How Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google manipulate our emotions
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0:00 - 0:04[This talk contains graphic language
Viewer discretion is advised] -
0:05 - 0:08So, this is the first and the last slide
-
0:08 - 0:12each of my 6,400 students
over the last 15 years has seen. -
0:12 - 0:16I do not believe you can build
a multibillion-dollar organization -
0:16 - 0:21unless you are clear on which instinct
or organ you are targeting. -
0:21 - 0:24Our species has a need for a superbeing.
-
0:25 - 0:28Our competitive advantage
as a species is our brain. -
0:28 - 0:31Our brain is robust enough to ask
these really difficult questions, -
0:31 - 0:34but, unfortunately, it doesn't have
the processing power to answer them, -
0:34 - 0:37which creates a need for a superbeing
-
0:37 - 0:39that we can pray to
and look to for answers. -
0:39 - 0:40What is prayer?
-
0:40 - 0:43Sending a query into the universe,
-
0:43 - 0:45and hopefully there's some sort
of divine intervention -- -
0:45 - 0:48we don't need to understand
what's going on -- -
0:48 - 0:50from an all-knowing, all-seeing superbeing
-
0:50 - 0:54that gives us authority
that this is the right answer. -
0:54 - 0:57"Will my kid be all right?"
-
0:57 - 0:58You have your planet of stuff,
-
0:58 - 1:00you have your planet of work,
-
1:00 - 1:02you have your planet of friends.
-
1:02 - 1:03If you have kids,
-
1:03 - 1:06you know that once something
comes off the rails with your kids, -
1:06 - 1:08everything melts,
-
1:08 - 1:11in your universe
to the Sun that is your kids. -
1:11 - 1:13"Will my kid be all right?"
-
1:13 - 1:18"Symptoms and treatment of croup"
in the Google query box. -
1:18 - 1:22One in six queries presented to Google
have never been asked before -
1:22 - 1:23in the history of mankind.
-
1:23 - 1:28What priest, teacher, rabbi, scholar,
mentor, boss has so much credibility -
1:28 - 1:31that one in six questions
posed to that person -
1:31 - 1:33have never been asked before?
-
1:33 - 1:36Google is our modern man's God.
-
1:36 - 1:40Imagine your face and your name
above everything you've put into that box, -
1:40 - 1:44and you're going to realize
you trust Google more than any entity -
1:44 - 1:46in your history.
-
1:46 - 1:47(Laughter)
-
1:47 - 1:49Let's move further down the torso.
-
1:49 - 1:51(Laughter)
-
1:51 - 1:53One of the other wonderful things
about our species -
1:53 - 1:57is we not only need to be loved,
but we need to love others. -
1:57 - 2:00Children with poor nutrition
but a lot of affection -
2:00 - 2:04have better outcomes than children
with good nutrition and poor affection. -
2:05 - 2:08However, the best signal
that you might make it -
2:08 - 2:12to be part of the number-one fastest
growing demographic in the world -- -
2:12 - 2:14centenarians, people
who live to triple digits -- -
2:14 - 2:16there are three signals.
-
2:16 - 2:20In reverse order: your genetics --
not as important as you'd like to think, -
2:20 - 2:22so you can continue to treat
your body like shit -
2:22 - 2:24and think, "Oh, Uncle Joe lived to 95,
-
2:24 - 2:25the die have been cast."
-
2:25 - 2:27It's less important than you think.
-
2:27 - 2:28Number two is lifestyle.
-
2:28 - 2:31Don't smoke, don't be obese,
and prescreen -- -
2:31 - 2:34get rid of about two-thirds
of early cancers -
2:34 - 2:35and cardiovascular disease.
-
2:35 - 2:39The number one indicator or signal
that you'll make it to triple digits: -
2:39 - 2:42How many people do you love?
-
2:43 - 2:46Caretaking is the security camera --
-
2:46 - 2:48we call the low-resolution
security camera in our brain -- -
2:48 - 2:51deciding whether or not
you are adding value. -
2:51 - 2:54Facebook taps into our instinctive need
not only to be loved, -
2:54 - 2:56but to love others,
-
2:56 - 2:58mostly through pictures
that create empathy, -
2:58 - 3:00catalyze and reinforce our relationships.
