How to De-Addictify Your Technology

I was in a restaurant the other day and saw the most wonderful family! A mother and two children. Watching them almost brought tears to my eyes. The mother was smiling and laughing, nodding, and making all kinds of giggly fun noises. It was adorable!!! 

Eventually, mommy closed Facebook and started paying attention to the kids. Sadly by that time, they had already internalized that mommy loved her smartphone more than them. Once upon a time, that would have meant they would spend thousands of dollars of therapy in their 20s to overcome their resentment and develop the ability to relate to another human being. Given current trends, however, they’ll still be living at home in their 20s, so mommy will have to spend all that money on their therapy. So ha, ha! The joke’s on her.

And on us, too. Because we’re addicted to our devices.

When you’re addicted, you can’t stop doing something. You are drawn to your addiction to cope. You use it to distract you from your thoughts. You use it to fill your free time. It controls your psyche. It’s the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning, before you roll over and scratch your shmoopie behind the ears. When you’re with your friends, laughing and smiling, you secretly have the urge to run to the bathroom, duck into a stall, and check your timeline, your instagram, and your instant messages. 

Technology Is Made to Addict You

In times long past, technology was created to help you solve problems or be more productive. In some of the business-to-business markets, it’s still being developed to solve problems. But when it comes to consumer technology, the game has changed. Silicon Valley, has figured out that the way to fast money is to addict you to your technology with things that cause dopamine hits. Then you buy more apps, respond to more ads, and give social media companies deeper and deeper information about you. You get lots of lovely pictures you might be interested in, and news stories that confirm your pre-existing biases. And what to they get? Oh, not much. Just a complete psychological profile of you that can be used to manipulate your political opinions, your feelings, and your actions. 

Don’t believe me? I’m not the only one interested in world domination, I’m just the one who’s joking about it. Check out getitdoneguy.com/manipulation for a story on how artificial intelligence plus social media targeted marketing can be used to manipulate your political opinions,...

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