Passion Struck with John R. Miles
Dr. Sandra Matz on The Silent War Hijacking Your Free Will | EP 578
Thu, 27 Feb 2025
In this eye-opening episode of Passion Struck, host John R. Miles sits down with Dr. Sandra Matz, a psychologist and data scientist, to reveal the invisible forces shaping your thoughts, decisions, and behaviors. From social media algorithms to targeted advertising, we explore how data-driven systems are quietly hacking your free will—often without you even realizing it.Dr. Matz, author of Mind Masters: The Data-Driven Science of Predicting and Changing Human Behavior, exposes the dark side of personalization, how AI exploits human psychology, and what you can do to take back control of your mind and choices.Link to the full show notes: https://passionstruck.com/sandra-matz-on-the-silent-war-on-your-free-will/Key takeaways:How big data and AI predict your next moveThe psychological tricks that influence your decisionsWhy your digital footprint is more revealing than you thinkThe hidden dangers of online personalizationHow to reclaim your autonomy in the digital ageConnect with Sandra Matz: https://business.columbia.edu/faculty/people/sandra-matzSponsors:Factor Meals: http://factormeals.com/factormeals50off and use code “FACTOR MEALS 50 OFFRosetta Stone: Unlock 25 languages for life at “ROSETTASTONE.com/passionstruck.”Prolon: Reset your health with 15% off at “ProlonLife.com/passionstruck.”Mint Mobile: Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at “MINT MOBILE dot com slash PASSION.”Hims: Start your journey to regrowing hair with Hims. Visit hims.com/PASSIONSTRUCK for your free online visit.Quince: Discover luxury at affordable prices with Quince. Enjoy free shipping and 365-day returns at quince.com/PASSIONNext on Passion Struck:In the next episode of Passion Struck, John sits down with Natalie Namaste, a thought leader and personal transformation, to explore how to break free from perfectionism and self-doubt, the key to embracing authenticity and rewriting limiting beliefs and practical tools to cultivate inner confidence and a life filled with meaning. This is a conversation that will inspire you to let go of what's holding you back and step boldly into the life you were meant to live.For more information on advertisers and promo codes, visit Passion Struck Deals.Join the Passion Struck Community! Sign up for the Live Intentionally newsletter, where I share exclusive content, actionable advice, and insights to help you ignite your purpose and live your most intentional life. Get access to practical exercises, inspiring stories, and tools designed to help you grow. Learn more and sign up here.Speaking Engagements & Workshops Are you looking to inspire your team, organization, or audience to take intentional action in their lives and careers? I’m available for keynote speaking, workshops, and leadership training on topics such as intentional living, resilience, leadership, and personal growth. Let’s work together to create transformational change. Learn more at johnrmiles.com/speaking.Episode Starter Packs With over 500 episodes, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. We’ve curated Episode Starter Packs based on key themes like leadership, mental health, and personal growth, making it easier for you to dive into the topics you care about. Check them out at passionstruck.com/starterpacks.Catch More of Passion Struck:My solo episode on The Science of Healthy HabitsMy episode with Jason O’Mara on Finding Strength in the Face of SetbacksCan't miss my episode with Stefanie Wilder-Taylor on Loving and Leaving AlcoholCatch my interview with Dr. Elisa Hallerman on How You Reconnect With Your SoulListen to my solo episode on 7 Reasons Why Acts of Kindness Are More than Meets the EyeIf you liked the show, please leave us a review—it only takes a moment and helps us reach more people! Don’t forget to include your Twitter or Instagram handle so we can thank you personally.How to Connect with John:Connect with John on Twitter at @John_RMiles and on Instagram at @John_R_Miles. Subscribe to our main YouTube Channel here and to our YouTube Clips Channel here. For more insights and resources, visit John’s website.Want to explore where you stand on the path to becoming Passion Struck? Take our 20-question quiz on Passionstruck.com and find out today!