-
3:00 - 3:03Let's continue our journey down the torso.
-
3:04 - 3:06Amazon is our consumptive gut.
-
3:06 - 3:09The instinct of more is hardwired into us.
-
3:10 - 3:14The penalty for too little
is starvation and malnutrition. -
3:14 - 3:16Open your cupboards, open your closets,
-
3:16 - 3:19you have 10 to 100x times what you need.
-
3:19 - 3:21Why?
-
3:21 - 3:23Because the penalty
for too little is much greater -
3:23 - 3:25than the penalty for too much.
-
3:25 - 3:29So "more for less" is a business strategy
that never goes out of style. -
3:29 - 3:31It's the strategy of China,
-
3:31 - 3:32it's a the strategy of Walmart,
-
3:32 - 3:36and now it's the strategy of the most
successful company in the world, -
3:36 - 3:37Amazon.
-
3:37 - 3:39You get more for less into your gut;
-
3:39 - 3:43digest, send it to your muscular
and skeletal system of consumption. -
3:43 - 3:45Moving further,
-
3:45 - 3:48once we know we will survive,
the basic instinct, -
3:48 - 3:51we move to the second
most powerful instinct, -
3:51 - 3:55and that is to spread and select
the strongest, smartest and fastest seed -
3:55 - 3:57to the four corners of the earth,
-
3:57 - 4:00or pick the best seed.
-
4:00 - 4:01This is not a timepiece.
-
4:01 - 4:03I haven't wound it in five years.
-
4:03 - 4:06It's my vain attempt to say to people,
-
4:06 - 4:09"If you mate with me,
your children are more likely to survive -
4:09 - 4:11than if you mate with someone
wearing a Swatch watch." -
4:11 - 4:13(Laughter)
-
4:13 - 4:17The key to business is tapping into
the irrational organs. -
4:17 - 4:21"Irrational" is Harvard Business School's
and New York Business School's term -
4:21 - 4:25for fat profit margins
and shareholder value. -
4:25 - 4:27"High-caloric paste for your children."
-
4:27 - 4:29No?
-
4:29 - 4:31You love your choosy mom.
-
4:31 - 4:34Why choosy moms choose Jif:
you love your kids more. -
4:34 - 4:37The greatest algorithm for shareholder
creation from World War II -
4:37 - 4:39to the advent of Google
-
4:39 - 4:42was taking an average product
and appealing to people's hearts. -
4:42 - 4:45You're a better a mom,
a better person, a better patriot -
4:45 - 4:48if you buy this average soap
versus this average soap. -
4:48 - 4:52Now, the number one algorithm
for shareholder value isn't technology. -
4:52 - 4:53Look at the Forbes 400.
-
4:53 - 4:55Take out inherited wealth,
take out finance. -
4:55 - 4:58The number one source of wealth creation:
-
4:58 - 5:00appealing to your reproductive organs.
-
5:00 - 5:05The Lauders; the number
one wealthiest man in Europe, LVMH. -
5:05 - 5:07Numbers two and three: H&M and Inditex.
-
5:07 - 5:13You want to target the most
irrational organs for shareholder value. -
5:13 - 5:17As a result, these four companies --
Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google -- -
5:17 - 5:19have disarticulated who we are.
-
5:19 - 5:21God, love, consumption, sex.
-
5:21 - 5:25The proportion in your approach
to those things is who you are, -
5:25 - 5:29and they have reassembled who we are
in the form of for-profit companies. -
5:29 - 5:31At the end of the Great Recession,
-
5:31 - 5:33the market capitalization
of these companies was equivalent -
5:33 - 5:35to the GDP of Niger.
-
5:35 - 5:37Now it is equivalent to the GDP of India,
-
5:37 - 5:41having blown past
Russia and Canada in '13 and '14. -
5:41 - 5:42There are only five nations
-
5:42 - 5:46that have a GDP greater
than the combined market capitalization -
5:46 - 5:47of these four firms.
