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"We're the Rats, and Facebook Likes Are the Reward" - This argument has no validity. Facebook doesn't even dispense the likes, other users do. It isn't valid to compare likes to Skinner rewarding rats, because Facebook isn't even the one dispensing the reward.

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Your argument isn't sound. It doesn't matter who gives the rewards, what matters is the conditions under which the recipient receives the rewards.

> Thanks to Skinner's work, brain MRIs, and more recent research by psychologists, neuro-scientists, and behavioral economists, we now know how to design cue, activity, and reward systems to more effectively leverage our brain chemistry and program human behavior.

Effectively, Facebook designed a system that gives people rewards for giving people rewards.

I think you are giving far too much credit to a simple like button. It's the content of the user's post that the person is liking, not the genius of Facebook.

> I think you are giving far too much credit to a simple like button.

I'm giving credit to the thousands of engineering hours that gave rise to the simple like button, and weeded out the less addictive alternatives. (Remember the poke button?)

> It's the content of the user's post that the person is liking, not the genius of Facebook.

I agree.

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