Driven to distraction: Why we’re all f*cked
Relax. This post is not a rant about the environment or climate change. If you thought it was going to be some greeny talking about how all the forests are disappearing and the fish are dying sorry to disappoint. As most of my friends know I am very passionate about that so I’ll likely cover that in a post at some point in the future.
This is about something else. Something that goes to the core of who we are. Or should I say, who we’ve become.
People (and I include myself in that) nowadays want things to be easier, faster, cheaper, more rewarding, bigger… the list goes on.
Let’s face it, we live in a world obsessed with instant gratification and endless reward. Tech has exacerbated this problem, to an extent which appears infinite.
More and more companies are launching with the sole purpose of doing things faster, and delivering that hit of dopamine. 5 seconds instead of 10 seconds, 2 seconds instead of 5 seconds.
It’s being talked about a lot more but what’s clear is that the companies which we look to with such awe — Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and more — design their experience around maximum distraction. Check out around the 4 min mark of this awesome interview with Simon Sinek.
Distraction in the form of keeping us hooked to our devices; watching mindless videos and looking up after 20 minutes wondering what the hell we’ve just been doing, suddenly stressed about the fact we’ve lost those 20 minutes.
And the thing is that doesn’t really sound like distraction at all — that’s addiction.
As we continue down this path I can’t help but feel that the essence of who we are is being fundamentally changed. We turn to our phone to get our fix like an addict turns to their pipe to smoke crack.
We live in tomorrow rather than today. Experiencing a moment turns into looking for the best vantage point for a selfie. A conversation turns into several, as we pretend we’re still in the room when we’re really trying to have multiple chats on Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype.
I was having dinner recently with John Winning, someone I admire and respect very much; someone who has built an incredibly successful business in Appliances Online and who — despite the endless challenges for his attention every day — puts his phone on flight mode when he’s in meetings so he stays present.
He also talked about a festival he’s been going to for 5 years. When it first began there was such respect for not taking phones or even cameras for that matter. There was a silent agreement that it was about the moment. Today, with the pressure of followers and likes, people have disregarded that original beautiful agreement and cameras, phones and selfie sticks are everywhere you look.
Now what does all of this say about us as humans? It would be easy to think we’re fucked, because rather than getting better, the problem is only getting worse. Worse because it’s getting more normalized — especially when it comes to the younger generation who have grown up only knowing this way.
Yes, of course because it’s how they interact with their friends (they’d be outcasts if they didn’t) and it’s how they learn at school but it’s also because they see us using the little glowing rectangles as freely as they do.
As I wrote this I thought “Jesus I’m sounding like my parents now — this is just how the world evolves and they’ve said this throughout history” but then again this evolution doesn’t feel quite so natural. It doesn’t feel like the fittest will survive, it feels more like we’re walking down a spiraling staircase except we’ve instead decided to slide down on the banisters rather than taking the stairs (because hell, it’s about a faster reward right?).
And this is why I worry. Why I worry for our society in general but also as a new father to a beautiful baby boy.
As I cradle him in my arms I can’t help but be fearful of the world he is being born into. A world where we draw more pleasure from wondering how many likes we have as opposed to sitting with a friend and chatting about our lives.
Because there is inherently something wrong with a lot of the tech in the world today. The way it’s created, it’s purpose. And perhaps the most telling sign of that is in this interview between Scott Galloway (my hero) and Adam Alter, where Alter reveals that many of the high flying tech founders won’t let their kids near a lot of the technology and apps that are so ubiquitous in our lives.
As Galloway puts it so eloquently in many of his Winners and Losers videos, “what the fuck?!” The people who design these things to be addictive know they’re so bad they’ll keep their kids away from them. I wonder how much more proof we need?
That’s why I’m worried, because I don’t want my son being born a tech addict. I want him to experience the truly cool things in life, the stuff that tech will never be able to replace. Like experiencing the natural wonders of places such as the Great Barrier Reef, Yosemite and Seqouia, the cultural wonders of Europe.
Now, am I some sort of evangelist who is free of guilt from all this and is the best role model my son could ask for? Fuck no. I’ve long struggled with staying in the moment, being present and not reaching for my phone at any given opportunity.
I like to snap something and share it on Instagram and although I do this as a creative outlet. I’d be lying if at the back of my mind I wasn’t having some craving for more followers.
That’s how fucked up this all is. We’re dopamine hunters, seeking short term pleasure. But the thing is we can’t blame it on tech. I don’t, I’m making a choice when I pick up that device, my phone isn’t forcing me to.
It’s like the saying — guns don’t kill people, people kill people. So this shit is on all of us to step up and to be accountable for the actions we take.
It means that instead of instinctively reaching for our phone we stop, take a breath and look around us. Marvel at the fact that even in the most boring situations there’s still interesting ways to switch off our mind and be present. Or take out a book and read — ingest some knowledge rather than seeking another like for some bullshit photo that no one cares about anyway.
Because at the moment our narrative looks like this:
Yesterday was about true connection, being in the moment.
Today’s human is distracted, living in the future, obsessed by social validation.
Tomorrow’s human is… fucked.
Let’s take accountability and make sure that doesn’t happen.
So if you happen to see me in the street come and say hi and let’s have a chat. If I’ve learned anything by writing this I’ll have my head up instead of down.
