The Psychology of Silicon Valley: Ethical Threats and Emotional Unintelligence in the Tech Industry

by Katy Cook

Overview

Misinformation. Job displacement. Information overload. Economic inequality. Digital addiction. The breakdown of democracy, civility, and truth itself.

This open access book explores the conscious and unconscious norms, values, and characteristics that drive behaviors within the high-tech capital of the world, Silicon Valley, and the sector it represents. In an era where the reach and influence of a single industry has the potential to define the future of our world, it has become apparent just how little we know about the organizations driving these changes. The Psychology of Silicon Valley offers a revealing look inside the mind of world’s most influential industry and how the identity, culture, myths, and motivations of Big Tech are harming society.

The book argues that the bad values and lack of emotional intelligence borne in the vacuum of Silicon Valley will have lasting consequences on everything from social equality to the future of work to our collective mental health. Katy Cook expertly walks us through the psychological landscape of Silicon Valley, including its leadership, ethical, and cultural problems, and artfully explains why we cannot afford to ignore the psychology and values that are behind our technology any longer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030273637
Publisher:	Springer Nature Switzerland
Publication date:	10/04/2019
Edition description:	1st ed. 2020
Pages:	314
Sales rank:	1,141,780
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Katy Cook is Founder and Director of the Centre for Technology Awareness. She is an expert on the intersection of technology, ethics, and psychology and holds a PhD and two MAs in psychology and modern culture studies.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction.- Part I – Psychology.- 2. Identity.- 3. Culture & Environment.- 4. Myths & Stories.- 5. Motivation.- Part II – Impacts.- 6. Truth, Information & Democracy.- 7. Economic Inequality & Employment.- 8. Mental Health, Relationships & Cognition.- Part III – Next Steps. - 9. A Way Forward.- 10. Conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

This unique psychology-based approach to the digital economy is a valuable, scholarly achievement. Many other authors have made these same connections over the past few years, but Cook offers a meticulously well-sourced compilation of these critiques. … Scholarship, timeliness, and an informed psychological perspective set this book apart from other Silicon Valley critiques.” (Kirkus, kirkusreviews.com, December 17, 2019)

From the Publisher

2019-12-17
A well-researched evaluation of how the tech industry represents itself as a panacea for all the world’s problems.

In the mid-1960s, William Cannon and Dallis Perry, two psychologists, decided the “two key profile characteristics” of computer programmers were “an interest in solving puzzles and a dislike of or disinterest in people.” And so, a stereotype was born. Cook, who holds a doctorate in clinical, educational, and health psychology from University College London, traces Silicon Valley’s current dysfunctions to its early valorization of logic over social awareness and of analytical skill over emotional intelligence. A fundamental lack of empathy in the tech sector, Cook argues, has allowed Silicon Valley’s most influential players to hoard consumer data and repurpose it as fuel for their hypercapitalist profit machines. Various social problems, she says, can be linked to this economic arrangement, including job displacement, a loneliness epidemic, diminishing privacy rights, housing shortages in the San Francisco area, political polarization, and the controversial Brexit campaign in the United Kingdom. This unique psychology-based approach to the digital economy is a valuable, scholarly achievement. Many other authors have made these same connections over the past few years, but Cook offers a meticulously well-sourced compilation of these critiques. Big tech has held tightly to a prosocial self-conception—so much so, Cook notes, that Facebook’s “move fast and break things” motto takes on a new interpretation: “Moving fast and breaking things in the name of growth has been accomplished to startling effect; unfortunately, what has been broken are communities, trust, and informed discussion, along with the evolution of a new brand of tribalism, which spreads more easily and is more difficult to immobilize.” Ultimately, the author calls for increased regulation, systemic changes, and “values reformation.”

Scholarship, timeliness, and an informed psychological perspective set this book apart from other Silicon Valley critiques.

Kirkus Reviews