Identity Art and Smokescreens

Chapter 18: Who is using who?

Dear Friend,

Today a teenager’s routine involves an energy drink, a vape pen, and TikTok. Often all three are being nursed at the same time. Not all teens, of course, but when I wrote this chapter about addiction four years ago I had hope that we would somehow avoid the disaster that is disabling the minds of our youth. Anyone who is paying attention can see that it is bad and getting worse. I don’t have the answer to the big problem, but at least I have some ideas about coffee. So pour yourself a cup and join me for this installment of User Zero.

Stay creative. Your friend,
Ade

“I wanted to be properly accredited. So I stopped drinking and smoking.” —Buckminster Fuller

The playground buzzes with danger after a wet snow, the doors fly open as the animals are released from the steamy classrooms. Ice zips past your face and the playground erupts in a snowball fight. When it’s every kid for themself you have a chance. When they gang up, you end up being force-fed snow and choking back tears. What is wrong with you, what personality flaws invited punishment from the only people whose friendship you yearned for?

The only way most of us escaped childhood was by curating a wardrobe of armor that defended our fragile beings from the abrasion threatening to flay us. At some point kids realize that being ourselves isn’t enough. To survive we need to protect the real us, the tender underbelly of our being, from hunters. This is a complex separation, your identity splits into multiple variations. There is the you that gets worn to school, the you that appears for grown-ups, the manicured version that gets posted online, and shades of variations in between.

Holding these aliases together is user zero, the owner inside you, carefully orchestrating this personality performance. When described like this it sounds deceptive, but it is actually the sign of a healthy ego. Your personality is a tool and the various personas are skills that you utilize in different situations. It is the failure to manage your ego where things get unhealthy. We’ve all seen the delinquents who fail to shift out of punk mode. We know the kids whose personalities were stolen from them by drug use. When your user zero stops calling the shots, the roles are reversed and your addiction ends up using you.

It is for these reasons that a child’s brand of cigarette is such an important decision. Hopefully, the decision is not to smoke at all, but if you make it all the way to the counter at the gas station there has already been a chemical change in your brain that didn’t come from nicotine. Something inside you is looking for something, an accessory for your personality. The cigarette is a decoration and the brand you smoke tells a story. You don’t smoke a cigarette, you become the Marlboro man. You don’t hide your cigarettes in your purse, you use the trendy packaging to signal your style. Like nicotine, brands also alter our brain chemistry, priming us for future purchases.

As we build our identity armor, we sample various fashion styles, preferences, slang, and friendships. These accessories can be activated or hidden depending on the situation. The cigarettes and filthy mouths get hidden from grownups. The coffee shops and bars swell with people testing their personality accessories. Different blends of nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, uppers, and downers are tested just like the ripped jeans and jewelry. Some accessories are abandoned, others hold on and become lifelong addictions.

When you were still figuring out what you were, you could try on different shells. The things that stuck became you, or at least the part of you that you wore on the outside. Something was lost in this evolution. It feels like this shell is protective, a layer of distance that allows our inner being to exist unharmed, but mostly it just weighs us down. Wear the armor long enough and it sticks to your flesh, the thing on the outside completely replaces the other thing. The illusion of growing up is that the hardening of that shell is what makes us an adult.

As we build our identities we adorn ourselves with brands that echo the values we strive to uphold. We look for tools that signal to others that we are desirable. We mimic our role models, copying their hair styles, clothing, vocabulary, and bad habits. Our first cigarette wasn’t a desire for the nicotine hit, it was an attempt to be like the people who smoke.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the user interface of the cigarette. Made for the movie screen, a thin white cylinder rests between your fingers, fire dangerously close to flesh. Hand to mouth, the camera frames a celebrity’s lips. They breathe in the anti-air, a crackle breaks the silence as the tip glows red. We watch, captivated, anticipating the inevitable exhale. The creamy plume breaks the blackness, rises and coils, the breath of the actor made visible.

It hits all the notes: sight, sound, sex, smell, touch, and taste. And then for those who succumb to a sample, the cigarette hits you with one of the most addictive substances on Earth. The nicotine begins working on your brain, reshaping your mental pathways preparing to take up permanent residence.

You probably think you know the story of cigarettes. The first cigarettes were endorsed by doctors. Joe Camel and ads directed at youth effectively converted kids into lifelong customers. Sure, the tobacco companies are villains, but to place all the blame on ad men and corporate greed is to greatly underestimate the role engineering played in the rise of smoking. While the kid-targeting ads get most of the spotlight, the research and development happening behind the scenes at RJ Reynolds in the 1980s is a story that rarely gets told.

