WEBVTT - Addicted to Tech 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:07.240 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production of I Heart Radios 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:14.120 How Stuff Works. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:17.520 I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 0:00:17.560 --> 0:00:19.560 How Stuff Works in My Heart Radio and I love 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:24.720 all things tech And recently I attended a Techonomy conference 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:27.680 in New York City where people from different parts of 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:32.040 the technology space came together to give presentations and interviews 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:37.320 about stuff like technology, government, society, and business. And most 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:40.240 of the focus of the talk sort of gravitated toward 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:44.960 a big question, will technology save us or will it 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:49.839 destroy us? Now? I think ultimately everyone at that conference 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:54.480 all agreed that that question, while compelling, masks the real question, 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:58.400 which is will we work to save ourselves or will 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:02.640 we allow ourselves to be destroyed? Technology, as it turns out, 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:07.080 is really just a tool. It can facilitate either outcome. 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:12.200 The determining factor, however, is us how we design and 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:16.440 implement that technology. Now, that being said, technology can have 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:20.839 real effects on us, and sometimes we might not even 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:24.120 be fully aware of those effects. There was a lot 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:27.600 of talk during the conference about how we tend to 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:31.200 think about the Internet as a connective tissue that allows 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:35.280 us to communicate with practically anyone anywhere on Earth. For 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:38.280 many years, that was how we described the Internet. In fact, 0:01:38.319 --> 0:01:40.920 I would argue we still describe the Internet in this fashion. 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:45.400 It's this global network of networks and you can easily 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:48.960 get in contact with practically anybody at a moment's notice. 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:52.520 But in reality, we've seen the Internet also serve as 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:57.040 a means of creating silos of people who grow increasingly 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:01.440 separated and insulated from each other, mostly from people who 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:04.000 don't share their views, so they all end up an 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:10.080 individual echo chambers that reinforce their views while simultaneously dismissing 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:13.520 or denying the views of other people. So rather than 0:02:13.639 --> 0:02:18.480 a uniting force, the Internet is enabling greater division than ever. 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:22.200 And there are a lot of reasons for that. And 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.320 you could even argue that that is too narrow a view, 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:29.320 that yes, that is happening, but it may be that 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:31.359 that's not the only thing is happening, or not even 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:34.120 the primary thing that's happening. So maybe someday I'm going 0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:36.120 to do a full episode or or perhaps even a 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:39.360 short series about that topic. But today I just wanted 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:43.560 to look at one specific component of this overall picture 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:48.680 that factors into these discussions, and that component is addiction 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:52.960 to technology, and addiction is a strong word. Uh, it 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:56.280 may not be fully appropriate to use the word addiction, 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:58.440 but it is the one that a lot of people 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:01.040 do use to describe the kind of behaviors I'll be 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:05.720 talking about. So for the purposes of simplicity, I'm going 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:08.640 to use the word largely because I don't have an 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:14.280 alternative that is as good at summing up the general meaning. Now, 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:19.240 to understand the ideas behind this addictive nature of technology, 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:22.000 I thought we could look at an older tech that 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:25.280 I've covered before, and uh, it's from a Tech Stuff 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:30.160 classic episode. I'm talking about slot machines. The technology of 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:33.840 slot machines, when you really boil it down, is pretty simple, 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:38.000 But the principle behind slot machines depends upon something that 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:40.640 has nothing to do with the technology when you really 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:44.880 boil it all down. Instead, it's depending upon human psychology 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:47.880 and how through technology we can exploit the way we 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:52.200 humans behave and make a profit from that behavior, because 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:54.320 that's at the very heart of what we're looking at 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:58.040 in tech today. Now, just in case you aren't familiar 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:02.040 with a slot machine, it's like ambling device. Typically it 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:05.440 has a panel that has divided up into columns, and 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:08.160 each column is a reel or a wheel, if you 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:09.680 can think of it that way. But it's a reel 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:13.640 that has a selection of symbols on the outer side 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:16.800 of that reel. So you put whatever the amount of 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:19.599 money is into the slot machine for that particular machine. 