-
5:47 - 5:49Something is happening, though.
-
5:50 - 5:54The conversation just a year ago
was, which CEO was more Jesus-like? -
5:54 - 5:57Who was running for president?
-
5:57 - 5:58Now the worm has turned.
-
5:58 - 6:00Everything they're doing is bothering us.
-
6:00 - 6:02We're worried they're tax avoiders.
-
6:02 - 6:06Walmart, since the Great Recession,
has paid 64 billion dollars -
6:06 - 6:07in corporate income tax;
-
6:07 - 6:09Amazon has paid 1.4.
-
6:10 - 6:13How do we pay our firefighters,
our soldiers and our social workers -
6:13 - 6:17if the most successful companies
in the world don't pay their fair share? -
6:17 - 6:18Pretty easy.
-
6:18 - 6:21That means the less successful
companies have to pay -
6:21 - 6:22more than their fair share.
-
6:22 - 6:24Alexa, is this a good thing?
-
6:24 - 6:26This is despite that fact --
-
6:26 - 6:27(Laughter)
-
6:27 - 6:29This is despite the fact
-
6:30 - 6:34that Amazon has added the entire
market capitalization of Walmart -
6:34 - 6:38to its market cap in the last 19 months.
-
6:40 - 6:43Whose fault is it? It's our fault.
-
6:43 - 6:46We're electing regulators
who don't have the backbone -
6:47 - 6:49to actually go after these companies.
-
6:49 - 6:51Facebook lies to EU regulators
-
6:51 - 6:54and says, "It would be impossible
for us to share the data -
6:54 - 6:58between our core platform
and our proposed acquisition of WhatsApp. -
6:58 - 6:59Approve the merger."
-
6:59 - 7:03They approve the merger and then --
spoiler alert! -- they figure it out. -
7:03 - 7:05And the EU says, "I feel lied to.
-
7:05 - 7:08We're fining you 120 [million] dollars,"
-
7:08 - 7:13about .6 percent of the acquisition price
of 19 billion dollars. -
7:13 - 7:15If Mark Zuckerberg could take out
an insurance policy -
7:15 - 7:18that the acquisition would
go through for .6 percent, -
7:18 - 7:19wouldn't he do it?
-
7:19 - 7:21Anticompetitive behavior.
-
7:22 - 7:24A two-and-a-half-billion-dollar fine,
-
7:24 - 7:27three billion of the cash flow,
-
7:27 - 7:30three percent of the cash
on Google's balance sheet. -
7:30 - 7:33We are telling these companies,
"The smart thing to do, -
7:34 - 7:36the shareholder-driven thing to do,
-
7:36 - 7:38is to lie and to cheat."
-
7:38 - 7:42We are issuing 25-cent parking tickets
-
7:42 - 7:45on a meter that costs 100 dollars an hour.
-
7:45 - 7:46The smart thing to do is lie.
-
7:46 - 7:47Job destruction!
-
7:48 - 7:51Amazon only needs one person
for two at Macy's. -
7:51 - 7:54If they grow their business 20 billion
dollars this year, which they will, -
7:54 - 7:57we will lose 53,000 cashiers and clerks.
-
7:57 - 7:58This is nothing unusual;
-
7:58 - 8:00this has happened all through our economy,
-
8:00 - 8:03we've just never seen
companies this good at it. -
8:03 - 8:05That's one Yankee Stadium of workers.
-
8:05 - 8:06It's even worse in media.
-
8:06 - 8:08If Facebook and Google
grow their businesses -
8:08 - 8:1122 billion dollars this year,
which they will, -
8:11 - 8:14we're going to lose approximately
150,000 creative directors, -
8:14 - 8:16planners and copywriters.
-
8:16 - 8:19Or we can fill up two-and-a-half
Yankee Stadiums -
8:19 - 8:22and say, "You are out of work,
courtesy of Amazon." -
8:22 - 8:25We now get the majority of our news
from our social media feeds, -
8:25 - 8:30and the majority of our news
coming off of social media feeds is ... -
8:30 - 8:31fake news.