Is the user interface of a cigarette transparent or opaque? Your first thought would be transparency. Cut one open and you can see the entirety of the contents. A filter is pressed against tightly packed tobacco leaves, all of which is held together by thin paper. But looks can be deceiving.

There is more technology in a cigarette than you realize. As RJ Reynolds worked to perfect their addiction device they built a large R&D department where Project XG was initiated. They described their breakthrough as “hidden technology in that products fully utilizing this technology can be prepared and marketed as typical cigarettes.”

The invisible tech in the new cigarettes allowed different blends of tobacco to be distributed across the length of the cigarette. The first puff was optimized for “high impact” nicotine delivery. At mid-smoke the tobacco blend delivered smoothness. Finally, the last toke of the cigarette used tobacco blended for optimal after-taste.

Prototype after prototype was meticulously tested and refined. As the product was “improved” it was also getting more potent. Tar and nicotine levels increased dramatically at the same time that the overall smoking experience was improved.

We can blame the cartoon mascot, but it wasn’t the Joe Camel drawings that the kiddos came back for. The design of the cigarette was being optimized for the palette of first-time smokers. A memo revealed, the strategy:

“I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the exciting flavoring work you have done on Project XG. The chocolate/vanilla/licorice tobacco enhancer is undoubtedly one of the most exciting and promising flavorants that has been developed during the last several years . . . As you know, this flavorant appears to have significant appeal among the 18–24 year old smoker group and this is obviously the group that we desperately are after.”

This is serious firepower for a developing mental interface to withstand. And just as humanity seemed to be getting smoking under control, vaping has stepped up to re-revolutionize smoking.

Today, kids yawn at the paper-based user interface of the old-fashioned cigarette, but vaping appeals to the lifestyle of high-tech, highly personalized, digital obsessed teens. And like the doctor-bribing forefathers, the e-cigarette marketers package the whole thing in the disguise of a smoking cessation program.

Alex Bogusky, Chief Creative Engineer at CP+B says,

“The sticks’ fruity and minty flavors, the ‘vaping trick’ competitions that resemble bubble gum blowing contests of yore and the range of custom colors to choose from, like you would with an iPhone, attracts the exact clientele you’d expect: Students ‘hit the Juul’ on the way to class and raise their hands for a bathroom break to get a fix. It looks like a USB drive and leaves no lingering foul odor — many teenagers are reveling in the confusion it causes among adults.”

A single pod has as much nicotine as a full pack of cigarettes. To make matters worse, vaping technology is hackable, allowing users to adapt the tech to accept more potent chemicals. You can’t tell if someone is vaping nicotine of more powerful drugs. The cocktail can be customized indefinitely to deliver whatever type of high the users are trying to achieve. Unlike the back-alley deals of the past, today’s drugs are sold and consumed in the open thanks to the almost clinical appearance of vaping’s high-tech package.

The push to legalize marijuana is an acknowledgement that people need options for coping with the challenges of life. Even those of us who don’t get high are sympathetic to the desire for escape. Because the alternative is suicide. We would rather you went on living in a drugged up state than choose the alternative.

Inside the head of a future drug addict is the desire to tinker with their mental interface. The danger of using chemicals to hack our minds is that instead of us controlling our routines, our habits morph into addictions that control us. This is why there is a monopoly waiting for any company that can truly hook their customers. And while I am demonizing the tobacco companies, it would be a mistake to imagine that the food we consume hasn’t been engineered just as intentionally to trigger addictive behaviors. In some ways, processed food manufacturers are more devious because compared to nicotine, it is much harder to optimize the salt, sugar, and fat of our foods into addictive cocktails. Below the surface of the obesity epidemic are foods that are designed to rip the controls away from user zero, enslaving us in the grip of chemical dependence.

I tend to fall on the side of personal choice. I want you to make your own decisions, but drug interactions happen at the highest level of our mental hierarchy. It has more power than user zero. This is dangerous territory, and yet the question must be asked. Could user zero employ mind-altering chemicals without falling prey to addiction? Is it possible to have the benefits of chemicals without the negative side effects? To be safe, let’s bypass the hard drugs and cigarettes and look at a more conservative stimulant. Let’s talk about coffee.

Many of us use coffee to get through the day. Wake up, pour a cup and go. When the buzz wears off it is time for another cup. It’s a routine that we probably don’t think much about, but what if we used coffee more intentionally? Could we develop a system where coffee becomes a tool that you control rather than a mindless addiction?

If used intentionally, coffee can become a triggering mechanism, a reliable tool that allows you to transition from autopilot to user zero. We can use this trigger to give us specific, reliable benefits. In a sense we are hiring coffee to trigger specific mental modes, to induce a flow state where we can work at our highest capability.