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:22.800 You know they're penny slots, they're hundred dollar slots, and 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:26.440 then of course if you're in another country, it'll relate 0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:29.479 to whatever currency that country uses. But then you after 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:31.640 you put the money in, you typically will pull a lever, 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:35.520 or more frequently you'll push a button, and the reels 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:38.440 begin to spin. The reels, by the way, it can 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:40.520 be physical or they can be virtual. They can be 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:43.960 digital reels on a video screen, or they can be 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:49.719 actual physical reels that are spinning on a electro mechanical spindle. 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:54.160 Then each reel stops. Typically they stop left to right, 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:56.960 so if it's a three reel slot machine, it would 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:59.600 go one to three, and if you have the right 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:03.400 symbol that are aligned in a specific way, you win. 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:07.920 There's no skill involved in playing a slot machine. There's 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:11.760 only chance the symbols, like I said, could be permanently 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:14.880 affixed to those physical wheels, or it could be a 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:17.479 video screen that simulates a spinning wheel. I know people 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:20.080 who won't play those games because they think of them 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:23.280 as being somehow fixed that the video screen can show 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:28.520 you any any, any collection of symbols at once, quote 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:32.039 unquote it once, whereas a physical machine is different. But 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:35.720 here's a secret, they're not really different at all. Now, 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:39.480 some games will allow you to add in extra features, 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:42.880 like you could play multiple credits at once, which typically 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:45.760 means you get an increased payout if you do happen 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:49.480 to win um, but it could also unlock extra features 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:53.080 such as numerous potential lines that could represent a win. Typically, 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:56.800 on a very basic machine, the three symbols have to 0:05:56.880 --> 0:06:01.160 line up in the center of each of those slots, 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:04.120 and it has to be the same symbol on all 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:07.279 three reels, and then you win. If one of those 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:09.680 is offset, if it's a little too high or a 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:12.280 little too low, it's the same symbol as the first two, 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:15.560 but it's not in line, then it doesn't count. Some 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:19.320 slot machines allow you to have multiple lines of play 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:23.920 so that you can actually have those count, But otherwise 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:26.280 there's not really that's not really skill. It's just that 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:31.400 you're spending more money for a slightly increased chance of 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:35.280 winning something. Um now I say slightly, and even that 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:37.560 is a little misleading, because at the heart of a 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:42.240 modern slot machine, there's a microchip that determines what result 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:45.360 you're going to get, and typically it's based off the 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:48.279 exact moment you either pull the lever or you push 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:51.719 the button. When you do that, it stops a random 0:06:51.880 --> 0:06:55.000 number generator or r n G, and that r NGG 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:58.600 is just cycling through millions or even billions of numbers 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:01.840 for every set, and it's just going super fast. So 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:06.000 the moment it stops that number is what determines whether 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:10.280 or not you've won. It determines which stop each wheel 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:12.880 or reel will hit. So you can think of that 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:17.120 real is having numerous stops, some of which correspond to 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:19.720 a symbol and some of which correspond to the blank 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:24.080 space between symbols, and this random number generator figures out 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:28.040 which ones those are for any given spin, and so 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:30.520 it determines whether or not you win. In fact, you 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:33.800 could technically strip all that other stuff out of a 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:37.280 slot machine, the reels, the symbols, all that stuff, all 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:39.679 the bells, and whistles. You could just have a random 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:44.800 number generator, and you could just have a schedule or 0:07:44.840 --> 0:07:49.720 a sheet that indicates whether any particular number represents a win, 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:52.600 