Digitization and Thought Process
Thoughts make us. Today while more people are becoming conscious of what they eat, they forget the importance of what ideas and content they take within. This is especially important in today’s era of technology and digitization that has increased addiction in children and even adults. While earlier Gen X and Millennials were seen to be devoid of the use of these technologies, however today they are equally becoming more involved in the never-ending stream of content.
While digitization and technology made communication easier and reduced time but it has equally increased the wastage of time due to increased time spent while being lost in the continuous stream of content and increased addiction. Science explains this addiction as a result of an increase in the dopamine levels of the brain. When the contents and ideas we take in becomes habitual, a neural network is formed that regulates the mindset which further led to the formation of effortless habits overtime. This makes it clear how the content we take in not only wastes the time but also our mental health. There are various evidence and research that have proved that our mindset which includes our thoughts, beliefs, and processes are the lenses through which we perceive the outside world. This, in turn, affects how we think and the choices we make every day and at the end of the day, it is our choices that make us and shape us. This is also consistent with the view of Carol S. Dweck whose research has shown that the view one adopts profoundly, affects the way we lead our life. Hence, it is important to be mindful of the content we take within as that is what we would reflect the world outside.
I wonder if we have ever thought why the creators of these technologies and social media apps don’t use these tools themselves and nor do their children. Handing over a phone to a child would be the last thing that Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft would have ever done. Besides while going through the profiles of some of the similar well-known and knowledgeable public figures, I observed how they were less socially active, and yet the value they create is tremendous. While finding ourselves addicted to these tools, we are also much vulnerable to the privacy issue that we put ourselves into while putting our private content out there on the social media application that are deemed to be “free of cost”. The majority of the users of these technologies are unaware about selling of the data and the million-dollar business that it is. Somebody has well said that “nothing comes free” and we knowingly or unknowingly pay the price which actually may be more valuable than money. This era of digitization has even reduced the personal space beside the space and time that belonged to our family and loved ones. We have lost the connection and bonding with our loved ones and the children especially are losing the innocence that once was a part of the child of the past. Today we even feel disconnected from our inner self as we see ourselves compared to the people we don’t even know personally.
The main cause of the problem that I can think of is the lack of conscious use of these tools and technology. Of course, using these tools is a must but what is more necessary is gaining that self-control that would help you decide when to use the phone rather than letting the technology addiction decide when to use it. We need to be careful of the applications and social media tools that we install on our phones. Maybe we also need to fix certain timings to let your connections know when to contact you rather than being online 24*7. Besides, we also need to be very conscious and mindful of what ideas and thoughts we take within as they would directly impact what we want to become.
The best way to manage this is to correct your feed and decide what content you want to see. For this, you would have to fight those temptations of watching all the crap that doesn’t add value to your thoughts and doesn’t help you learn. This may a difficult process to apply however once you master it, you know it was worth it. The toughest fights are the ones within. So, it is time you decide?
