Cognitive Hacking: Building Resilience Against Manipulative Mind Hacks
It’s fascinating how language shifts and shifts rapidly.
It used to take centuries for words, phrases and language to ‘migrate’ or morph, but with the advent of globalisation and the digital era, language is shifting very quickly – and if you’re not aware and across it, you can be more easily caught out.
For instance, let’s take the word ‘Hack’ or the phrase ‘To hack’ something.
The term original referred to chopping on, at, or through something, but in a rough and imprecise manner – to use a colloquial term; to ‘butcher’ something.
However, in the digital age the term morphed into an illegitimate act by a computer programmer interfering with, breaking into or over-riding a digital process of system. Everything from sabotaging platforms to theft or just plain mischief.
But now, the word HACK is being re-tasked again. Euphemism is now the go to vehicle to hijack language to often make ‘bad’ things seem much more benign.
This not only lends itself to misrepresenting dangerous, toxic or problematic behaviours, settings or even people with softer more innocuous lenses, but simultaneously deconstructs defences, boundaries and filters in relation to things that should be kept out of one’s experience.
Hacking can now be euphemistically seen as simply a ‘short-cut’ to what is believed to be a better or easier way forward or potential quickly added benefits. However, all too often (and we would argue always) this process fails to fulfil its ultimate and even interim goal.
The endeavour in nearly all of these scenarios is to get a quick outcome in an easier fashion with minimum effort – That equation right there is a recipe for disaster.
Whilst early results of many of these hack vehicles for body or mind, may seem beneficial; time and time again the long-term outcomes are poor or much worse.
Chemical ‘hacks’ are the easiest go to short cuts – particularly if the single greatest focus of a person or people group is to ‘feel better’ – whatever that means? If that is the only goal, and the ‘why’ of my perceived current psycho-emotional state is not considered, merely the altering of a sensate expression, then any old ‘hack’ will do – damn the consequences.
One of the single biggest drivers of substance up take is not ‘trauma’ in the classic sense (although, that term too is being ‘hijacked) it is however an element of the above or an amalgam of many perceived or real psycho-social maladies… We feel ‘blaaahh’ and we’re not sure why. We are told, at least in our First World West culture, that being happy is the goal of life and subsequently, we are sold a number of possible avenues for that – mostly consumption-based models. But hedonic adaptation soon takes the shine of that acquisitional driven dopamine fix, so we need to act again and soon, if we are to hold that ‘happiness’.
Of course, now in our permission driven, morally deconstructed and rabidly individualistic culture, that prizes pleasure more and more, with joy and even happiness being consequently jettisoned, the offer of the quickest-fix hack for that hedonistic end is then made – and that is, substance use.
Substance use engagement will harness our neurotransmitters quicker than any other addiction generating activity like, gambling, porn or gaming – and hack them to give the user that rush/buzz/euphoria they demand and now!
In his work Hacking the American Mind, paediatric neuroendocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig, drills down into this issue of pleasure and happiness. He claims, as we have already noted, that we’ve been tricked into confusing pleasure with happiness—and it’s costing us our health, sanity, and sense of self.
The Big Idea: Pleasure ≠ Happiness
Dr. Lustig explains that pleasure and happiness are not the same thing—and mixing them up leads to serious consequences.
| Pleasure (Dopamine) | Happiness (Serotonin) |
| Short-lived | Long-lasting |
| Experienced alone | Shared and internal |
| Driven by taking | Often involves giving |
| Can lead to addiction | No tolerance or addiction |
- Pleasure is all about dopamine: the “I want more” chemical. It’s triggered by sugar, social media, shopping, and other nastier and more potent quick fixes.
- Happiness, on the other hand, is fuelled by serotonin: the “I have enough” chemical that can foster peace and contentment.
Lustig notes that too much dopamine can suppress serotonin, creating a cycle of craving, anxiety, and even chronic disease.
How Society Hijacks Our Brains
The outstanding documentary maker Douglas Rushkoff’s two, arguably, seminal works; The Merchants of Cool and The Persuaders, really prized open the early understandings of how life course assets for health, resilience, wellbeing, joy and safety are being usurped by counterfeit elements masquerading as resources for ‘living well.’
Rushkoff masterfully peels back the layers that are the culture hacking, culture subverting and culture morphing strategies and tactics of corporate capitalism – showing specifically how this is impacting the developing psyches of both Gen Now and Gen Next.
Lustig argues that corporations—and even government policies—have engineered our environments to keep us chasing dopamine. Here’s how:
- Neuromarketing: Ads and products are designed to trigger cravings.