and that would be the same thing, but you lose 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:56.480 the theater of slot machines, the presentation, which is part 0:07:56.480 --> 0:08:00.160 of the appeal. So you could do that where just 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:02.040 have a random number of generator. It tells you whether 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:04.760 you want or lost, but that's not nearly as sexy 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:08.280 as the slot machine. Modern slot machines use a lot 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:12.240 of sensory stimuli to kind of entice and reward players. So, 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:15.600 as I said, there's no skill in the game, there's 0:08:15.680 --> 0:08:20.600 not really any way to meaningfully improve your chances. You 0:08:20.640 --> 0:08:23.280 could boost a payout, but your chance of actually hitting 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:26.840 a payout doesn't improve. Um, you could add lines of 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:30.720 play and that might move the needle a little bit, 0:08:30.760 --> 0:08:34.080 but so little that it doesn't make a huge difference. 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:37.760 And also, when you pay more money when you do lose, 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:39.880 it means you're losing more money on that spend than 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:42.520 you would on a regular spend. So how the heck 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:45.480 are slot machines even popular if the odds are bad 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:48.760 and you know the payouts are rare and it's all 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:51.240 based on random number of generators. How can they be 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:55.080 so popular? And when I say popular, I mean really popular. 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:57.920 If you visit a casino, especially in the United States, 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:01.440 they typically slop sans will typically take up about eight 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:05.079 percent of the casino floor space on the playing floor, 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:07.960 which means that you only have twenty percent reserved for 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:11.600 things like table games, like games like black jack and 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:15.520 roulette and craps and that kind of stuff. So slot 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:19.080 machines dominate the physical space of casinos. They also can 0:09:19.120 --> 0:09:22.400 account for between seventy to eight percent of the profits 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:26.040 for the house. It's big business. There's some regions in 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:28.720 the United States where gambling is legal, but the only 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:32.120 type of gambling that's allowed our slot machines. So what's 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:34.560 going on? How come they're so popular if it's just 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:37.839 a random number generator. Well, at the heart of it 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:41.320 is the psychology behind playing a slot machine, and it's 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:46.239 pretty ingenious and more than a little scary. The psychological 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:49.920 design is largely based off the work of a famous 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:54.880 psychologist named B. F. Skinner, who heavily researched human behavior. 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:58.560 So back in the nineteen thirties, B F. Skinner researched 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:03.200 what he was calling operant conditioning. This is a method 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:07.320 of learning that relies upon either rewards or punishment for 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:10.280 a combination of the two, and the basic principle is 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:13.760 pretty darn easy to understand. If a behavior is followed 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:17.560 by pleasant consequences, were more likely to engage in that 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:23.120 behavior again. If it results in unpleasant consequences, were more 0:10:23.160 --> 0:10:27.520 likely to avoid engaging in that behavior, which again follows 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:30.240 common sense right. If you do something and something good 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:33.040 happens as a result, you're more likely to do it again. 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:35.240 If you do something and something bad happens to you, 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:37.800 you're probably not as eager to try it again. So 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:39.959 if I bite into a chocolate bar, I'm going to 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:42.400 have the sense of pleasure as I taste the chocolate, 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:43.920 and I'm gonna think, oh, I want to do that 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:46.760 again in the future. But if I bide into i 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:50.000 don't know, an old sneaker, I'm probably not gonna enjoy 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:52.160 it very much, and I'm probably not likely to go 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:54.480 and do that again in the future. So by the 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:59.080 nineteen forties, Skinner developed what he called an operant conditioning box. 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:03.440 Just about everyone else uses the term Skinner box, and 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:06.040 it was a box that you would put a small 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:09.360 animal into, like a rat or a pigeon, and typically 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:12.760 would have a lever in the box. UM there would 0:11:12.800 --> 0:11:17.520 be in the classic skinner box and electric grid on 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:21.320 the floor. UM. Some of them would also have speakers, 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:25.120 a couple of indicator lights, and a food cup. And 0:11:25.200 --> 0:11:27.680 he would put animals like pigeons or rats in the 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:30.400 box and train them to see how or not even 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:34.120 train them, just really letting them learn. Through this method, 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:36.880 he wanted to sort out three types of responses that 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:41.520 can follow any given behavior. So these responses or operant 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:46.120 fall into three categories. There's neutral oprint uh, this has 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:49.080 no effect on the probability that a particular behavior would 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:53.200 be repeated or not. Then you have reinforcers. This is 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:57.560 a type of operant that would encourage behavior repetition and 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:01.240 thus increase the probability that the critter inside the box 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:05.000 would do whatever that thing was again in the future. 