Michaeleen Doucleff

Neuroscientist Jonathan Morrow studies addiction at the University of Michigan.

He thinks this ingredient is probably the most important.

And he explained how it works.

First, the app uses AI to determine what you want to see.

Then a few clicks later, the algorithm gives you something even closer.

Exactly.

So they sort of tease you in a way, right?

Yeah, they're not trying to satisfy you.

The app makes you feel like you're making progress or getting closer to your goal.

Mateusz Gola is a neuroscientist at UCC in Diego.

He says when people feel like they're making progress, they double down their effort and try harder.

Yep.

When all those things combine together, you're likely to enter that trans-like state called the machine zone or dark flow.

And for many people like me, it's hard to pull out of that state.

Yeah.

So that's the classic flow state, the one that the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi described back in the 80s.

People go into these good flow states when they're doing complex and challenging tasks like playing the piano or knitting a sweater, biking over tough terrain, right?

Afterwards, this type of flow...

Leaves you feeling really good and optimistic and relaxed.

Yeah, you get a little mood bump.