- Policy Failures: Subsidies make addictive foods cheap and accessible.
- Stress Culture: Work pressure, financial strain, and media overload push us toward quick fixes.
From sugar and junk food to social media and consumer goods, we’re bombarded with dopamine triggers that feel good—but don’t make us happy.
In an utterly brilliant expose on the growth and now metastasized version of this cultural and human wrecking ball, The Honest Broker – Ted Gioia, writes the following
The fastest growing sector of the culture economy is distraction. Or call it scrolling or swiping or wasting time or whatever you want. But it’s not art or entertainment, just ceaseless activity.
The key is that each stimulus only lasts a few seconds and must be repeated.
It’s a huge business and will soon be larger than arts and entertainment combined. Everything is getting turned into TikTok—an aptly named platform for a business based on stimuli that must be repeated after only a few ticks of the clock.
The tech platforms aren’t like the Medici in Florence, or those other rich patrons of the arts. They don’t want to find the next Michelangelo or Mozart. They want to create a world of junkies—because they will be the dealers.
Addiction is the goal.
They don’t say it openly, but they don’t need to. Just look at what they do.
Everything is designed to lock users into an addictive cycle.
- The platforms are all shifting to scrolling and reeling interfaces where stimuli optimize the dopamine doom loop.
- Anything that might persuade you to leave the platform—a news story, or any outside link—is brutally punished by their algorithms. It might liberate you from your dependent junkie status, and that can’t be allowed.
But wait, there’s more! Apple, Facebook, and others are now telling you to put on their virtual reality headsets—where you are swallowed up by the stimuli, like those tiny fish in my food chain charts. You’re invited to live as a passive recipient of make-believe experiences, like a pod slave in The Matrix.
The tech CEOs know this is harmful, but they do it anyway. A whistleblower released internal documents showing how Instagram use leads to depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. Mark Zuckerberg was told all the disturbing details.
He doesn’t care. The CEOs all know the score. The more their tech gets used, the worse all the psychic metrics get.
But still, they push aggressively forward—they don’t want to lose market share to the other dopamine cartel members. And with a special focus on children. They figured out what every junk peddler already knows: It’s more profitable to get users locked in while they’re young.
And the virtual reality headsets raise even more issues—because they rewire users’ brains. Experts are already talking about “simulator sickness,” and that’s just the physical nausea, dizziness, and headaches. Imagine the psychic dislocations.
Even the dumbest entertainment looks like Shakespeare compared to dopamine culture. You don’t need Hamlet, a photo of a hamburger will suffice. Or a video of somebody twerking, or a pet looking goofy.
Instead of movies, users get served up an endless sequence of 15-second videos. Instead of symphonies, listeners hear bite-sized melodies, usually accompanied by one of these tiny videos—just enough for a dopamine hit, and no more.
This is the new culture. And its most striking feature is the absence of Culture (with a capital C) or even mindless entertainment—both get replaced by compulsive activity.
Everything is gamified. Anything can be scrollable. You can simulate any boat you row.
But what does this do to our brains? To our lives? To the future?
Here’s where the science gets really ugly. The more addicts rely on these stimuli, the less pleasure they receive. At a certain point, this cycle creates anhedonia—the complete absence of enjoyment in an experience supposedly pursued for pleasure.
That seems like a paradox.
How can pursuing pleasure lead to less pleasure? But that’s how our brains are wired (perhaps as a protective mechanism). At a certain point, addicts still pursue the stimulus, but more to avoid the pain of dopamine deprivation.
People addicted to painkillers have the same experience. Beyond a certain level, opioid dependence actually makes the pain worse.
What happens when this same experience is delivered to everybody, via their phones? The results are devastating, as expert Dr. Len Lantz explains. Even people who thought they were immune to addictive behavior, get destroyed by the cycle:
There is a specific, abnormal brain activation pattern that is present in people who have anhedonia, which is a key feature of major depression, and absent in those who do not. It is often the case that when patients come to me with major depression, they say, “I shouldn’t be depressed. I have a good life. If my friends or coworkers knew I was depressed, they wouldn’t understand or they would be mad at me. They think I have it made. So, why don’t I feel that way?”
We’re now seeing the first effects on a grand social scale of this deadening effect.
The Fallout: Addiction, Anxiety, and Disease
What this pleasure-chasing culture has led to is the very opposite of what it purports to provide. Instead of balanced resilient and appropriate joy experiencing individuals we have:
- Rising rates of dysthymia, depression, anxiety, and addiction
- Chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease
- A decline in community, self-worth, and authentic connection
Reclaiming Happiness: The FOUR Cs
One possible formula bringing clarity and reclamation is offered by Dr. Lustig is the following…
- Connect: Build real relationships and community.