Consider the following three different triggers that can be employed depending on the goal and situation. First is a quick trigger (the easy reliable way to trigger flow). Second is a slow trigger (a more involved, deliberate technique for finding flow). Third is a magic trigger (a special method that is saved for situations where creative performance is most important).

If you are like me, the first time in my day where performance matters are the fifteen minutes following the moment I open my computer after I arrive at work. This sets the tone for my day and is my most productive time. That is the moment that I am optimizing for, the period when triggering flow can have the biggest ROI. This is the moment where I want to trigger flow.

Here’s the bad news. Since timing is crucial you will probably need to shake up your routine. No more coffee right after you roll out of bed. No coffee in the car on your way to the office. Why not? Because those moments don’t require performance. Just like weak coffee, if we water down our routine with a steady injection of mild stimulation we never get the big boost we are looking for. So our first hit of coffee needs to arrive in conjunction with the first moment when performance matters.

Purists may object, but for inducing flow, I endorse a Keurig machine. It’s quick and simple. You don’t have to fiddle with the production process. With a Keurig you just pop in a pod and punch a button. Brain effort spent on trivial matters is energy that isn’t getting directed at the important stuff. Eliminating unnecessary decisions allows you to focus on what you are about to do. Your life isn’t about coffee, it’s about changing the world, so eliminate decisions and complications that distract from your main purpose.

While the process of making a cup with the Keurig is dead simple, that doesn’t mean it isn’t an event. You get a pleasing little pop when the pod doors close. There is a wonderful sound as the water is heated and pumped through the device. The coffee hisses, spurts, and fizzes as your cup slowly fills. The air around you gently fills with the smell of coffee. Why is this important? A good flow trigger is going to engage all your senses. By the time the mug hits your lips you have just engaged your sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste in a very specific pattern. You are training your body to respond to this pattern. Once this code gets internalized it will be engrained in your being as the set of events that always precede your best work.

Ready for the second cup? More bad news. Remember that we are trying to develop a reliable system that works every time. That means we need to eliminate coffee consumption that isn’t connected to high performance. So if you are reaching for coffee just to stay awake through a PowerPoint presentation it is going to de-program the trigger. Avoid sending your body mixed messages. Does coffee mean you are about to perform at your peak or does it mean you are about to zone out while someone drones on about TPS reports? That’s not to say that you have to limit yourself to a single cup a day, but you have to be intentionally aware of when and how you initiate the trigger.

Put simply, “the quick trigger” goes like this. Reduce the process to the push of a button. Engage all your senses. Only initiate the trigger in moments that can be reliably followed by devoted work time.

If you have a bit more time, you can employ the “slow trigger” method. Here is how the slow trigger routine looks for me. Once a month, Blue Bottle sends me a bag of beans from a different country along with a brief story about the people who grew the beans. Grinding up the beans is noisy but the bursting beans fill the kitchen with that wonderful aroma. I use an AeroPress which is a simple but physical process where you push the grounds through a syringe-like tube. The cleanup is simple, I just pop the grounds into the trash, rinse off the AeroPress and I’m done.

Did you spot the trigger patterns? First, the decision of what kind of coffee to drink is made for me. If I had to choose beans myself, I would get stuck. I would spend hours researching the best climates, methods, and philosophies involved in coffee production. Like the purchase of a crossover, having too many options would paralyze me. Instead, I trust the experts and am delighted by what they surprise me with. Surprise is also a flow trigger.

Second, the coffee bean’s backstory isn’t trivial. It gets me thinking about people who are different from me who live in exotic locations. For flow this is important because creative insights spring from moments when we are comfortably outside of our normal mental models. This month they sent me Sumatra Ketiara Kopi Ocen and told me it has a “cranberry-like sparkle for uncommon flare.” Beans with a story engage my mind so much more than a generic bag of beans–even if I can’t taste the cranberry.

Next is the smell of the freshly ground beans and the intense sound of the grinder. The Keurig barely tickles the senses, but grinding your own beans kicks your senses in the face. Likewise, the Aeropress requires firm pressure, engaging your muscles. You aren’t just tapping a button and zoning out. You are present, engaged, and involved. And yet your mind isn’t overwhelmed. You aren’t stressing over water temperature, grind levels, or timers. On the edges of your mind there is room for toying with thoughts about what you are about to do.

Finally, the cleanup is simple. The transition from making coffee to working leaves no room for procrastination or distraction. It may take a bit longer overall, but once the coffee is ready, you will be too.

Put simply, “the slow trigger” method is to reduce decision making while remaining open to exotic thoughts. Physically engage with the process. Minimize distraction while your mind preps for performance.