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:10.240 And reinforcers can be either positive reinforcers or negative reinforcers. 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:15.760 A positive reinforcement encourages repeated behavior in return for a reward. Well, 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:21.679 a negative reinforcement encourages repeated behavior by removing something unpleasant. 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:28.079 So some people will conflate negative reinforcement with punishment. Those 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:31.040 are two different things. Punishment is the third operant. By 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:36.880 the way, punishment is where you punish a subject for 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:41.360 making the wrong choice, as opposed to rewarding a subject 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:45.320 for making the right choice. Negative reinforcement remains removing something 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:49.800 unpleasant when the person or a thing makes the correct choice. 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:55.040 So for example, let's say that I've got a room 0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:58.600 and there's a button on a little table in the room, 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:03.000 and you are put into the room, and then the 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:07.680 ramans are blasting at a very uncomfortable volume, and you 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:11.440 want to just have some peace and quiet, and you 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:13.280 know that if you push the button it will stop 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:17.920 the um the ramons blasting at you. The behavior I'm 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:19.800 trying to get you to do is to push the button. 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:24.320 So you push the button, the negative stimuli goes away. 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:28.200 That's negative reinforcement. Uh, And when it comes back, you 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:31.040 push the button again. So now I have essentially trained 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:34.240 you on this behavior where you know if you push 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:36.800 the button you will prevent having the ramones blasted at you. 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:39.840 The positive reinforcement would be you come in, You're in 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:42.160 a room, there's a table with a button on it, 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:44.560 You push the button and then you get a reward 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:47.320 of some sort like a slice of pizza or something. 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:54.199 So those are the basic operant categories neutral reinforcers punishment. 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:58.480 So a typical experiment when involved putting a hungry rat 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:02.040 inside a Skinner box and if the rat were to 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:05.360 move the lever, typically it was done accidentally as the 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:08.920 rat was just exploring its box. UH. That would cause 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:11.960 a pellet of food to fall down a little shoot 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:15.040 into the food cup inside the box, and so the 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:18.320 rat would then get a food pellet, and before long 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:21.560 the rats would learn to associate that moving the lever 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:25.240 meant that a food pellet would come down, and so 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:27.840 they would start to press the lever again and again 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:31.360 in order to get the rewards. Uh. Skinner also did 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:34.080 an experiment with negative reinforcement in which he would run 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:37.520 a weak current through that electric grid in the box, 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:40.960 which would cause the rats to experience discomfort. It wasn't 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:45.360 like a strong enough electric current to truly shock the rat, 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:49.280 but it was not a pleasant sensation, and hitting the 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:52.000 lever would shut off the current for a while. So 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:54.840 the rats would learn to hit the lever and turn 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:57.480 off the current as quickly as possible. Now that bit 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:00.600 doesn't really fall into what we use was lot machines, 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:03.120 because as far as I know, casinos aren't using negative 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:06.600 reinforcement to keep people playing, at least not yet. However, 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:10.440 Skinner then went a step further to learn more about 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:13.360 the reinforcement method of learning. He wanted to see what 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:17.120 would happen if you were to change the schedule of reinforcement. 