random reinforcement

Random Interface Palsy and the Death of Democracy

(Original: GOS, 1/29/15) We've spent forty years boiling our critical thinking skills to mush. Some people blame the content providers: TV/ tabloid TV/ reality TV; violent video games; all the voyeuristic, solipsistic crapola on the Internet. Me, I blame the humble interface - that is, the buttons you push (or, lately, the hand gestures you make) to control access to the "content". These interfaces have proliferated faster than Star Trek tribbles; and they are driving everyone nuts.