"Advertisers are not thinking radically enough - they look for technology to lead instead of trying the neuroscience approach and thinking about what parts of the brain haven't been activated before. These new experiences bring new capabilities to the brain"
About this Quote
Lanier’s jab lands because it flips Silicon Valley’s favorite story: that tech is the locomotive and human nature is the caboose. He’s arguing advertisers are chasing whatever new gadget is trending - VR, AI, “interactive” anything - instead of confronting the more unsettling frontier: attention itself as a biological system that can be probed, trained, and, yes, manipulated.
The subtext is a warning dressed up as a provocation. “Neuroscience approach” sounds like innovation-speak, but it’s really a dare: if you think technology is persuasive, wait until you start designing messages around dopamine loops, threat detection, novelty bias, and memory consolidation. Lanier is pointing at the quiet arms race behind modern advertising, where the product isn’t persuasion so much as rewiring. “What parts of the brain haven’t been activated before” is intentionally creepy phrasing; it frames the consumer not as a customer but as unexplored territory.
Context matters: Lanier comes out of the VR world, where “new experiences” isn’t metaphorical. He believes environments can change cognition, not just mood. So when he says new experiences “bring new capabilities,” he’s speaking as an artist who treats perception like a medium. But there’s a double edge: capability for whom? The brain may gain new skills, but the ad industry gains new levers.
His intent isn’t to hand advertisers a playbook; it’s to expose their direction of travel. If tech-led advertising already feels invasive, neuroscience-led advertising would make today’s feed look quaint - not louder, but deeper.
The subtext is a warning dressed up as a provocation. “Neuroscience approach” sounds like innovation-speak, but it’s really a dare: if you think technology is persuasive, wait until you start designing messages around dopamine loops, threat detection, novelty bias, and memory consolidation. Lanier is pointing at the quiet arms race behind modern advertising, where the product isn’t persuasion so much as rewiring. “What parts of the brain haven’t been activated before” is intentionally creepy phrasing; it frames the consumer not as a customer but as unexplored territory.
Context matters: Lanier comes out of the VR world, where “new experiences” isn’t metaphorical. He believes environments can change cognition, not just mood. So when he says new experiences “bring new capabilities,” he’s speaking as an artist who treats perception like a medium. But there’s a double edge: capability for whom? The brain may gain new skills, but the ad industry gains new levers.
His intent isn’t to hand advertisers a playbook; it’s to expose their direction of travel. If tech-led advertising already feels invasive, neuroscience-led advertising would make today’s feed look quaint - not louder, but deeper.
Quote Details
| Topic | Technology |
|---|
More Quotes by Jaron
Add to List
