success, and it would get even harder for them in school.

[@daniellindforsbernholm3682]

I don't know if you missed the point or not. But the important thing is not which metric you use, only that it works and is a somewhat a good estimate to what you are trying to accomplish. What is important is what exactly your goal is. Most companies goals are very simple: "get more users to use our product as often as possible". You can come up with tons of metrics to estimate if you succeed in this. What the dude in this talk sugests is that the goal should be more finely specified and in the lines of what your product actually tries to accomplish. One can argue that a good application or tool of any kind is one that helps you with a certain task so that you save time that is better spent elsewhere. If instead the app makes people spend half their days using it or getting distracted by it we have come upon some kind of rebound effect, and the original goal is farther away now than before. - Specify what the "higher" goal is - Use metrics that reflect this - Design to improve on these metrics Thats the heart of this talk. Don't settle for just any goal, go for something higher and meaningful and let that guide the design process. Making people addicted to something and stealing their time is nether meaningful nor impressive.

[@marlstarl8791]

Daniel Lindfors Bernholm ok, maybe I didn't get it at all haha.

[@TheZephyrZad]

iphone se: small screen + set to greyscale + no social media apps + restricted to no internet browser + no app store. I AM THE CAPTAIN NOW.

[@alihamdani6605]

Let's Start This Conversation - see photos = spend another 20 minutes - Refresh, scroll through feed = play a slot machine - On or off = Distracted or FOMO. Give back our choices! - 23 minutes extra is needed to refocus. (Gloria Mark's & Microsoft Research) - Mcdonalds didn't have salads until the consumer demand were there. Walmart didn't have organic food until the consumer demand was there - The new metric: Time Well Spent instead of just Time Spent.

[@m.g.1.9.8.7]

Io sono contento di aver visto questo documentario. Mi sono accorto da solo 7 mesi fa di perdere tempo della mia vita sui social, ho eliminato tutti gli account 👍 ci sono arrivato io e ci riusciremo tutti, i pc non posso controllare la mutabilità della mente !! In Italia in questi mesi sta succedendo proprio la morte della Democrazia!

[@AnkushSharma-zv5hv]

who came here after watching "The manipulative tricks tech companies use to capture your attention "

[@xteckno5866]

me

[@jaideep8052]

We can try and just turn off your internet all the time, except a designated time slot. Improves planning, focus and gives away distractions. But yes, you have to overcome the 'fear of missing out' for making this to happen. With internet becoming cheap and affordable day by day, I know this is very difficult, but so does staying away from substances and drugs.

[@danielstevanoski]

people need to spend their time wisely. time is more valuable than money because you can't repurchase lost time. students read thousands of pages per class? can't we turn our cellular phones and car audio into universities?

[@dannyrowleyyt]

When "feels like" is said 4 times in the first minute, I can't continue to watch.

[@PuzzleMessage]

It's done on purpose to reach a climax in the speech.

[@dannyrowleyyt]

+PuzzleMessage It sounds unprepared, moronic and undermines any information he's trying to portray. Typical incoherent speech where every sentence ends in "right" and "like" is said twice in every sentence.

[@saucybackport]

you sound irritated like you don't sleep much or drink a lot caffeine or something

[@romanempire8705]

The message is more important than the wording as long as the wording makes sense. He makes sense and I loved the idea from the first 5 mins

[@saucybackport]

Kevin D. Najera yeah, it is not a doctoral dissertation on psychological effects of cell phone usage for university folk - it is basically a polite conversation that means to promote a more sophisticated work for the future.

[@samkassam1889]

nice

[@dimas.faisal]

2021, the dilemma is actually getting crazier.

[@TylerMatthewHarris]

BRILLIANT idea... Apple will use this

[@tangyspy]

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

[@taylorj.1628]

Read digital minimalism for practical ways to control how u use tech

[@unextro]

Not all services have time spent as a main metric. (E.g. Google search.)

[@jhashmi2011]

the irony is the advertisement at the beginning.

[@jamyangloden4935]

Thich Nhat Hanh passed away three days before and I am seeing Him in this video.

[@ilkhgs]

...nail, hammer...

[@ibad2k]

i came here due to a distraction !! :P

[@BLNChrisCross]

Well, so my Phone simply has this option (no notification, important, all) Problem solved ^^

[@vincenttalerico1960]

He appears on Sam Harris' podcast and goes much deeper into all of this if you are interested.

[@shebedoingher]

Im here after the documentary on Netflix

[@mollysmith2609]

Why is this posted a year and a half after its recorded?

[@gadgetara]

TedX videos sometimes are uploaded at a later time

[@Whatwhat3434]

How do you know when it was recorded?

[@ivkosky9366]

It is shown in captions at the beginning of the video - December 2014.

[@TheGerogero]

Particularly when there have been so many others uploaded before which were just absolute garbage.

[@vOyOr]

because why dole out money for the event when it would release the following week?

[@mrunmayeepalsule5789]

omg did apple introduce focus after watching this? because it only came in 2021

[@kshitij2628]

What the Heck, notification of this video interrupted me🙄.

[@othetop]

POKEMON GO!

[@thesquatch9363]

If someone has a way to contact Tristan, (twitter maybe?) Please do so and tell him to have his thyroid checked. I just watched the Social Dilemma and he has visible signs of a serious issue. This may sound weird, but I'm 100% serious. Someone reach out to him.

[@TigerLawProf]

What about the distractions of ... email?

[@michaelflaherty3202]

This guy hates email. On his blog he suggests you put your email app in a folder on your second or third page.

[@jaymartingarcia9523]

Update on the reality of social media tech...and its dangers..

[@TheGerogero]

Right?

[@ashimpaudel1747]

If we compare tech with advantage and disadvantages for us then its like 30% for A and remaining 70% for D!

[@duckdumbsmartpplimnotbored5175]

Thats simpleminded.

[@somedude4747]

+Jibril Stormrage take dis L aight .

[@AbigailCunanan90]

Oh, how relevant considering what's happening with Facebook now

[@sinnombre_9326]

how is his instagram

[@jaredsteele113]

"I basically invented getpombox.com" -Tristan Harris

[@kdv_10]

Apple 'designers' making new Focus mode:👀

[@haneulbae3980]

It's my story ... Self-interrupt

[@hungtuan5119]

0:12

[@vikukuma1918]

All manipulated minds. Even you think very interesting this makes you fall for it.

[@sipo70]

Whats is wrong with social media? I mean I never get distr.......hang on, I got an alert with my bestie taking a pic of her pizza slice before she takes a bite. Anyway, you guys just don't get faceb.......uh oh, my girl just took a selfie at the coffee house. Hey girl! So anyway, I never get distracted by......wait a sec, theres a video of a cat stuck in a sock, lol! Now, back to this subject! You guys just don't get it with....hold on, my girl took another selfie with ducklips at the same coffee house but at a different angle. So to the point! Just get with the times and complain.......got an alert about a pic of my dog sleeping with his chew toy. Anyways I........awww, look at the new puppy for sale. What I mean is that you just have to priorit...somebody just liked my last post on Twitter. And so in closing, I have over 2,000 friends.

[@Loosie_fur]

Orrr..you can just get rid of all technology that distracts us. Think life in the late 90s early 2000s. We, as a society we're not ready for this much personal technology.

[@supermonkeyyyyyy]

You look at lot like Calvin Harris.

[@lesliem1238]

and I bet it isn't a coincidence that his last name is Harris

[@supermonkeyyyyyy]

Zoydor no, Calvin Harris is just a stage name, his real name is Adam Wiles, so it's just a coincidence

[@i208khonsu]

Hey look! A Pokemon!