What YouTube Taught Me About Human Nature
🔍 Key insights
Social media as a mirror of human nature – Online anonymity strips away consequences, revealing both our selfish instincts (Hobbes) and our potential for reason and empathy (Rousseau).
The algorithm as sovereign – YouTube’s algorithm rewards click-through and watch time, pushing creators toward manipulation and sensationalism.
The burnout trap – Byung-Chul Han’s “achievement subject” explains why creators (myself included) internalize pressure, chasing validation until we exploit ourselves.
📚 Go deeper
🎥 Related videos:
Tristan Harris — “How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day” – A clear primer on how design and incentives hijack attention
WSJ — “How TikTok’s Algorithm Figures You Out” – A data-driven investigation using bot accounts to reveal how watch time steers the For You page
Veritasium — “Clickbait is Unreasonably Effective” – Why CTR, titles, and thumbnails dominate outcomes—and what that means for creators and viewers
📖 Further reading:
Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, Everybody Lies – A fascinating dive into what search data reveals about our hidden nature.
Byung-Chul Han, The Burnout Society – Essential for understanding how achievement culture ties into platforms like YouTube.
💡 Think for Yourself
When does persuasion cross the line into manipulation, especially online?
Are we building communities on social media, or just competing for attention?
☁️ Thought Experiment
Imagine a world where every video you watch is decided by an algorithm that knows your fears and desires better than you do. Would you still call your choices “free,” or is freedom reshaped by what you never even see?
Cheers,
Kevin