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:21.280 What happens if you stop dispensing pellets when the rat 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:23.920 hits the lever? So first the rat learns that hitting 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:27.720 the lever dispenses pellets, Then you stop dispensing pellets. How 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:30.560 many times will the rat hit the lever before it 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:33.880 gives up, before it realizes that the thing that was 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:36.760 working is no longer working and that behavior fades away. 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:40.360 How long does it take for it to abandon that behavior. 0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:43.920 Skinner worked with other behavioral lists to determine things like 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:48.080 response rate, which is how frequently an animal like a 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:50.720 rat would hit the lever in an effort to get 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:53.880 a pellet, and the extinction rate, and that's the rate 0:15:53.920 --> 0:15:56.280 at which animals would give up if they were not 0:15:56.320 --> 0:16:00.680 being rewarded. Then, by adjusting the frequencies at which a 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:03.840 reward would come out. Skinner and others could determine the 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:07.200 balance that would encourage the most work for the slowest 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:10.680 rate of extinction. So, in other words, how frequently do 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:13.840 you need to dispense a reward so that the rat 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:18.120 doesn't give up and is incentivized to continue engaging in 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:21.880 that behavior. Skinner discovered that the best approach was to 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:25.640 use a variable ratio method, meaning there was no set 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:30.200 number of lever pushes needed between rewards. It would change. 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:32.640 So it might be that the first time you hit 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:35.160 the lever you get a pellet. Then you have to 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:37.800 hit the lever four more times before the next pellet 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:40.840 comes out. Then two times and another pellet comes out, 0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:43.560 then three times and another pellet comes out. And they 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:46.880 found that by using this variable ratio approach, you could 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:50.040 extend the amount of time that the animal would engage 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:53.640 in the behavior you wanted it to do. Now, I 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:56.640 would like to tell you that we human beings are 0:16:56.680 --> 0:17:00.160 better than rats, but as it turns out that it's 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:03.960 not true. We humans behave the same way, and that's 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:07.760 what the design of slot machines is ultimately predicated upon. 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:12.080 A slot machine promises payouts. In fact, a lot of 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:18.240 slot machines in casinos have a payout rate of or more, meaning, 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:21.760 over the life span of the slot machine, it will 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:25.240 pay out about of the money it takes in in 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:27.720 the long run. But the key phrase of that is 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:31.359 in the long run, not in a play session. Over 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:35.199 the entire lifetime of the slot machine, the likelihood of 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:39.040 any one spin resulting in a jackpot is very low. 0:17:39.359 --> 0:17:42.320 It could be just a fraction of a fraction of 0:17:42.359 --> 0:17:46.760 a percentage point. Lower payouts have better odds, and if 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:49.480 you sit at a slot machine long enough, you're likely 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:52.600 to at least get a low payout hit. Now, that 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:54.720 hit might not be enough to offset the amount of 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:57.200 money you poured into the machine. In fact, more often 0:17:57.200 --> 0:18:00.280 than not it won't be, but it could be enough 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:03.320 to keep you playing the game, and that's the rub. 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:07.399 Here are a couple of other tricks that slot machines 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:10.080 used in order to keep you playing the game. The 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:13.480 odds of a specific combination coming up depends in part 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:17.119 on how many of the corresponding symbols there are on 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:20.880 the stops of each wheel or reel in that machine. 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:25.480 So let's say you've gotten old fashioned three real slot machine. 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:29.000 It's a physical one. You've got these three wheels, uh, 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:31.520 and on that outer edge you've got the symbols on them. 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:35.919 And the symbols include things like cherries and oranges and 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:38.560 the good old bar sign. And let's say that the 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:41.920 the jackpot symbol is a bag of money. It's got 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:44.280 a bag and a little dollar symbol on it, and 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:47.680 that represents the really big jackpot. Each reel also has 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:50.320 a number of stops on it, and these are all 0:18:50.400 --> 0:18:53.119 the possible positions the real could be and when it 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:57.320 stops rotating, which is completely determined by that microchip. Some 0:18:57.440 --> 0:18:59.920 of those stops have a symbol associated with them, you know, 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:01.960 a cherry or an orange or the bag of money. 