41 · P PRACTITIONER
SYNTHESIZED VOICE · NOT A QUOTE
Two billion people carry a supercomputer in their pocket that has been optimized — by the world's smartest engineers — to extract their attention against their own interests. That is not design failure. That is coordination weaponized.*
Synthesized for Knowware from Tristan Harris's published work. Not a quote. knowware.systems/method
OVERVIEW
Former Google design ethicist who exposed Silicon Valley's deliberate exploitation of cognitive vulnerabilities. Co-founded the Center for Humane Technology to reverse the attention economy's race to the bottom of the brainstem. His Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma brought the persuasive technology critique to mass audiences.
WHY THIS VOICE MATTERS TO KNOWWARE
Harris shows what coordination intelligence looks like when it runs in reverse: platforms that optimize the human-machine coordination loop against the human's interests. He maps the failure mode — coordination without consent — and argues that the fix requires designing for the whole person's coordination needs, not just engagement metrics.
OUTSTANDING NOTES
- ◦CommonSense Media Award
- ◦Time 100 Most Influential People (2021)
CLASSIFICATION
PRACTITIONER · TIER P
ch05
METHODS & FRAMEWORKS
5 entries KEY WORKS
- 01 The Social Dilemma (2020, Netflix)
- 02 How Technology Hijacks People's Minds
- 03 Ledger of Harms