Passage 1

Former Google design ethicist Tristan Harris is sounding the alarm on how technology is
‘downgrading humans,’ and he says urgent action is needed to address the dark side of technology.
Harris was among the first Silicon Valley insiders to share his concerns about people’s dependence on
technologty when he spoke with ‘60 Minutes’ in 2017. Now, as co-founder of the Center for Humane
Technology, he is pushing for a new agenda for tech companies to change a buisiness model that, he
says, preys on our animal brains, at the detriment of our society.
“This is an issue that’s bigger than screen time. It’s not about addiction,” Harris said on ‘CBS This
Morning’ Monday. “People are seeing these things as disconnected- ‘outragefication’ of our politics;
teen addiction; mental health issues; social isolation – but these are all connected, because they’re all
part of a business model of extracting human attention. It’s a race to the bottom of the brain stem.
“And that systematically leads to this connected system of downgrading humans. While we’re
upgrading the machines, we’re downgrading humans, downgrading our attention span, downgrading
our mental health, downgrading our democracy and our civility, because the business model says
outrage works better.”
Co-host John Dickerson asked if that’s “because outrage works on that part of the brain where you
release all the norms and social filter, your animal brain?”
“Exactly. First they go into your animal brain to get your attention, but then they go deeper. We have
to get hundreds of millions of people addicted to getting attention from other people. This is how you
get the teen issues of mental health, where you have teenage girls who are addicted to getting
attention from other people,” Harris said.
-Former Silicon Valley insider on how technology is ‘downgrading humans’

According to the passage, what could be recommended for us who use modern conveniences such as
internet and social network services everyday? Do you agree with the author’s perspective? Can you
provide any example/ counter-example that supports your opinion?

Passage 2
The undisputed champion of the three ‘brains’ is the reptilian brain. The name comes from the
region’s similarity to the brains of reptiles, which are believed to be relatively unchanged from the
brains their predecessors had 200 million years ago. Our reptilian brain programs us for two major
things: survival and reproduction. These are, of course, our most fundamental instincts: if we could
not survive and reproduce, our species would be extinguished. It is the part of your brain that allows
you to dodge a ball aimed at your head and gulp down water when thirsty.
The reptilian brain can overpower our other two brains. Physical attraction, for instance, has a strong
reptilian dimension. At the reptilian level, you are physically attracted to someone whose genes
provide the best chances of survival for your children, so you will look for things like physical health,
material resources, kindness and intelligence.
The way in which the reptilian brain interacts with our limbic brain and cortex determines how our
basic instincts are expressed in our behavior. But when functioning alone, the reptilian brain has no
sense of right or wrong, feeling or thinking: it simply receives stimuli from our senses and responds.
<...> We believe it is time for a serious and frank discussion of how the underlying human
imperatives of the reptilian brain factor into national prosperly, by which we mean into the level of
mobility countries foster. It is our contention that ‘the reptilian always wins’ - it always finds a way of
manifesting itself- and if our national culture and institutions don’t chime with our biology, mayhem
ensues.
- Why Some Cultures Advance While Others Don’t

Why does the author of the second passage posit the importance of reptilian brain? What is the
relationship between reptilian brain and national prosperity according to the above passage? Do you
agree with the authors’ conclusion?

Question 3
Carl Sagan once said, “The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding
is joyous.” Which of the two passages seems resonate more closely with this statement, and why?