-
8:31 - 8:33(Laughter)
-
8:33 - 8:36I am not allowed to be political
or use curse words, -
8:36 - 8:38or talk about religion in class,
-
8:38 - 8:40so I can definitely not say,
-
8:41 - 8:44"Zuckerberg has become Putin's bitch."
-
8:44 - 8:46I definitely cannot say that.
-
8:46 - 8:47(Laughter)
-
8:47 - 8:49Their defense:
-
8:49 - 8:52"Facebook is not a media company;
it's a technology company." -
8:52 - 8:54You create original content,
-
8:54 - 8:57you pay sports leagues
to give you original content, -
8:57 - 9:00you run advertising against it --
boom! -- you're a media company. -
9:00 - 9:01Just in the last few days,
-
9:01 - 9:06Sheryl Sandberg has repeated this lie,
that "We are not a media company." -
9:06 - 9:09Facebook has openly embraced
the margins of celebrity -
9:09 - 9:12and the influence of a media company
-
9:12 - 9:15yet seems to be allergic
to the responsibilities -
9:15 - 9:17of a media company.
-
9:17 - 9:19Imagine McDonald's.
-
9:19 - 9:22We find 80 percent of their beef is fake,
-
9:22 - 9:23and it's giving us encephalitis,
-
9:23 - 9:26and we're making terrible decisions.
-
9:26 - 9:29And we say, "McDonald's,
we're pissed off!" -
9:29 - 9:32And they say, "Wait, wait --
-
9:32 - 9:33we're not a fast-food restaurant,
-
9:33 - 9:36we're a fast-food platform."
-
9:36 - 9:38(Laughter)
-
9:38 - 9:41These companies and CEOs wrap themselves
-
9:41 - 9:45in a neon-blue pink rainbow
and blue blanket -
9:45 - 9:48to create an illusionist trick
from their behavior each day, -
9:48 - 9:52which is more indicative
of the spawn of Darth Vader and Ayn Rand. -
9:52 - 9:56Why? Because we as progressives
are seen as nice but weak. -
9:57 - 10:00If Sheryl Sandberg had written
a book on gun rights -
10:00 - 10:03or on the pro-life movement,
-
10:03 - 10:06would they be flying Sheryl to Cannes?
-
10:06 - 10:07No.
-
10:07 - 10:09And I'm not doubting
their progressive values, -
10:09 - 10:11but it foots to shareholder value,
-
10:11 - 10:13because we as progressives
are seen as weak. -
10:13 - 10:16They're so nice -- remember Microsoft?
-
10:16 - 10:17They didn't seem as nice,
-
10:17 - 10:22and regulators stepped in much earlier
than the regulators now, -
10:22 - 10:25who would never step in
on those nice, nice people. -
10:25 - 10:27I'm about to get on a plane tonight,
-
10:27 - 10:30and I'm going to have a guy
named Roy from TSA molest me. -
10:30 - 10:33If I am suspected of a DUI
on the way home, -
10:33 - 10:36I can have blood taken from my person.
-
10:37 - 10:40But wait! Don't tap into the iPhone --
-
10:40 - 10:41it's sacred.
-
10:41 - 10:43This is our new cross.
-
10:43 - 10:44It shouldn't be the iPhone X,
-
10:44 - 10:46it should be called the "iPhone Cross."
-
10:46 - 10:48We have our religion; it's Apple.
-
10:48 - 10:50Our Jesus Christ is Steve Jobs,
-
10:50 - 10:53and we've decided this is holier
than our person, our house -
10:54 - 10:55or our computer.
-
10:55 - 10:57We have become totally out of control
-
10:57 - 11:01with the gross idolatry
of innovation and of youth. -
11:01 - 11:04We no longer worship
at the altar of character, -
11:04 - 11:05of kindness,
-
11:05 - 11:08but of innovation and people
who create shareholder value. -
11:08 - 11:11Amazon has become so powerful
in the marketplace, -
11:11 - 11:13it can conduct Jedi mind tricks.