I happen to be writing this paragraph at a rare moment where I have gone 42 hours without coffee due to an unusually busy business trip. I missed my morning cup and there wasn’t an opportunity to caffeinate during the day. I woke up with a headache hours before the hotel alarm went off. It dawned on me that my headache was caffeine withdrawal. My room had a coffee maker so I brewed a cup and hoped the caffeine would ease my pounding head. Like Pavlov’s dog, my brain recognized the coffee brewing pattern and switched into writing mode. I wouldn’t normally be writing at 5am in a hotel room with a headache, but here I am.

There’s one final method that I save for moments when creative output is absolutely critical. I call it my magic trigger because it operates outside the realm of logic. Saturday mornings are when I do my creative writing. Every Friday night I go to bed wondering what I will write in the morning. Will this be the week where my creativity runs dry? Like magic, when Saturday arrives, somehow I always have a story to tell. My magic trigger comes in the form of a packet of instant coffee that contains mushrooms. Strange, I know. The mushroom coffee comes from a company called Four Sigmatic and can be ordered online. Surprisingly it doesn’t taste like mushrooms. It’s a blend of coffee beans, lion’s mane mushrooms, chaga mushrooms, and rhodiola root. These ingredients are thought to have nootropic properties that supposedly give you more of a boost than caffeine alone.

Once a week I wake up a little earlier than normal and hit the coffee before anything else. I open a packet of coffee and stir it into hot water. The process couldn’t be simpler. Next I grab my iPad and surprise myself with the words that appear on the screen. As I write I wonder if the coffee really has nootropic powers or if it is a placebo.

Here’s how the magic trigger works. Timing is important. My goal for the magic trigger is different than my normal coffee triggers so the routine must change as well. Waking up early and hitting the coffee first is a way to break the pattern. Instead of a snooze-button work day, the early start is a reminder that I am doing this for me. It’s much easier to wake up when your reasons are selfish.

Notice that the process is even simpler than the Keurig. Where are the sense-tingling components of my other triggers? Because I only indulge in mushroom coffee once a week I am piggybacking off my normal coffee triggers. Remember how Pavlov’s dog magically salivated at the sound of a bell? My body has learned that coffee is a trigger, so even without a full process that engages all my senses, my body still reacts as if I had.

Finally, notice that there is change of tools. My professional trigger is followed by time on a laptop. My personal trigger is followed by time on my iPad. Again, there is a piggy-back effect. The tool is similar enough to put me in “work mode” but different enough to prevent me from going into “business mode.” It also has the side-effect of creating a second trigger because I associate my iPad with creative writing. By honing our systems we can train ourselves to perform at a high level by priming ourselves with a coffee routine. Eventually, you should be able to get the same results by slightly altering the pattern.

I use mushroom coffee as my magic trigger, but your method doesn’t have to be as unusual. For example, you could reserve a special mug for only the times when you need to do the personal, creative work. You can call it superstition but it only takes one magical experience to stop questioning why it works and just build room into our routines that allows us to surprise ourselves with what we create.

Put simply, the magic trigger requires you to make the trigger dead simple and reserve it exclusively for special moments. Build it on top of proven triggers. Believe that magic is possible and trust that you are capable of more than you know.

My point isn’t that coffee is magical, it’s that your mind is hackable. By building patterns and altering behavior you have the ability to reprogram yourself. I’ve gone into great detail about coffee, but a similar system could just as easily be created around Skittles. You could swap my mushroom coffee for bottled coffee, energy drinks, or chocolate. Be careful to balance the potency of the chemicals with the risk of dependence. If you are pounding Red Bull’s just to remain functional, your system has failed.

Notice how something as ordinary as a cup of coffee can be transformed when it is employed intentionally. Often we fail to realize that we can incorporate these tools into our routine, activating them to serve the systems we build. For example, how much time is spent obsessing over our wardrobes? Our bodies, perhaps even our personalities end up being accessories for our clothing, rather than the other way around. How might you prevent this tail from wagging the dog? One method employed by Steve Jobs, was to embrace a uniform. His blue jeans, and black turtle neck became iconic but they grew out of his desire to remove the distraction of clothing from his routine.

Likewise, Buckminster Fuller also wore a uniform. He recognized that people took his ideas less seriously when he wore casual clothing. So he abandoned his jeans for a black suit, white shirt, and black tie. His wardrobe makeover came at the same time that he quit drinking and smoking. His ideas already made people wonder if he was drunk and the presence of a drink in his hand would wrongly confirm their suspicions. The reason for Bucky’s rebrand was that he didn’t want his appearance or behavior to distract from his message. Asking humanity to save the planet loses some impact if you have to slip out for a cancer stick mid-speech.

Whether it is our clothing, our coffee, or our car, the framework for our identity is forged in the cauldron of youth, in the halls of high schools, and the classrooms where our thoughts wandered off subject. In the next chapter we return to our school days and see what we can learn by unearthing the origins of school.