Chapter 1: What is the impact of privacy on product design?
coming up next on passion struck companies now actually have to step it up right so they have to say well if i want to get your data i better make sure that i show you how my product is much much better when you're giving me access to your personal information than when you're not and you can you can think of it as like youtube right so youtube has this option where they're not using your history and your like what you've looked for search for before what you've watched before
And you can actually see the value decrease. So you can see how every time you have to find something new, it doesn't remember anything. But if your privacy is protected by design, now companies really have to live up to that expectation. So collectively, you can actually ask for a lot more when it comes to the design of products and services.
Welcome to passion struck. Hi, I'm your host, John R. Miles. And on the show, we decipher the secrets, tips and guidance of the world's most inspiring people and turn their wisdom into practical advice for you and those around you. Our mission is to help you unlock the power of intentionality so that you can become the best version of yourself.
If you're new to the show, I offer advice and answer listener questions on Fridays. We have long-form interviews the rest of the week with guests ranging from astronauts to authors, CEOs, creators, innovators, scientists, military leaders, visionaries, and athletes. Now, let's go out there and become PassionStruck. Hey, PassionStruck fam. Welcome to episode 578.
I want to take a moment to thank you for being part of this incredible community. Your energy, passion, and commitment to living more intentionally inspires me every day. Whether you're a longtime listener or joining us for the first time, welcome. You've joined a global movement dedicated to igniting purpose and living boldly with intention, and I couldn't be happier to have you here.
Let me ask you, What if the most powerful force shaping our thoughts, decisions, and even our emotions isn't our own free will, but an invisible web of algorithms that know us better than we know ourselves? What if the digital world we've built to connect us is actually driving us apart. Today's guest, Dr. Sandra Matz, is here to explain these urgent issues.
A professor at Columbia University and the author of Mindmasters, the data-driven science of predicting and changing human behavior, Sandra has spent years studying how our digital footprints, everything from the music we listen to, the places we go, and even the words we use are being used to shape our reality.
In today's episode, we explore how algorithms have become the architects of our choices, shaping what we see, what we buy, and even how we feel. The concept of the digital village, how today's technology mirrors the tight-knit scrutiny of small communities, but on a global scale.
the hidden way psychological targeting influences everything from elections to relationships to self-perception how we can reclaim our autonomy and create a healthier more intentional relationship with the technology we use and the role of human connection in an era of digital disconnection and why our sense of mattering is at stake.
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Chapter 2: Who is Dr. Sandra Matz and what are her contributions?
like moral dimensions of fairness, care, loyalty, authority, and purity. And we know that you all have, everybody has their own profile, right? We can, there's like a little bit of a distinction between like Republicans, for example, or more conservatives, and they care more about authority, purity, and loyalty. So those are the driving factors
kind of forces of like how they make decisions about what's right or wrong and liberals are more focused on care and fairness now typically when we make arguments as humans we just make an argument from our own perspective right because that's what we know but you can imagine if i can try and say look here's
someone who's more conservative and maybe i can craft an argument um around immigration that's focused on um loyalty more than care and fairness because they might not care about this as much that's one way in which you can actually get them engaged in the conversation and i think this like the same principle could apply to these echo chamber swaps right if i can first of all see
here's what this entire life of the person looks like, not just what they see, like what the news that they read. And I can also have someone help me, in this case, probably an AI, understand, okay, here's where they're coming from. And here's maybe one way you could think about this from your own point of view, from your own moral campus.
And I think that's like a way in which we could hopefully avoid some of the reactants and really get people to humanize the people behind these digital footprints.
I want to explore that a little bit more. So what you just were referring to is that psychological targeting and data collection raise profound moral questions. Through one lens, they can empower individuals and improve lives. Through another, they can manipulate and exploit vulnerabilities, especially at a macro level.
How do you think we decide as a society where to draw the ethical line and who should hold the moral responsibility for these decisions? Should it be corporations, governments, individuals? Where does this responsibility lie?
It's a great question. Probably from everything that we've talked about so far, you can probably already tell that my point of view is like, it should probably not just be left to companies, right? Because the incentives are just terrible. So I teach in a business school and it's all about what are companies incentivized by? And right now the incentive is,
personalize as much as you can show the content that's most most engaging right because it's all about attention so if those are the market incentives companies are going to do that because it's really difficult to move away from that and say we're just going to do the ethical thing right everybody else is is not doing that and i even hear that from friends within those companies right i have a
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