We are close to the point where big tech companies will know and understand more about you than you do yourself, and they will play more of a role in shaping your sense of self than you do. Here's what to do about that.
I'm glad to know I passed on his insight in my own voice in a way that impacted you as much as it did me. I do believe becoming conscious of this at this point in our history is essential!
I woke up this morning surprised. I felt rested and no bad dreams had entered my mind when I slept. I didn't even have a hard time falling asleep! So different from my normal pattern. I had made only one change yesterday- less time on my phone. No Facebook, limited game playing, checking e-mails less frequently. My mind was engaged in my surroundings, prayer, reading and being in the moment. Actually got more writing done on my devotional series. It is good to unplug but since we can't entirely do that it is still good to have the self- control to manage our responses to all the media temptations. Again a well written and thought provoking article.
YES! Thank you for sharing this, Karen. I'm sure we can all relate to it. Untethering ourselves a little is always hard at first, but I don't know anyone who doesn't reporter a higher quality of life with a little more distance from it.
I have done month long "no-games" fasts on my phone and surprised myself with how often I would turn to them. Like any spare minute was fair game instead of just being still. It is so addictive.
What I want and what I need…. What takes life (imperceptibly) and what gives life… what chains me to my false self and what gives birth to my true self… tech has managed to candy cane those worlds…
What takes life imperceptibly is a wise word. A friend of mine recently said, "You can never get enough of what almost works." Digital media almost works to make us feel better, while imperceptibly taking life from us. We have to bring awareness to the moments and spaces where that is being candy caned!!
This post feels like it's pulling me in two directions. The first is the "Yeah, yeah, I know this. I've seen the creepy ads that follow me all over the web. Nothing new here," direction. The second is the polar opposite: "Oh, crap! I know all this and I STILL fall for it anyway, because I want to know what the mysterious thing is, or see what's going on in the world! And a lot of me doesn't want to stop!" That last bit is the most horrifying.
I also was struck by the feeling like we've bypassed the world of Wall-E, where humanity just becomes super lazy, which makes us complacent, and have instead ended up in this world where humanity have become mental livestock for billionaires...which has made us complacent.
I don't think it's entirely our fault. Our brains are wired to respond this way, though not this often and not for such superficial reasons--but we're still the only ones who can change our responses. You've reminded me that books like Jenny O'Dell's How to Do Nothing, Tim Wu's The Attention Merchants, and Shoshana Zuboff's The Age of Surveillance Capitalism have been trying to tell us we're the product/how to disconnect for years now, and maybe I should live it up and go read at least one of them.
Thank you for this, Nancy. I felt the same way listening to his talk, a sort of "duh, we all know this," but then a sense of the immediacy of bringing awareness to this now, before it's gotten too far away from us.
This is such a powerful perspective. I had been thinking about offering a course on Self-Awareness to my community and you have inspired me to add this element to it. Thank you. You are such an aware thinker and generous writer.
I'm thrilled to hear that, Jane! I love that something I created affected something you're creating, and I'm sure your course will in turn affect what someone else is creating. We're all in this together!
I recently decided YouTube shorts were bad for me. I literally Uninstallerd the YouTube App to get away from them. I don't muss them, I still play a game on my phone or do other stuff on my phone but there are gaps of time, awkward silence in my day when I don't know what to do. I don't have hours to do projects or improve myself in some major way. It's just moments...lonely minutes when I'm not sliding the nonsense into my head and aimlessly digesting the entertainment algorothimcally picked out for me. It's quite unnerving both that I am so unsure of what to do, but also that I filled so much of my day with those lapses in anything quality. I'm not so great at reintroducing quality, so it's mostly painful now. I'm trying to adjust to more constructive moments. I'm not great at the self reflection and mindfulness that you do, but I am adjusting.
JC, this is amazing. The intentionality you're showing is a big deal. FWIW, don't put too much pressure on yourself. Maybe just think of those quiet moments as chance to learn how to be with yourself again and fully feel whatever life is bringing your way.
I love this revelation! We’ve become so attuned to having multiple streams of content and being bombarded with constant information available at our fingertips it is difficult to now sit still and quiet with ourselves. This is something I’ve been working on and trying to articulate. The blank space, the white space even possibly boredom creeps in. Along with itchy fingers to scroll and feed the addiction. I work from home or in the road and my phone is my constant companion and quite necessary for my work. However, I want to be more mindful of my choices on it.
Linda, as a fellow scrolling addict, I'm glad this is an encouragement to you. FWIW, I've come to the conclusion that, if the phone is on me, I will get those itchy fingers, so we have a charging box in our house with an associated app that game-ifies keeping the phone out of your hands and away from you. It's called the AroGo. I'm always amazed that for the first ten minutes or so I reach for my phone frequently, but then after that I forget about it altogether, sometimes for a long while!
Wow! Mind-blowing insight that, if not followed, just might impact our world more than removing all the stop signs from our roads.