- Contribute: Help others and find purpose.
- Cope: Learn healthy ways to manage stress.
- Cook: Take control of your food—ditch the processed stuff.
These are good protective factors, but a greater vigilance is needed in this very predatorial arena, particularly for the emerging generation.
Building a Cognitive Firewall: How to Resist Manipulation
Beyond pleasure vs. happiness, we also face another threat: cognitive hacking. This is not only part of the above-mentioned issue, but a more insidious and all-to-often unwitting recalibration of one’s worldview and not necessarily in a healthy or sustainable way. It is when dis and mis-information and emotional triggers are used to manipulate how we perceive or see the world and often how we are led to think and act in our interaction with it. If we are not taught how to think but just taught what to think – we don’t have a baseline of reason and rational for a sustainable understanding of the how and why of the world, then we are easily primed for the aforementioned triggers. We then more react than respond. We ‘emote’ don’t think and reason and the affirmation biases harnessed by the ‘dopamine cartels’ ensure you follow their breadcrumbs down their ‘rabbit-hole’ of manufactured consensus.
To help equip you to preferred avoid this mess, or if you’re in it, find your way out, here are some possible tools to help you do that:
- Cognitive Inoculation
- Get familiar with Fact-Checking platforms like Snopes.com
- Play games like Bad News to learn how mis-information works.
- Be grounded in Anthropologically sound worldviews that have tried and practiced values, ethics, principles and strategies that you can anchor too.
- Critical Thinking & Media Literacy
- Develop your ‘Crap Detector’ Everyone needs a working one, and to be tuned well. Some good ‘detector tuning’ platforms are Stand To Reason and Critical Thinking for Beginners
- Practice “lateral reading”: check multiple sources before believing anything.
- This will enable you to always ask better questions of the sources promoting a perspective—especially with viral or emotional content. Practice… Stop – Think – Ask – Reflect/Read – Step Away – Return – Think – then Act
- Fact-Checking Habits
- Use browser tools like NewsCord – News Comparisons or Ground News to better understand what is journalism or simply opinion and perspective pieces and the subsequent news credibility.
- Don’t trust info just because a friend shared it – Always check the source, again, using a tool like Bad News or Snopes before passing it on or acting on it.
- Psychological Resilience
- Again, it’s vital that you be grounded in an Anthropologically sound worldview that have tried and practiced values, ethics, principles and strategies that you can anchor too.
- Train your mindset with reflection and emotional regulation.
- Always pause and be sceptical of grand claims and excessive certainty and double question every ‘guarantee’ or ‘truth’ claim. The three ‘O’s must be investigated before ‘buying in’. Outcomes – What are they or seem to be? Operations – What has and/or is happening and what credible things are being considered to bring this outcome about; and Origins – What is the source of this and is that credible, testable and sound. (shouldn’t be written off or embraced simply by whether or not you like the source or fear associating with it due to ‘cancel cultural’ blow back.
- Education & Training
- Learn about manipulation tactics through scenario-based training. (See above)
- Organisations should build cross-functional teams to detect and respond to narrative attacks.
- Digital Hygiene
- Follow independent fact-checkers and newsletters – i.e. Snopes
- Pause before sharing sensational content—ask, “Is this true?”
- Community & Institutional Support
- Support digital literacy programs and ethical tech policies.
Epilogue
The ‘system’ is currently pitched to create a self-perpetuating, and all too often, addictive feedback loop of transacting for a ‘feel better’ lifestyle – be it by fierce, false, fanciful means or foul.
How we get it and where that lands in the unique entity called the human-being is becoming less and less scrutinised. Subsequently, we are permitting, by default, the hacking of the psyche and the undermining of not only our capacity, but more our agency to be more than a pleasure-seeking biological bag of chemicals.
True happiness goes beyond and is different to pleasure, but it is also only fully realised when we go beyond the one-dimensional perspective of body and brain contexts. The Soul of humanity is more complex and its need for true fulfillment and the holistic euphoria it seeks requires a deeper look into and beyond the all-to-often counterfeit components or easy hack options mentioned here.
However, what is clear, is that we need to be vigilant in our equipping against the ‘hack’ whilst simultaneously embracing and practicing the ‘good’ that makes us hack proof.
Shane Varcoe – Executive Director, Dalgarno Institute.