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:05.400 Some of the stops actually represent the blank space between 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:08.600 symbols on the reel. So let's say our machine has 0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:12.600 fifty stops per real, so each reel could stop in 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:17.720 one of fifty different configurations. The bag of money represents 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:21.040 just one stop on each of the three reels. So 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:23.080 you do have a bag of money on real one, 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:25.720 Reel two, and Real three, but you have forty nine 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:28.600 other things on those reels as well. So what are 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:31.359 the odds that you would hit all three of those well, 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:33.679 it's one out of fifty times one out of fifty 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:35.920 times one out of fifty and then multiplying by a 0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:38.760 hundred to get the percentage, which comes out to point 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:44.320 zero zero zero eight chance. That's the chance you have 0:19:44.359 --> 0:19:47.280 of hitting the jackpot. Not great odds. But we're not 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:50.040 done yet. I'll explain more in just a second, but 0:19:50.119 --> 0:20:00.040 first let's take a quick break. All right. So I 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:03.520 mentioned earlier that the big jackpot might have a really 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:07.159 low likelihood of popping up. But slot machine manufacturers have 0:20:07.280 --> 0:20:10.840 come up with ways to avoid discouraging players. They built 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:13.720 in systems that would make it more likely that that 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:16.879 bag of money symbol, for example, might appear lined up 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:20.199 on the first two reels more frequently, which gives the 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:23.800 player the sense of a near miss. So you get 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:27.080 a bag of money, a bag of money, and oh, 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:31.800 shoot cherries or a blank spot. That's nothing right there. 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:34.080 There's no payout with that, but it feels like it 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:37.399 was almost something because you had two out of the 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:40.000 three bags you needed to hit the jackpot. It's like 0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:42.760 you almost got that big payout, but in reality, you 0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:46.199 didn't almost do anything at all. You've got a result 0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:49.600 based on a random number generator in the machines circuitry 0:20:49.640 --> 0:20:53.040 that amounted to a loss. The way the machine displayed 0:20:53.080 --> 0:20:55.720 that loss to you was in a way that made 0:20:55.760 --> 0:20:58.399 it seem like it was almost a win. So to us, 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:01.720 it feels like we near really grabbed that brass ring, 0:21:02.359 --> 0:21:05.120 so if we just stick at it, we're gonna get it. Meanwhile, 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:08.840 other symbols might take up far more space on the reels, 0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:11.800 symbols that would result in a much lower payout, thus 0:21:11.840 --> 0:21:14.919 increasing the likelihood that you'll at least get some combination 0:21:14.920 --> 0:21:17.440 that represents a more modest wind if you play long enough. 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:21.840 At least that's the way it looks on the outside right, 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:25.000 that the odds of hitting a low payout might be 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:31.120 closer to So we get two types of rewards. One 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:34.000 are of these small payouts, which, if the machine is 0:21:34.040 --> 0:21:36.840 working properly, tends to be less than what we've poured 0:21:36.920 --> 0:21:39.360 into the machine in the first place, or at least 0:21:39.359 --> 0:21:41.600 the payout is less than what the machine has been 0:21:41.600 --> 0:21:45.000 collecting for that day. And another are these near misses 0:21:45.400 --> 0:21:48.360 that make us feel like we're getting closer to that goal. Now. 0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:51.200 Once in a blue moon, these machines will do the 0:21:51.280 --> 0:21:56.040 jackpot payout Uh, that's part of what keeps people playing 0:21:56.080 --> 0:21:58.879 these games is the promise that it can happen, but 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:01.840 it doesn't happen freak ly. The odds alone tell you 0:22:02.000 --> 0:22:05.200 that it's pretty rare. Now, in addition to all that, 0:22:06.119 --> 0:22:08.919 we humans are also really good at recognizing patterns. This 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:12.080 becomes more important with video slot machines. In fact, we're 0:22:12.119 --> 0:22:15.639 so good at recognizing patterns we will frequently perceive a 0:22:15.640 --> 0:22:18.280 pattern where there is no pattern, or at least no 0:22:18.359 --> 0:22:21.800 pattern that has been consciously created. So, for example, when 0:22:21.800 --> 0:22:24.360 you look at clouds and you see faces in them 0:22:24.480 --> 0:22:28.240 or other complex shapes, that's your brain applying a pattern 0:22:28.320 --> 0:22:31.960 to something that is actually random and not ordered. With 0:22:32.040 --> 0:22:35.040 slot machines, we're looking at the creation of patterns. Three 0:22:35.040 --> 0:22:37.880 symbols in a row would be a pattern. So there's 0:22:37.880 --> 0:22:40.879 another little psychological boost that keeps us playing even if 0:22:40.920 --> 0:22:42.960 we're not in a lucky streak, because we're looking for 0:22:43.000 --> 0:22:46.080 those patterns. We find that very satisfying. Now, there are 0:22:46.119 --> 0:22:48.199 a lot of people who give advice on how to 0:22:48.320 --> 0:22:50.879 play slot machines well, but at the very end of 0:22:50.920 --> 0:22:53.719 the day, you have to acknowledge the slot machines are 0:22:53.760 --> 0:22:57.640 designed to take money. There's no way to skillfully play 0:22:57.680 --> 0:23:00.360 a slot machine. You can use some wisdom to help 0:23:00.359 --> 0:23:03.480 pick out machines that might have more favorable odds for 0:23:03.560 --> 0:23:07.239 a payout, but those odds are are favorable because they 0:23:07.320 --> 0:23:11.920 ultimately benefit the house. You have very few decisions when 0:23:11.920 --> 0:23:14.400 it comes to playing a slot machine, and generally speaking, 0:23:15.280 --> 0:23:19.240 in house games, in casino games, gambling games, you narrow 0:23:19.280 --> 0:23:22.560 the odds between you and the house in those games 0:23:22.560 --> 0:23:25.920