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thenerdhead

It's probably the phones when you zoom into the last few years. But it goes back even further.

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Alone

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amusing_Ourselves_to_Death

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Arguments_for_the_Elimina...

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_Jest

The core idea is that something becomes so addicting that you lose the ability to do anything else.

Concrete example: A few years ago I decided I had enough technology usage and started to taper off and remove many devices from my living spaces. As I did this, I regained the ability to do more things. Some of those things involved writing a couple books(one on this topic specifically). Some of those things got me promoted at work. Some of those things had me present in my kids activities. Some of those things had me building a community around a new sport I've never played -- basketball.

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To be clear, the conclusion of Bowling Alone was that the cause was "technology 'individualizing' people's leisure time via television and the Internet, suspecting that 'virtual reality helmets' would carry this further in the future." [1]

Sub in "phones" for "virtual reality helmets" and the authors conclusions mirror OP's article.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Alone

100% true. People will always find an addiction if they don't watch themselves. TV, social networks, gaming, it doesn't matter.

They answer is to be able to control yourself, and be moderate, no matter what the temptation is.

It is true but the difference also does matter; phones are always with us, they invade social situations in a way that TV and desktop internet could never do.

But isn't it possible that these things have different degrees of addictiveness and destructiveness?

Drugs would be the (almost too) obvious analogy. There are many that people develop addictions or dependencies on, but it's pretty clear that there are some that are far more addictive than others, and that not all of them have the same deleterious social and physical consequences.

Why wouldn't activities be the same here? It seems to me that social media might be "worse" than a lot of the others. It's perpetually available, painstakingly engineered to be as addictive as possible, and may (jury is very much out here, but there's some research to suggest this) have properties that make it damaging to the psyche above and beyond normal addiction.

Just like there seem to be drugs whose abuse potential is too high to rely on self-control and moderation, maybe there are activities for which the same is true.

The argument that ”there is always going to be something” is a lazy one, and I agree with you. That’s why we don’t legalize heroin sale just because ”oh you need to be able to control yourself, it’s not the heroin seller’s problem”. Somethings are yes very very dangerous, and phones are maybe one.

That said, the truth is that, the more obvious it becomes that phones are the problem, the stronger will be the attacks against this conclusion and the more people will deny it. There is no going back. If you agree with it, take care of yourself and your kids, and act on it to protect your loved ones. Everyone else will have to deal with it themselves. It’s too late for any kind of structural change.

How much tech did you remove. I'd imagine writing a good book would require a bit of research and stuff. At least the one you mentioned sounds like non fiction.

I have a link in my bio of the book I wrote about it all. It doesn't contain much of these details. More of the driving philosophy.

How much did I remove?

- Stopped using my smartphone on a daily basis. Maybe 1-2 pickups a day. Down from ~60.

- Don't play video games for recreation, replaced with working out & basketball.

- Only allow my work devices in my office. Sets boundaries for personal/work life.

- Each device has a job-to-be-done. I can only write on my laptop. I can only communicate with my phone. I can only read on my iPad. I can only work on my work machine. etc

- Got rid of most streaming services and televisions. Watch maybe a 30-60 minute show every other night.

- Turned my bedroom into a cave, no artificial light.

- When bored, I pickup a book and place them all around my house so I'm not reaching for a device.

- etc.

Your book sounds right up my alley. Thanks for this list, will be coming back to it as I continue to evaluate my own tech use.

If you can’t afford it, feel free to reach out and I’ll send a free copy. Offer applies to anyone reading this.

This is inspiring. I think I’ll pickup your book. I used to be on the lower tech path in the early smart phones days. I remember I refused to have data service on my phones for years, but sadly I caved eventually and here I am now phone addicted like everyone else.

Thank you for the support!

> Each device has a job-to-be-done. I can only write on my laptop. I can only communicate with my phone. I can only read on my iPad. I can only work on my work machine. etc

I, too have turned multi-purpose devices to single-purpose. I've bought some various/older devices just for this reason too. Always recommending this for folks to try

I loved Bowling Alone and had Infinite Jest gathering dust, thanks for linking the to other books!

Infinite Jest?

Of course, the first chapter is about one kid's final inability to communicate.

The whole book is about the search for an entertainment disc so addicting anyone who watches it winds up so enraptured by it that they consume it endlessly until they wind up dying.

Sounds a bit like a less intensive phone/social media addiction if I've ever heard of one.

It also has a whole chapter about anxiety-inducing video chat calls that predicts the Snapchat and TikTok filter generation of video call technology.

You know, I love that book, but I completely forgot about the actual plot.

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