As I put on my tinfoil hat...

I think in a lot of ways we can see the effect of the study of human psychology on the way that the government takes advantage of the media. Instant gratification isn't new to us as a species, it's just so much easier to get now that it can be used to "control" someone who isn't paying attention.

I mean, look at Xbox Live achievements: Every time you complete a small section of the bigger story, or collect something, or do another minor action, you get an achievement. When you get that achievement, you feel good, and you want to keep doing the thing that makes you feel good (especially considering most people enjoy video games in the first place). Because these achievements are relatively close together, makes can keep you riding on that dopamine burst, and keep you playing.

In many ways, media uses the same sorts of ideas. Reality television, like comic opera, uses extreme character models in normal situations to make a funny or dramatic program that either makes us feel good or keeps us in suspense, both of which drag us in for more. What chance does legitimate news (which generally makes us feel pretty upset) have against that?

So as long as we keep on watching survivor or Keeping up with the Kardashians, or even "fluff news" and the real news is being played at the same time, things can be slipped under our noses under the auspices of "Well, we reported on it!".

Anyways, tin foil hat off, it's a little crazy to think about but it scares me that it might be true.