Rich Bello explains that human behavior is guided by an evolved internal feedback system designed for survival, but this system can produce misleading signals in modern contexts. He outlines four "bugs": (1) environmental change outpacing our mental programming (the delta), (2) instinctual preference for instant gratification over adaptations favoring delayed rewards, (3) exploitation of our pleasure-seeking by profit-driven manipulation, and (4) misuse of pain-avoidance mechanisms (e.g., pain-relief drugs) that can produce addiction and hide underlying causes.
Chapters
So this systematic mode of feedback, designed to motivate us to behave according to what's in our best interest survival, is an incredible work of architecture that has been and will forever be the highest form possible. Now, that said, as with all plans, if unnatural forces enter the picture, the plan can go awry and we can veer off the path even while thinking we're still on it. In other words, the guidance system can provide us with incorrect signals and therefore we can no longer blindly trust it to give us the right coordinates. We can feel pleasure even while we're veering off the path, for instance, eating a sugary processed food. Or we can feel pain even if we're on the right path. For example, having fear when you're public speaking, even though it's about a topic of great public interest and it's good for us. How can this have happened? Right? We'll explore four different ways that the system can inadvertently take us off course. Note that there will be some overlap here, but there are enough distinctions to break these out into the following four bugs, as I call them. The first one is the delta, meaning the change of our environment is significantly outpaced by the delta of our mental programming, our instincts, in other words, the evolution of our brains. The next bug is the danger posed by our instinctual inclination for instant gratification as the primary go to motivation, as opposed to adapting fast enough to our new environment, which is suited for delayed gratification or long term fulfillment. The next one is. The next bug is our desire to seek pleasure, which is our built in program. Program guidance system has been hacked by those who use it to manipulate our desires for their profits, not for our best interests. In other words, they're choosing to sacrifice our best interests of survival for their best interests, which are profits. So the fourth bug is our desire to avoid pain, which is our other built in program guidance system, and that's also been hacked with pain relief medications, resulting in many serious consequences such as addiction and failure to find the cause of the pain in the first place because we numb it too quickly.