-
11:13 - 11:16It can begin damaging other industries
just by looking at them. -
11:16 - 11:19Nike announces they're distributing
on Amazon, their stock goes up, -
11:19 - 11:21every other footwear stock goes down.
-
11:21 - 11:24When Amazon stock goes up,
the rest of retail stocks go down, -
11:24 - 11:27because they assume what's good
for Amazon is bad for everybody else. -
11:27 - 11:32They cut the cost on salmon 33 percent
when they acquired Whole Foods. -
11:32 - 11:35In between the time they announced
the acquisition of Whole Foods -
11:35 - 11:36and when it closed,
-
11:36 - 11:38Kroger, the largest
pure-play grocer in America, -
11:38 - 11:40shed a third of its value,
-
11:40 - 11:47because Amazon purchased a grocer
one-eleventh the size of Kroger. -
11:47 - 11:48I got very lucky.
-
11:48 - 11:52I predicted the acquisition
of Whole Foods by Amazon -
11:52 - 11:53the week before it happened.
-
11:53 - 11:56This is me boasting; I said
this publicly in the media. -
11:56 - 11:58This was the largest
acquisition in their history, -
11:58 - 12:01they'd never made
an acquisition over a billion, -
12:01 - 12:03and people asked, "How did you know this?"
-
12:03 - 12:06So I'm letting this very impressive
audience in on the secret. -
12:06 - 12:07How did I know this?
-
12:07 - 12:09I'm going to tell you how I knew.
-
12:09 - 12:12I bark at Alexa all day long
-
12:12 - 12:14and try to figure out what's going on.
-
12:14 - 12:17(Scott Galloway) Alexa, buy whole milk.
-
12:17 - 12:20(Alexa) I couldn't find
anything for whole milk, -
12:20 - 12:22so I've added whole milk
to your shopping list. -
12:22 - 12:24SG: Then I asked,
-
12:24 - 12:27(SG) Alexa, buy organic foods.
-
12:27 - 12:29(Alexa) The top search result
for organic food -
12:29 - 12:32is Plum Organics baby food,
banana and pumpkin, -
12:32 - 12:3412-pack of four ounces each.
-
12:34 - 12:36It's 15 dollars total.
-
12:36 - 12:38Would you like to buy it?
-
12:38 - 12:40SG: And then, as often happens at my age,
-
12:40 - 12:41I got confused.
-
12:41 - 12:44(SG) Alexa, buy whole foods.
-
12:44 - 12:48(Alexa) I have purchased the outstanding
stock of Whole Foods Incorporated -
12:48 - 12:49at 42 dollars per share.
-
12:49 - 12:53I have charged 13.7 billion
to your American Express card. -
12:53 - 12:55(Laughter)
-
12:56 - 12:57SG: I thought that'd be funnier.
-
12:58 - 12:59(Laughter)
-
12:59 - 13:01We've personified these companies,
-
13:01 - 13:04and just as when you're really angry
over every little thing someone does -
13:04 - 13:06in your life and relationships,
-
13:06 - 13:07you've got to ask yourself,
-
13:07 - 13:10"What's going on here?
Why are we so disappointed in technology?" -
13:10 - 13:13I believe it's because the ratio
of one-percent pursuit -
13:13 - 13:14of shareholder value
-
13:14 - 13:17and 99 percent the betterment of humanity
-
13:17 - 13:18that technology used to play
-
13:18 - 13:19has been flipped,
-
13:19 - 13:23and now we're totally focused
on shareholder value instead of humanity. -
13:23 - 13:26One hundred thousand people came together
for the Manhattan Project -
13:26 - 13:27and literally saved the world.
-
13:27 - 13:29Technology saved the world.
-
13:29 - 13:32My mother was a four-year-old Jew
living in London at the outset of the war. -
13:32 - 13:36If we had not won the footrace
towards splitting the atom, -
13:36 - 13:37would she have survived?
-
13:37 - 13:38It's unlikely.
-
13:39 - 13:40Twenty-five years later,
-
13:40 - 13:45the most impressive accomplishment,
arguably, ever in all of humankind: -
13:45 - 13:46put a man on the moon.
