Scarcity Brain: Fix Your Craving Mindset and Rewire Your Habits to Thrive with Enough

by Michael Easter

The New York Times reported that Uber, as well as many gig economy companies like it, is “engaged in an extraordinary behind-the-scenes experiment in behavioral science to manipulate [drivers] in the service of its corporate growth.” Uber, for example, uses unpredictable rewards and suspense-inducing cues to nudge workers into driving extended hours and where the company wants them to be. It’s also leaning into the psychology of near misses. When a driver wants to stop, Uber will bait her with an opportunity, alerting her, “You’re just [insert some sum of money] away from making [some round sum of money]. Are you sure you want to go off-line?” For example, “You’re just $21 from making $250.” As the Times put it, the takeaway is that “pulling psychological levers may eventually become the reigning approach to managing the American worker.”