Is the answer to problems caused by technology always more technology?

This is a repost… you might find this interesting!

My Ma final project was focused on “HOW IS TECHNOLOGY MEDIATING OUR INTERACTIONS?” - you can find the full doc and research methodologies here. My conclusions were not conclusive but there’s a lot of research, some practical field work and it points out some observations related to the subject. I wrote a linkedin article following up this project that might be easier to read, here.

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Hi Phil,

You bring up such a great point. I believe everything, including technology, is great in moderation. But that’s the problem: in moderation. We have forgotten how to moderate when it comes to technology to the point that it is consuming our minds and our attention in an unhealthy way.

I believe the key is to get more grounded in human connection and interaction as well as with nature. As a society, we need to become more engaged with people and with our surroundings instead of being hypnotized by our devices. In my work, I do this through coaching with theater and performance techniques.

The question you posed is the type of question that we should always be asking! Thanks!

-Pat

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It’s difficult to define “more” and “less”, unless we’re talking about getting rid of devices, or all apps on smartphones, etc. If we get rid of smartphones, for example, the question of designing better apps doesn’t even arise.

But assuming smartphones are here to stay, and assuming we need apps to communicate with others, keep in touch with our communities, etc., we certainly need “better” apps/technology to achieve those purposes.

So the point is apps like Email, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc., have important roles to play in our lives. However, they have come to adopt certain psychologically harmful features. How do we remove those psychologically harmful features and make sure we have apps which have purely beneficial ones? That’s the question, in my humble opinion.

Time well spent is a good idea. But if we are using to many apps for the purpose of time well spent. Time well spent perhaps become a little meaningless. The idea would be more meaningful if we applies less is more. Less time and attention to our phone and social media and more real world interactions.

Hi Jaski,

Good luck finding that unicorn!! I don’t believe you can’t. Like Carl Jung once said, I rather be ‘whole’ than good, anyway! I believe it’s just like salt and pepper in food, you need to find that fragile balance between all the ingredients to make it work out at the end - anything taken to its extremes won’t be ‘sustainable’! Problem is, we only have one dopamine centre and it doesn’t differentiate between any addiction, sex, drugs, gambling, etc… our dopamine centre has been hijacked by platforms like facebook, google, etc, as they all fight for our time!! When I start looking at this ‘relation’ with new technology I thought it was an emergent property of the ‘system’, but it’s not, it has been designed!!! Our relationship with technology (and by that i mean all technology not just the digitally, electrified one) has always been like holding a double-edged sword, it can swing either direction, it’s up to us to use it responsibly!

How to design a memorable, irresistible experience? You can boil it down to six key ingredients, accordingly to Adam Alter: “compelling goals that remain just out of reach; unpredictable positive feedback; a sense of incremental progress and improvement; tasks that become slowly more difficult over time; unresolved tensions that demand resolution; and strong social connections.” Taken together, these ingredients compel us to act.

Adam Alter writes in his last book (Irresistible – the rise of addictive technology and the business of keeping us hooked), is that 41% of the population has suffered from some form of internet-addiction, whether it’s email, gaming, or porn. This finding comes from a 2011 review paper of 83 studies with a combined total of 1.5 million respondents from around the globe. And it forms the backbone of Alter’s thesis: addiction is not a disease of the brain affecting “addictive personalities”, but is rather a learned experience shaped by memory, environment, and circumstance.

I personally live on the edge of all this paraphernalia of gadgets, apps and whatnots and at the moment I’m trying to understand how to design meaningful interactions between society, technology and the environment - understanding how to make it better is not so obvious as we cannot tell each other what to do and there isn’t a solution that fits all!! What troubles me is the fact that we are creating and maintaining an ‘ecology’ of ignorance, an overflow of information where we cannot tell the difference between false and true anymore, losing our ability to communicate (communication is much more than just a couple of zeros and ones on a screen), and most important our critical thinking, our ability to reflect and share on our experiences - this is how we learn, this is how our culture is formed, layer upon layer… the way we are mediating our interactions through technology has taken all these away! I believe that this social experiment will have serious implications in human behaviour, down the road, that could be compared to hard drugs epidemics…

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YES! Human connection is the cure for addiction.

