From the pianoforte to the smartphone, each wave of tech has sparked fears of brain rot. But the problem isn’t our ability to focus—it’s what we’re focussing on.
In a sense, what attention alarmists seek is protection from a competition that they’re losing.
Agreed. The truth, in many cases, is somewhere in the middle.
Here’s my perspective, for whatever it’s worth:
smartphones are addictive, and many (most?) people wish they spent less time on them
social media is addictive, and many (most?) people wish they spent less time on them
low effort trash is addictive, and many (most?) people wish they spent less time with them
That doesn’t mean smartphones or social media is causing the problem, or really any problems at all, it’s the behaviors that drive people to overuse smartphones and social media that cause problems, as well as what they’re expecting to get from it. It’s the same idea as gambling and many forms of substance addition, something is driving them to that activity, and that is the core of the problem.
If we dig a bit deeper, I think the actual causes of this behavior involves some of the following:
poor mental health - people rely on social media for validation
peer pressure - you’ll be excluded if you’re not attached to your phone
escapism - many people are in tough circumstances, and use their phone/social media as a momentary escape (also includes gambling and substance addiction)
These are problems we’ve had for a long time, and I think we’re making progress since therapy is now less taboo than it was.
That said, I do think we have a focus/attention problem. If you look at recent tech advances, it’s all about getting you a faster dopamine hit. Instead of building up anticipation for a new feature film launch, we binge shows on Netflix or whatever. Instead of reading technical documentation about how something works, we follow a video, understanding very little, if anything, about what’s going on. Instead of writing out messages to each other in forums, we copy/paste memes. Instead of earning stuff in games, we buy loot boxes. Everything is being designed to hit that dopamine button as frequently and easily as possible.
People are getting more used to entertainment being readily accessible, and I think that leads to overuse. Why limit how many shows you watch when you can run them back to back w/o any issues? Not having to wait for the next installment means you probably watch way more content than you otherwise would, which means you’re doing less of the other things in your life that you find value in.
Self discipline is hard to master, especially when you have an easy stream of lower-effort options available. And that shift is what’s causing the overuse of things like SM and smartphones and leading to attention/focus issues.
I could totally be wrong here. I’m not a psychologist, just someone on the internet that has read a few books and observed a few things.
Agreed. The truth, in many cases, is somewhere in the middle.
Here’s my perspective, for whatever it’s worth:
That doesn’t mean smartphones or social media is causing the problem, or really any problems at all, it’s the behaviors that drive people to overuse smartphones and social media that cause problems, as well as what they’re expecting to get from it. It’s the same idea as gambling and many forms of substance addition, something is driving them to that activity, and that is the core of the problem.
If we dig a bit deeper, I think the actual causes of this behavior involves some of the following:
These are problems we’ve had for a long time, and I think we’re making progress since therapy is now less taboo than it was.
That said, I do think we have a focus/attention problem. If you look at recent tech advances, it’s all about getting you a faster dopamine hit. Instead of building up anticipation for a new feature film launch, we binge shows on Netflix or whatever. Instead of reading technical documentation about how something works, we follow a video, understanding very little, if anything, about what’s going on. Instead of writing out messages to each other in forums, we copy/paste memes. Instead of earning stuff in games, we buy loot boxes. Everything is being designed to hit that dopamine button as frequently and easily as possible.
People are getting more used to entertainment being readily accessible, and I think that leads to overuse. Why limit how many shows you watch when you can run them back to back w/o any issues? Not having to wait for the next installment means you probably watch way more content than you otherwise would, which means you’re doing less of the other things in your life that you find value in.
Self discipline is hard to master, especially when you have an easy stream of lower-effort options available. And that shift is what’s causing the overuse of things like SM and smartphones and leading to attention/focus issues.
I could totally be wrong here. I’m not a psychologist, just someone on the internet that has read a few books and observed a few things.