
The Billion Dollar Mind Trick: An Intro To Triggers - nireyal
http://www.nirandfar.com/2012/04/billion-dollar-mind-trick.html
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vm
This article skims the surface of habit formation. For a great read on the
topic, checkout the current bestseller: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We
Do In Life and Business. [http://www.amazon.com/The-Power-Habit-What-
Business/dp/14000...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Power-Habit-What-
Business/dp/1400069289)

The jist of it is that we all have habit loops that we respond to without
realizing it. They flow through the cycle of CUE->ROUTINE->REWARD->CRAVE.
Everything starts with a CUE, which triggers the habit. It could be something
as simple as the little red indicator on your iphone app. This is followed by
ROUTINE - or the series of actions that we normally think of as a habit. Next
is the REWARD which can be surprising at times - you might think you get that
cookie after lunch to enjoy the sugar rush, but in reality you might just
enjoy talking to coworkers in the cafeteria. Lastly, for any habit to stick,
you must CRAVE the reward at the end.

The book goes in more depth about how to use this cycle to structure habits in
your own life (I have FINALLY started to workout and wake up early since
reading the book). It also has great case studies about how advertisers,
product managers, people managers, and more are structure these habits to
influence consumers, employees, etc

~~~
astrofinch
I found this book unusually good for a popular nonfiction book, in the sense
that it actually had a decent insights/page count ratio:

[http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Shoot-Dog-Teaching-
Training/dp/05...](http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Shoot-Dog-Teaching-
Training/dp/0553380397)

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Swizec
I still remember learning about this at Doublerecall HQ in Palo Alto. It was
an interesting evening of random charts on a drawing board. The idea was so
profounding everyone had to know, immediately. If I remember correctly Nir and
one of the founders were at a seminar together where the power of triggers was
explained.

That evening I looked at the two websites who have become my daily
destinations almost instantly: Buffer and 750words.

Both send you an email every day. It's not spam. It's a useful and interesting
email. Something you do want to receive.

It changed the way I think of new project ideas forever.

~~~
coopdog
Sounds like they have you under their spell..

(but seriously I'll probably check out those sites now : P)

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jamesaguilar
Meh. In this sense one could become "addicted" to writing in a journal.
"Addict" is quite the pejorative term to use for someone who likes taking and
posting pictures of things.

That said, triggering is a fascinating phenomenon and can be used consciously
on yourself for fun or profit.

~~~
acgourley
Because a journal-writing does not give a variable-reward triggered dopamine
hit after the activity, it does NOT form a habit in the same way instagram
does.

~~~
roc
It _doesn't_? What about blogging?

~~~
paged90
Blogging gives the blogger a rewarding experience of being listened to - I
wouldn't say that's a trigger, people enjoy being heard, so while they have
listeners, they're gonna speak.

The reader on the other hand gets a new post, which could be about anything,
and sometimes the post will be bad, other times good, really good. This will
create a variable reward system, and keep the reader coming back.

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PaperclipTaken
I think these triggers are an important insight into human behavior, not just
because of the profit that can be had by activating them, but because of the
great potential for abuse/utility. On one hand, we see potentially dangerous
abuse of these triggers, such setting people up to waste time on Farmville
style apps or making repetitive comments on Facebook. On the other hand, there
is a potential to train ourselves so that our triggers lead us to more
productive situations. Instead of reading a newsfeed generated by people we
could ultimately care less about, what if our go-to for boredom is performing
some 30 second crowd-sourced task? Or maybe we look at something relevantly
educational, like an elegant programming trick of the day.

For the most part, when I get an internal trigger like boredom or anxiety or
exhaustion, I go to something non-productive, like /r/wtf. But recently I've
been replacing /r/wtf with HN, and while most of the browsing is still
mindless, it's a lot more relevant to my career path and often leads me to
other useful things like 750words.com

Right now, the most successful companies that make use of triggers are mostly
parasitic to our everyday lives, but I'm wondering if that can't change to
become something that we benefit from.

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peter_l_downs
Does anyone have good information on "beating" these triggers? Knowing they
exist is a good start, but I'd love to be able to stop checking FB / Twitter /
HN (gasp) when I'm feeling bored.

~~~
Mz
For me and my sons, mindlessly checking stuff while bored was rooted in health
issues. In other words, we were both bored and too ill for something more
challenging than passive entertainment. Working on underlying health issues
did a lot to change that. Old habits return when we are somewhat under the
weather but it isn't a big issue like it once was.

Best of luck.

~~~
aw3c2
what kind of illness?

~~~
Mz
I happen to have cystic fibrosis, as does my oldest son. I am real sensitive
to dust, chemicals, etc. Having spent some time on alternative med sites, I
have come to believe that allergens, chemicals and the like leave a lot more
people in a mental fog than most people would think.

~~~
aw3c2
Interesting, thanks. I am glad you two are better!

------
sek
Part 2:

The Multi Billion Dollar Mind Trick: Manipulate People by Simulating Success

Computer games are based on psychology, they try to make people think they
accomplished something with as little effort as possible. Millions of people
are addicted to it.

~~~
paged90
Do you think that's it? By that logic, I could make a game that's ridiculously
easy and become a millionaire like that. People will beat it, no effort,
success.

I think there's got to be a perceived effort and learning curve involved.

~~~
scott_w
That can get people hooked initially.

The tricky part is to get people coming back. That involves increasing the
difficulty (but not too much), so the user feels a sense of accomplishment.

Throw in elements of randomness and, voila, you have an addictive game.

There are studies that go into more depth than this, but that's the basic
outline.

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nickpinkston
The article isn't half-bad, but must we always refer to things based on
"Billion Dollar" money-centric thinking. What happening to "world changing",
"breakthrough", etc. hyperbole?

Maybe it's less measurable, but it'd be nice for us to at least frame what we
do as trying to accomplish more than deal digital heroin to make GigaBucks.

~~~
ajays
It's about Instagram, and there are people still mulling the "billion dollar"
figure about Instagram getting acquired by FB.

~~~
nickpinkston
Instagram being cared about because of acquision size is part of this too. I'm
skeptical about what "value" is really created with companies like this. Zygna
seems like a net-loss for society, "they're gonna make billions!" seems to
justify it in the eyes of many...

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pazimzadeh
"The minimalist interface all but removes the need to think. With a click, a
photo is taken and all kinds of sensory and social rewards ensue."

This is drivel. Half of the content is even linkbaited away.

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hosh
This feels nauseating, considering:

\- <http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2011/01/06/the-gollum-effect/>

\- [http://dopamineproject.org/2011/12/the-dopamine-matrix-
where...](http://dopamineproject.org/2011/12/the-dopamine-matrix-where-truth-
is-stranger-than-fiction/)

No wonder we have a recent resurgence in Zombie Apocalypse myths in pop
culture.

I suppose, this too shall pass.

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rfugger
These desire engine articles make me wonder if similar ideas were circulating
around the tobacco industry in the 60's.

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eurleif
Makes me think of "there are no atheists in foxholes". Does religion have a
trigger on despair?

~~~
naa42
This popular phrase often strikes me as untrue. For example, at the end of WWI
number of religious soldiers in Russian army reduced drastically. Church in
Russia collapsed after First World War/Russian Civil War.

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contextfree
I thought this was going to be about database triggers. =\