I'm glad to know I passed on his insight in my own voice in a way that impacted you as much as it did me. I do believe becoming conscious of this at this point in our history is essential!
I woke up this morning surprised. I felt rested and no bad dreams had entered my mind when I slept. I didn't even have a hard time falling asleep! So different from my normal pattern. I had made only one change yesterday- less time on my phone. No Facebook, limited game playing, checking e-mails less frequently. My mind was engaged in my surroundings, prayer, reading and being in the moment. Actually got more writing done on my devotional series. It is good to unplug but since we can't entirely do that it is still good to have the self- control to manage our responses to all the media temptations. Again a well written and thought provoking article.
YES! Thank you for sharing this, Karen. I'm sure we can all relate to it. Untethering ourselves a little is always hard at first, but I don't know anyone who doesn't reporter a higher quality of life with a little more distance from it.
I have done month long "no-games" fasts on my phone and surprised myself with how often I would turn to them. Like any spare minute was fair game instead of just being still. It is so addictive.
What I want and what I need…. What takes life (imperceptibly) and what gives life… what chains me to my false self and what gives birth to my true self… tech has managed to candy cane those worlds…
What takes life imperceptibly is a wise word. A friend of mine recently said, "You can never get enough of what almost works." Digital media almost works to make us feel better, while imperceptibly taking life from us. We have to bring awareness to the moments and spaces where that is being candy caned!!
This post feels like it's pulling me in two directions. The first is the "Yeah, yeah, I know this. I've seen the creepy ads that follow me all over the web. Nothing new here," direction. The second is the polar opposite: "Oh, crap! I know all this and I STILL fall for it anyway, because I want to know what the mysterious thing is, or see what's going on in the world! And a lot of me doesn't want to stop!" That last bit is the most horrifying.
I also was struck by the feeling like we've bypassed the world of Wall-E, where humanity just becomes super lazy, which makes us complacent, and have instead ended up in this world where humanity have become mental livestock for billionaires...which has made us complacent.
I don't think it's entirely our fault. Our brains are wired to respond this way, though not this often and not for such superficial reasons--but we're still the only ones who can change our responses. You've reminded me that books like Jenny O'Dell's How to Do Nothing, Tim Wu's The Attention Merchants, and Shoshana Zuboff's The Age of Surveillance Capitalism have been trying to tell us we're the product/how to disconnect for years now, and maybe I should live it up and go read at least one of them.
Thank you for this, Nancy. I felt the same way listening to his talk, a sort of "duh, we all know this," but then a sense of the immediacy of bringing awareness to this now, before it's gotten too far away from us.
Thank you so much for sharing, Kelly. Such a compelling plug for paying attention- moment-to-moment.
You're welcome, Dagmar, and thanks for that summary: "a compelling plug for moment to moment attention."
This is such a powerful perspective. I had been thinking about offering a course on Self-Awareness to my community and you have inspired me to add this element to it. Thank you. You are such an aware thinker and generous writer.
I'm thrilled to hear that, Jane! I love that something I created affected something you're creating, and I'm sure your course will in turn affect what someone else is creating. We're all in this together!
It's the "What else" that gets me.
I recently decided YouTube shorts were bad for me. I literally Uninstallerd the YouTube App to get away from them. I don't muss them, I still play a game on my phone or do other stuff on my phone but there are gaps of time, awkward silence in my day when I don't know what to do. I don't have hours to do projects or improve myself in some major way. It's just moments...lonely minutes when I'm not sliding the nonsense into my head and aimlessly digesting the entertainment algorothimcally picked out for me. It's quite unnerving both that I am so unsure of what to do, but also that I filled so much of my day with those lapses in anything quality. I'm not so great at reintroducing quality, so it's mostly painful now. I'm trying to adjust to more constructive moments. I'm not great at the self reflection and mindfulness that you do, but I am adjusting.
JC, this is amazing. The intentionality you're showing is a big deal. FWIW, don't put too much pressure on yourself. Maybe just think of those quiet moments as chance to learn how to be with yourself again and fully feel whatever life is bringing your way.
I love this revelation! We’ve become so attuned to having multiple streams of content and being bombarded with constant information available at our fingertips it is difficult to now sit still and quiet with ourselves. This is something I’ve been working on and trying to articulate. The blank space, the white space even possibly boredom creeps in. Along with itchy fingers to scroll and feed the addiction. I work from home or in the road and my phone is my constant companion and quite necessary for my work. However, I want to be more mindful of my choices on it.
Linda, as a fellow scrolling addict, I'm glad this is an encouragement to you. FWIW, I've come to the conclusion that, if the phone is on me, I will get those itchy fingers, so we have a charging box in our house with an associated app that game-ifies keeping the phone out of your hands and away from you. It's called the AroGo. I'm always amazed that for the first ten minutes or so I reach for my phone frequently, but then after that I forget about it altogether, sometimes for a long while!