72 - Matthew Browne - Why People Gamble

For more on Matt’s work on gambling see:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Matthew_Browne

You can find his podcast with Chris Kavanaugh, “Decoding the Gurus” here and on most reputable podcast apps:
https://decoding-the-gurus.captivate.fm

Follow Matt on Twitter @arthurcdent

Further References
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow (1990)
George Eliot, Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life (1871–72); Daniel Deronda (1876)
Stuart J. Ritchie, Science Fictions: Exposing Fraud, Bias, Negligence and Hype in Science (2020)
Johann Hari, Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression—and the Unexpected Solutions (2018)

Timestamps

3:25 How Matt became interested in this topic; how gambling differs from other forms of risktaking
11:32 Dark flow states
19:38 Evolved psychology and low-effort activities
21:25 Skinner, behaviourism and superstition in humans and pigeons
24:48 Changes to the ease and addictiveness of gambling over time
25:58 Passages describing gambling in George Eliot’s Deronda and Middlemarch
29:34 Young men and gambling
31:08 How technology enables problem gambling
38:08 Responses from the industry to Matt’s work
46:24 When gambling isn’t a problem
47:40 What drives problem gaming behaviours?
54:19 Societal measures that could reduce problem gambling