Designing internet platforms to keep people engaged started long ago with Facebook’s wildly popular 'like' feature, which was soon copied by Twitter, Instagram and others. People loved giving and receiving social affirmation, while the digi-corps harvested valuable data about our preferences that they could sell to advertisers.

Then news feeds suddenly turned into “bottomless bowls” . . . one page leads to another and another and another forever. Similarly, YouTube and Netflix created endless autoplay videos to keep us watching longer.

Snapchat's 'streaks' feature was a breakthrough design feature which created a frenzy of near-constant communication between teenagers.

Big Tech then got us engaged in all kinds of repetitive hand movements, like swiping on Tinder, double tapping on Instagram, or pulling down to refresh feeds across social media platforms.

Big Tech’s great design secret is irregularly timed rewards. Each time you swipe, tap, press down or glance at your Facebook page, you have no idea what’s going to happen. It’s the same psychology that makes slot machines in Las Vegas so compulsive. You keep pulling the lever until the next burst of exhilaration comes.

Now most of us  are addicted to our smartphones . . . we carry around our dopamine pump and live our lives like pre-programmed rats in a Skinner box.

This is doing great damage to our souls.