Race to the Bottom of the Brain Stem

The race to the bottom of the brain stem names the competitive dynamic among digital platforms to engage neural circuits deeper in the evolutionary stack — circuits more ancient, more powerful, and more resistant to conscious override than the ones their competitors engage. Each generation of engagement technology has reached further down: television engaged the visual-attention circuits evolved to track motion and novelty; social media reached the social-validation circuits evolved to track status and belonging; video games reached the achievement circuits evolved to track skill acquisition; and AI collaboration now reaches the competence circuits associated with productive and creative work — circuits central to human self-concept and therefore the most intimate and most difficult to disengage from.