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The author discusses Chris van Tulleken’s book, “Ultra-Processed People,” which highlights the dangers of ultra-processed foods that are designed to be irresistible and lead to overconsumption. This concept is likened to digital media, where social media content is created to capture our attention in a similarly addictive way. The author encourages viewers to approach digital content with the same caution as they would with unhealthy foods, advocating for a healthier relationship with information.
Highlights
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the problem with ultra-processed foods is that they’re engineered to hijack our desire mechanisms, making them literally irresistible. The result is that we consume way more calories than we need in arguably the least healthy form possible.
La tecnología nos permite hacer láser focus en los circuitos del placer y el deseo, los cuales fueron esculpidos evolucionariamente para ayudarnos a sobrevivir.
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As with whole foods, consuming writing tends to make us feel better, and we rarely hear concerns about reading too much.
Falta la distintinción entre distintos niveles de profunidad de lectura
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This then brings us back to ultra-processed foods, which as the twentieth century gave way to the twenty-first, began to increasingly dominate our diets with their lab-optimized hyper-palatability. The clear analogy here is to digital information offered through the social media platforms that vaulted into cultural supremacy in the 2010s.
Esto palidece en comparación a lo que será la generación en tiempo real de slop on demand.
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Whereas the stock ingredients for ultra-processed food are found in vast fields of cheap corn and soy, social media content draws on vast databases of user-generated information — posts, reactions, videos, quips, and memes. Recommendation algorithms then sift through this monumental collection of proto-content to find new, hard to resist combinations that will appeal to users.
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This is how we should think about the ultra-processed content delivered so relentlessly through our screens. To bypass these media for less processed alternatives should no longer be seen as bold, or radical, or somehow reactionary. It’s just a move toward a self-evidently more healthy relationship with information.