The average addict
On people and technology
I spend a huge amount of time thinking, having endless discussion with myself in my head, about how technology is impacting people and society. Everyday I witness more examples and scenarios. In an attempt to free up some mind space, I’ve decided to write some of these down. Perhaps others may agree, or think I’m on to something. Maybe someone will want to chat about some of these topics, or point me in the direction of work that provides some semblance of resolution. Here’s what’s swirling around my head at the moment.
Podcasts: the conversations you wished you had?
Podcasts tend to offer deeper thought and greater reflection than any other medium. Or at least I would guess that at least one of the podcasts a person listens to provides this. Why so? Yes, the medium lends itself to intimacy, the chance to be a silent witness to a conversation, nodding along in moments but never acknowledged. But anything listened to using headphones is private, whether music or audiobooks. So why the explosion of interest in introspective conversation, whether that’s to do with a well-known person’s life, or a broader philosophical debate? Is it really just the medium, or is something more profound occuring in the timing of podcasts becoming mainstream? To put it bluntly, are podcasts now providing the depth of conversation that people wish they had with friends — even if it’s a conversation they can’t participate in? In some respect, they do for me. If they do, have they replaced any real-life conversations, or were those discussions just not happening before? I’m not sure on the answers to this, but I feel there’s a connection to some of the points that will follow.
What is social media doing to meeting with friends?
It’s weird isn’t it. That point at a social occasion when a friend or someone you know is telling you about the trip they just went on, as if you haven’t already seen photos of it, processed it, and passed some kind of judgement. And that they are telling you in a tone that quietly presumes you’ve already seen the content they produced on their trip. Or that they’re telling you as if you haven’t, even though they know you definitely have. Weird too, once you remove yourself from these platforms (as I have), is being party to these conversations. Genuinely not knowing about the thing the person is talking around the edges on. Or on the flip side, having your own significant life experiences, but nobody being aware of them as you haven’t publicised anything. It’s like a secret you hold with you, expecting to reveal but perhaps liberated by the thought of not. Just letting the idea of nothingness be. So many social occasions now revolve around this dynamic, even with your closest friends. Half smiles with a nod, lots of ‘Yeah, I saw that’. I think this is such a big deal. What is the long term impact of this on the real life bonds between people?
Won’t somebody please think of the adults?
There’s plenty of noise and an increasing amount of study around addiction to technology, and of course, mobiles in particular. This is good and necessary, albeit already too late in my opinion. But so often these articles quickly jump to or focus on teenagers or kids. I get it. It’s disturbing for society to see young people gripped by any vice, and this age bias in favour of the young runs across many areas of life. But in this case, I really don’t think it’s the place to look, or certainly, the only place to look. Ten minutes spent in any city around the world tells you that this is a society wide addiction. In fact, the groups of people you do still witness audibly laughing, shouting, and playing together, are kids. I think the view of teenagers spending all of their time looking at screens is a lazy one, and ignores the reality that the parents of these kids are showing exactly the same behaviours, not just in terms amount of usage, but it’s impact on their daily lives, their minds, and their relationships.
The boring masses
When it comes to vices or addiction, society tends to look to the extremes. This is the public narrative at least, perhaps driven by those hoping to create more powerful news stories or more convincing results to academic studies. With recreational drugs, to take another example, the coverage tends to be on the hardest of users or most dangerous criminal element, rather than the masses whose weekend use is at least equally part of the chain. I see the same dynamic when it comes to use of technology. There are arresting stories to be found in those with the most extreme addictions, the darkest uses of the platforms, or even in reverse, the complete rejection of, for example, social media. For the latter, recent stories seem to need to be about going ‘cold turkey’ for weeks or checking in to a retreat to have a Priory-like abstinence. It can’t be: ‘I just started using it a bit less over time’.
Seemingly small, daily habits in your physical body are what drive your form over time. How you walk, how you always tuck your left leg under when you sit, how you always reach with your right hand. These are the things that lead to imbalances as you get older — back aches, neck problems, the rest. I see it as the same in our use of technology and digital platforms. It is the culmination of these daily digital habits of the masses — each seemingly insignificant in isolation, all things you don’t want to be bugged about changing — that will have a gradual, long term effect.
Using digital to fix digital
Feels dangerous doesn’t it? Using the medium itself to fix issues caused by the very same medium. To trust and expect the companies who created the beast to tame it too, when it’s ultimately not in their interests. We’ve seen this before in financial institutions. Apple’s Screen Usage feature feels fun and interesting at first, in a ‘count your steps’ or Fitbit kind of way. It’s always cool to find out about yourself. Blood test, urine sample, X-Ray — I’ll take any of it. Tell me things about me! The usual problem though — and it’s one of many — is what to do with that information. What changes am I supposed to make? How? And does this data do anything to help towards that? Is there even any way it logically could? Changing habits over the long term remains just as hard.
And then there’s the darker, more cynical side to it. Like a Nestlé CSR policy. “Is this it? Is this what they’re doing to fix things?” Along with an element of, as there always is with the big tech companies, a feeling that this kind of thing is a chance to take a swipe at their rivals. By providing the data on your usage, Apple are actually showing you how much time you’re spending on Mr Zuckerberg’s platforms. Apps owned by Apple will barely be appearing in that list. Clever, in a crafty, evil way.
Taking this in a different direction, I’m deep into Sam Harris’ ‘Waking Up’ meditation app, and it’s a complete revelation. As someone who is clearly cautious about using technology to restrict or get away from technology, I’m pleasantly surprised by this. However, this App has got it spot on, in terms of being perfectly minimal in functionality. It essentially provides a path of audio files to listen to in order, as well some others you can dip into ad hoc. That’s it. It looks smart, it does everything you need, and doesn’t try to push it too far. No unnecessary visuals, no reward mechanisms or peer pressure. The very point of meditation is to sit still, close your eyes, and breath. Previously I would have agreed to the notation that using a phone in this process seems totally contradictory, but here — by being true to the essence of what it’s all about — it really works.
Only in writing these thoughts down do I see the theme which emerges — a concerned observation that we are quietly missing the point when it comes to thinking about the implications of technology in our lives. Repeating the patterns we see in other areas of society, such as health or politics. Like the latter, coverage and conversation overly focuses on the extreme ends of the spectrum, rather than the masses in the middle. Seemingly gradual change to people’s thoughts and behaviours over stretches of time bring normalisation, without a pause to reflect what it’s all about, what it might mean. And so too, a focus on quick fixes to repress the symptoms, rather than a questioning of the cause. I do wonder whether others are thinking about and discussing this. Or maybe they’re onto a great podcast I’ve yet to find.