-
13:46 - 13:49Four hundred thirty thousand Canadians,
British and Americans came together, -
13:49 - 13:51again, with very basic technology,
-
13:51 - 13:53and put a man on the moon.
-
13:53 - 13:56Now we have the 700,000
best and brightest, -
13:56 - 14:00and these are the best and brightest
from the four corners of the earth. -
14:00 - 14:04They are literally playing with lasers
relative to slingshots, -
14:04 - 14:05relative to the squirt gun.
-
14:05 - 14:07They have the GDP of India to work at.
-
14:07 - 14:10And after studying
these companies for 10 years, -
14:10 - 14:12I know what their mission is.
-
14:12 - 14:14Is it to organize the world's information?
-
14:14 - 14:16Is it to connect us?
-
14:16 - 14:19Is it to create greater comity of man?
-
14:19 - 14:20It isn't.
-
14:20 - 14:22I know why we have brought together --
-
14:22 - 14:26I know that the greatest collection
of IQ capital and creativity, -
14:26 - 14:28that their sole mission is:
-
14:28 - 14:30to sell another fucking Nissan.
-
14:30 - 14:34My name is Scott Galloway, I teach at NYU,
and I appreciate your time. -
14:34 - 14:39(Applause)
-
14:43 - 14:44Chris Anderson: Not planned,
-
14:44 - 14:47but you prompted
some questions in me, Scott. -
14:47 - 14:48(Laughter)
-
14:48 - 14:51That was a spectacular rant.
-
14:51 - 14:52SG: Is this like Letterman?
-
14:52 - 14:55When you do well,
he calls you onto the couch? -
14:55 - 14:59CA: No, no, you're going to the heart
of the conversation right now. -
14:59 - 15:05Everyone's aware that after years
of worshipping Silicon Valley, -
15:05 - 15:07suddenly the worm has turned
-
15:07 - 15:08and in such a big way.
-
15:08 - 15:12To some people here, it will just feel
like you're piling on, -
15:12 - 15:15you're kicking the kids who've already
been kicked to pieces anyway. -
15:15 - 15:17Don't you feel any empathy
for them at all? -
15:17 - 15:19SG: None whatsoever.
-
15:19 - 15:21Look, this is the issue:
-
15:22 - 15:23it's not their fault, it's our fault.
-
15:24 - 15:26They're for-profit companies.
-
15:26 - 15:28They're not concerned
with the condition of our souls. -
15:28 - 15:31They're not going to take care of us
when we get older. -
15:31 - 15:35We have set up a society that values
shareholder value over everything, -
15:35 - 15:37and they're doing what
they're supposed to be doing. -
15:37 - 15:38But we need to elect people,
-
15:38 - 15:41and we need to force
ourselves to force them -
15:41 - 15:42to be subject to the same scrutiny
-
15:42 - 15:44that the rest of business
endures, full stop. -
15:44 - 15:46CA: There's another narrative
-
15:46 - 15:50that is arguably equally
consistent with the facts, -
15:50 - 15:57which is that there actually is good
intent in much of the leadership -- -
15:57 - 15:58I won't say everyone, necessarily --
-
15:58 - 16:00many of the employees.
-
16:00 - 16:03We all know people who work
in those companies, -
16:03 - 16:07and they still are pretty convincing
that their mission is to -- -
16:07 - 16:10so, the alternative narrative
is that there have been -
16:10 - 16:12unintended consequences here,
-
16:12 - 16:14that the technologies
that we're unleashing, -
16:14 - 16:19the algorithms, that we're attempting
to personalize the internet, for example, -
16:19 - 16:25have A, resulted in weird effects
like filter bubbles -
16:25 - 16:27that we weren't expecting;
-
16:27 - 16:30and B, made themselves vulnerable
to weird things like -- -
16:30 - 16:33oh, I don't know, Russian
hackers creating accounts -
16:33 - 16:35and doing things that we didn't expect.