The answer is multifaceted! Tech has always solved problems created by tech, but even if there were a silver bullet that magically prevented and remediated addiction to certain apps, it wouldn’t matter if you didn’t also change your physical relationship to the device, habits around digital communication with the individuals in your life, emotional intelligence around in-person communication…

Hi Andrew,

Thank you so much for your reply! I completely agree. It is key to change the habits of the individual and to develop emotional intelligence. Much of society is no longer exercising the muscles needed to stay actively engaged with one another. The main goal in figuring out solutions should be developing habits for humans to interact more in-person than through their devices.

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@phil Thx for your post!! No that is not wrong!! When I hear people say “I’m not suggesting no tech” or want to create an app to make things better I cringe thinking people don’t understand the impact of how technology has really impacted our health.

We need to jump off the cliff and be present with people around us, on elevators, sidewalks, bus stops, doctors waiting rooms etc…, instead of trying to be somewhere else.

Creating apps to minimize our tech use to improve efficiency and a social recovery program on how to connect without technology are the first steps to regain normalcy in my mind…

My view on these things tend to be insanely unpopular though;)

Fully agree on that. I immediately thought of how the cigarette smoking culture was part of the background of everyday life in the sixties & seventies, and it took long to change that, as the long-term consequences were not yet visible then… ‘Fortunately’ the short-term consequences of mobile overuse are already quite visible (less social interactions, loneliness, etc.), the question is how long it will take for the ‘mass’ in this world to discover that their mental health problems are linked to the mobile phone overuse. Maybe a digital detox should be obliged for everyone, in order to accelerate this discovery phase for our non-community members;)

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This is a nice article on this topic:

One of the of the big challenges of Time Well Spent faces I think as an organization is how to disseminate informations to the mass of people worldwide the negative effects of technology (smart phone, social media etc.) as well as proven solutions?

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@ben I opened up a thread “ergonomic awareness” under the heading Welcome.

Maybe we can make it more visible to open it up. I was surprised more people hadn’t responded- but that was weeks ago when this forum was smaller.

Anyways… when people bend over the phone or jet the head forward on the laptop/tablet- the head is heavy and creates strain on neck muscles- this weakens the anterior spinal muscles putting people at higher risk for back injury. Our use of technology not only makes creates ergonomic issues but weakens our core spinal stability which protects us from injuries in car accidents etc…

Also, this ‘new’ posture shuts down any communication attempt from the ‘exterior’… and we are social creatures after all!! Humans, for the better or the worst, have come this far collectively but nowadays it is all about the individual… and all this individualisation is leading to a lower intellectual engagement as well, for instance, all the filters you use in your news feed will handicap your opinion as you filter only what you want to read about so when you go into a discussion you only know about half of the information… or no?! I am with Pat and Andrew - human connection is the key!!!

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@Rui yes with those filters only showing certain content it sort of narrows that intellect into bigotry, no other point of view exists. In an age where we are supposed to be more tolerant it’s actually the opposite.

Hi Rui,

You are absolutely right. I couldn’t agree more. While I do think it’s good to develop better designs and apps to regain our time, their must be a focus on generating human interaction and connection. I do this in my work by facilitating interaction using theater/performance, as it develops skillsets such as listening, empathy, and effective communication, skillsets that are becoming more rare with the rise of technology.

Pat

Smart Home Gadgets Are Not the Future

The above article seems related to this topic. Turns out many / most people don’t want to be sucked into some of the (useless) tech after all. Gadgets are counterproductive. Say it again.

This reminds me of some cool thought experiments of mine about counterproductive technology:

  • in the USA, it’s common in the culture to have this pretty expensive electric grinder devices in kitchen sinks which grinds up anything put down the drain (I’ll be honest I have no idea what these devices are actually named). not only are they costly, but they break quite often, and are kind of useless. isn’t that counterproductive technology?
  • I’d say the same about the dishwasher too. not only expensive, but forces you to buy 3 times more dishes (and more closet space, and a bigger kitchen, and so on) since the dishwasher runs much less frequently than hand washing.
  • don’t even get me started on large refrigerators. and man, really we don’t even need freezers at all. can’t we just do with a small fridge, I mean especially for one or two people? do we really want to keep so much food in there that half of it will spoil? again counterproductive tech.
  • now with IT think of all the time wasted on software updates and so on. that piece of paper is looking ever more attractive. and presentation software ruined presentations.
  • how to calculate the average speed of the car you may own - once you add in the time spent working to make money for to pay for your car and its upkeep, it turns out the average speed of a car is just about walking speed, maybe lower. seriously this is real math, I have read it somewhere.
  • so think twice about throwing your life down the toilet for counterproductive material possessions (especially ones that really hurt the environment too).