-
16:35 - 16:40Isn't the unintended consequence
a possibility here? -
16:40 - 16:41SG: I don't think --
-
16:41 - 16:42I'm pretty sure, statistically,
-
16:43 - 16:45they're no less or better people
than any other organization -
16:45 - 16:47that has 100,000 or more people.
-
16:47 - 16:49I don't think they're bad people.
-
16:49 - 16:50As a matter of fact, I would argue
-
16:50 - 16:53that there's a lot of very
civic-minded, decent leadership. -
16:53 - 16:54But this is the issue:
-
16:54 - 16:59when you control 90 percent
points of share in a market, search, -
16:59 - 17:02that is now bigger than the entire
advertising market of any nation, -
17:02 - 17:06and you're primarily compensated
and trying to develop economic security -
17:06 - 17:08for you and the families
of your employees, -
17:08 - 17:09to increase that market share,
-
17:09 - 17:12you can't help but leverage
all the power at your disposal. -
17:13 - 17:14And that is the basis for regulation,
-
17:14 - 17:17and it's the basis for the truism
throughout history -
17:17 - 17:18that power corrupts.
-
17:18 - 17:20They're not bad people;
-
17:20 - 17:22we've just let them get out of control.
-
17:22 - 17:26CA: So maybe the case
is slightly overstated? -
17:26 - 17:29I know at least a bit --
-
17:29 - 17:31Larry Page, for example, Jeff Bezos --
-
17:31 - 17:33I don't actually believe
they wake up thinking, -
17:33 - 17:35"I've got to sell a fucking Nissan."
-
17:35 - 17:37I don't think they think that.
-
17:37 - 17:42I think they are trying to build
something cool, and are probably, -
17:42 - 17:44in moments of reflection,
-
17:44 - 17:48as horrified that some of the things
that have happened as we might be. -
17:48 - 17:52So is there a different way
of framing this, -
17:52 - 17:57to say that when your model
is advertising, -
17:58 - 18:02that there are dangers there
that you have to take on more explicitly? -
18:03 - 18:07SG: I think it's very difficult
to set an organization up as we do, -
18:07 - 18:09to pursue shareholder value
above all else. -
18:10 - 18:11They're not non-profits.
-
18:11 - 18:14The reason people go to work there
is they want to create economic security -
18:14 - 18:16for them and their families,
-
18:16 - 18:17mostly first and foremost.
-
18:17 - 18:20And when you get to a point where
you control so much economic power, -
18:20 - 18:23you use all the weapons at your disposal.
-
18:23 - 18:24I don't think they're bad people,
-
18:24 - 18:28but I think the role of government
and the role of us as consumers -
18:28 - 18:29and people who elect our officials
-
18:29 - 18:31is to ensure that there
are some checks here. -
18:32 - 18:34And we have given
them the mother of all hall passes -
18:34 - 18:36because we find them just so fascinating.
-
18:36 - 18:39CA: Scott, eloquently put,
spectacularly put. -
18:39 - 18:45Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos,
Larry Page, Tim Cook, if you're watching, -
18:45 - 18:48you're welcome to come and make
the counterargument as well. -
18:48 - 18:49Scott, thank you so much.
-
18:49 - 18:50SG: Thanks very much.
-
18:50 - 18:53(Applause)
- Title:
- How Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google manipulate our emotions
- Speaker:
- Scott Galloway
- Description:
-
The combined market capitalization of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google is now equivalent to the GDP of India. How did these four companies come to infiltrate our lives so completely? In a spectacular rant, Scott Galloway shares insights and eye-opening stats about their dominance and motivation -- and what happens when a society prizes shareholder value over everything else. Followed by a Q&A with TED Curator Chris Anderson. (Note: This talk contains graphic language.)
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 19:05
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Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google manipulate our emotions | |
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Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google manipulate our emotions | |
![]() |
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google manipulate our emotions | |
![]() |
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google manipulate our emotions | |
![]() |
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google manipulate our emotions | |
![]() |
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google manipulate our emotions | |
![]() |
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google manipulate our emotions | |
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Brian Greene approved English subtitles for How Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google manipulate our emotions |